I love behind-the-scenes photos of artists’ studios. So, why in this era of social media, do I keep my own process private-ish? Like most artists, I’m an entrepreneur. And artists, especially performing artists, believe that we have to create a persona, or brand image, that’s polished, slick and representative of where you’re going, than where you are.
I get that. It’s not so much “fake till you make it,” as it is envisioning your future and conveying that message to everyone who follows, likes, tweets, pins you, or, actually shows up to see your work!
Opportunities to create, control, market and crowd-fund your art are unprecedented. Technology’s a great democratizer, but, for solo-preneurs, there’s a compulsion to operate a virtual PR machine at the same pace as the people who have people. When do you create your art?
As a multi-disciplinary artist/wife/mother of twins with special needs, I can’t compartmentalize things. It’s easiest to integrate life and work. It all gets swirled together and really colorful, but that’s fabulous. I like the swirly, colorful parts. It means that now, as my kids are teens, I find myself at the crossroads of “emerging artist” and “encore career”.
Hello?! What’s an Emerging Encore Career? What does that look like?! Maybe that looks like Julia Child, or Georgia O’Keefe, or Maya Angelou. These remarkable artists had late breakthroughs based on years of dedication. Maybe it looks like me: Sometimes polished, sometimes not-so-much, but always wearing bright, red-lipstick and a hat. (Usually many hats.)
I’ve a bountiful backlog of ideas in varying stages of development. I’m always creating, but things take longer to get onstage. To get a fuller behind-the-scenes look at my process, come to my ARTree talk Thursday, March 26, 6:30 p.m., at the Old Town Newhall Library. Till then, “Think big picture, work little picture.”
Find me on www.facebook.com/HomeAndYonder.