Ta k e o n e ?

I would rip off ...”the professor’s time and knowledge. I would ask about their cognitive thought and abilities in becoming an artist, how their time is used, how did they construct their studios, what turns them on in regard to art.”

... “the professor’s wife”

... “the professor’s work ethic and the love of making things.”

data collection

... on my third major, I entered the art department and negotiated to skip foundations coursework. I still can’t draw worth beans.

... any techical solution, flexible enough to be interpreted, that makes it easier to deal with difficult visual problems in drawing and painting: earth, wind, fire, water, light, space, volume, et al.

,.. being comfortable with uncertainty as part of my artistic process

... focus, with or without a deadline, and time for me

If you don’t challenge yourself to be vulnerable........

If you don’t challenge yourself to be vulnerable........

.....a computer when I was 12.

...the work falls flat.

“.........Some say the studio is where they find their passion. My studio practice var-ies quite a bit. Sometimes I don’t make anything for awhile. I’m always thinking and dreaming.......”

“........Milk your difference, your exoticness, your uniqueness.”

“..........I get nervous and goofy when I meet someone important... I am trying ‘fake it till you make it.’........................”

“............Throw away your art books. Now listen carefully for your own voice ..............”

Flirting is not a bad way to get ahead in the art world.

“..........two quotes I like, reflect an intersection of Catholicism and relevance to the arts:

So what if I don’t want to move to New York or LA?

“Man always travels along precipices...His truest obligation is to keep his balance.” -- John Paul II

“If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire.” -- St. Catherine of Siena, 16th c .................................”

Initially difficult to adapt to an artistic methodology, business skills, once mastered, can provide more quality time for creativity. Work smarter, not harder.

Believe that you can easily make a living from being an artist.

Artists are often successful in spite of themselves: small businesses with really bad bosses.

Extensive knowledge of ways to make a living as an artist.

‘Show business’ has the right name. ‘Show’ plus ‘business’. You need them both.

The market value of art has little to do with an artist’s contribution to the art field.

Involving yourself, as an artist, is more about doing work that you love than about “cash flow”. If you can survive by doing work that you love, you, as an artist, have made it big time.

Dream big. Things don’t need to be reasonable. They need to be clear and true. Break the dream down into small steps. Acknowledge the smallest step.

Obtaining a degree in art (or any field) is not to be confused with job training. Instead, a degree is the launch pad for life-long learning.

The only thing a college degree proves to a future employer is that you are willing and able to put up with four years of complete bullshit.

Be willing to shoot the bull when it serves you. Like telling a joke in bad taste.

Don’t let criticism paralyze you. Instead, it should drive your work forward. Having an, “oh, yeah, I’ll show you!” attitude is possibly unhealthy, but highly productive.

Just because you can’t reach perfection doesn’t mean you should stop trying.

As a graduate student instructor, I wish I had ripped off the cynicism of the tenured faculty immediately upon my exposure. My trenchant resistance against it over the years has made the developing cynicism greater than that which was resisted.

A cynic is someone who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing.

What ‘dragons’ will you fight in

real life?

Fortune cookie: Your talents will capture the highest status and prestige.

Observe in the concrete Think in the abstract

Attitude: I am a BAD-ASS artist. This is the best damm ________ you’ve ever seen. Respect my authority.

H o w a r e w e d i s e n f r a n c h i s e d ?

A WORK ETHIC - t ha t you can have fo r f ree !

I sold my $2 to Roschelli for $3.24. And I doodled on the back. Sorry.

Thoughts/Notes taken while reading Letters to a Young Artist by Anna Deavere Smith

There is nothing like those years when you don’t yet have what you are working for. There’s lots of freedom because there is so much possibility. It helps to have friends who also have similar potential.

Select your own problems to solve or knowingly accept assignments. Problem-solving often comes down to sharing vulnerability, and the things that make us human.

You can’t base your self-value on how well your work is selling or on how well it is received. Self-esteem often comes from resourcefulness and believing you can “do” it.

What gives some people the basic solid foundation that they can “do” it?

Have the courage to take your art into the world. Not neces-sarily in a way that makes you famous, but in a way that makes your art rel-evant to the world.

4.) Ignore and respond anyway

I’d rip off anything Mike Kelley ever made or wrote. But not your $.

for the students: “Ignorance is no excuse.”

a la Rumsfeld: “ Even the unknown unknowns are your responsiblity.”

P.S. Don’t do stuff last minute!

Life is too short not to do what you want to do ... It is easier to ask for forgiveness than permission ... Corollary: Do not ask a question to which you do not want the answer to be ‘no’ ... Those who think it can’t be done should never interrupt those doing it.

Charles Saatchi’s idea to buy up all the Young British Art-ist’s and get NEA grant money before Andres Ser-rano’s Piss Christ came onto the scene.

Pablo Picasso said, “Bad artists copy. Good artists steal.” In the Internet Age, what student wouldn’t follow this maxim… and maybe not even think about it? I personally have ripped off this $2 bill and mailed it with a $20 to Barack Obama for President.

It is a known fact that people do not know what they like, they like what they know, what they are familiar with. If the mission of an artist is to be truly creative, then how can most people respond to something they have never seen before? Fact is they can’t. Therefore, after the artist develops a unique product the next mission is to establish a market for that product through whatever means.

In this culture a professional artist has three main concerns (in this order):

1. Making a quantity of excellent art. 2. Exhibiting that excellent art.

3. Selling or surviving on the work produced - gallery sales, grants, funded projects, etc

1. Show up

2. Tell the truth (only if it improves upon the silence) 3. Don’t worry about the outcome

Those are guiding principles - and in fact I did rip them off.

Herberger Institute for Design and the ArtsSchool of Art Instruction Research / Survey

Gregory Sale, Visiting Assistant Professor of IntermediaFall 2008 Summary