Articles, announcements and upcoming notices posted by Toronto artist/author Jean Eng. Some of the longer articles were previously published in the Ontario Society of Artists newsletters. For sample images of artwork please click on the Bonsai Stylus painting at the sidebar. Contact: j.engartist11@gmail.com
Grace Notes
There’s a character in the TV comedy program “Saturday Night Live” known as “Debbie Downer.” She makes a point of bringing nothing but negative energy into any topic of conversation. A couple reveal their engagement and she mentions the divorce rate. If someone shares travel plans, she talks about crime, terrorism and infectious diseases in that country. Even when folks are enjoying waffles, she interrupts their pleasure by announcing out of the blue: “It’s official; I can’t have children.” Ultimately, everyone leaves the table or room to avoid her company.
This recalls an Artists Studio Tour I once participated in where many guests turned out to be other artists. This cute sculptor dropped in– a neighbour’s brother. Remarks, observations and questions about my paintings were friendly enough and we also talked about his work. Almost every artist-visitor eventually wants to know where you show, if you have a dealer or prospects. I was in mid-series so nothing was scheduled yet. I happened to make a casual joke about the challenge of finding venues... and it was the invitation he’d been waiting for, to open the floodgates. For twenty minutes, I sat pinned to my couch while he stood in front of me, disgorging vitriol, bile and fury over the art world as he knew it: the limited opportunities available, the confusing, mixed messages delivered by galleries about what they wanted and what sells, the frustration of trying to get a break. Any word I managed to mumble was only used to support further invective. He did stop yelling finally and left. But I wanted to hose down the walls, burn sweetgrass– anything to void the studio of his presence and energy. Since then, no one has quite embodied the word “spew” as much as he. “Chad liked you,” my neighbour winked. “He thinks you’re nice.”
In the never ending process of being an artist, it’s common to overlook or miss the blessings large and small we have received or continue to do so, because struggle seems to dominate our attention. What better way to herald in a new cycle than an inventory of this past year’s luck, abundance and gifts? Hardly a secret that a life in the arts is difficult; many of us were warned before we even started about low income, instability, and rampant rejection. It proved more than true for the majority of us. Yet even I can’t complain forever. So here’s a review of what is often taken for granted or ignored because of focus normally spent on what is lacking. Everything cited ultimately facilitates either my ability to make art or the work itself.
Thank God acupuncture treatments relieve arthritis in my fingers– I painted with less stiffness this year. Ditto for the neck, shoulders and back. In spite of low income, I live downtown in a beautiful area: close to waterfront, parks and gardens. These places calm and restore energy after a depleting week at my job. Even though I’ve never won significant grants from any arts council or endowment agency, my rent has been subsidized for the past 20 years through co-op housing– amounts equal to many of those other cash awards that include an allowable expense for subsistence. Without gallery, dealer, or representation– I still managed to unexpectedly, sell work and get poetry published at the same time. All this during an ice storm. Hallelujah, the cat no longer stalks or ambushes my feet whenever I paint. So grateful, that while sadness will always be part of the human condition, depression visits less often and I know the difference. Fortunate am I, to have people I can share good news and accomplishments with–who will be genuinely happy for me no matter how minor the achievement– which is all I really want from them. Glad to learn that I’m not a complete snob, can find inspiration anywhere, in sources as disparate as reality TV and Shakespeare. Hate to admit it, but career disappointments, failures and obstacles produced articles others related to the most. And while it annoys me that I had to endure these experiences in order to write about them, I must accept how much fun it is to tell the stories.
Happy Art-making New Year to everyone!
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Nice article Jean. We've all run into those sorts of people and you wrote about him very well! Thanks for a great post and for reminding us to be grateful for all we often take for granted.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Jan! I actually saw the guy at a party not long afterwards and avoided him until the very end when I left and he was hanging around the exit. Then it was a quick hello-nice to see you-good-bye.
ReplyDeleteBest, Jean
Thanks, Jean...So happy to get to know you a little through your musings/
ReplyDeletewritings which are sensitive and compelling. Thanks for sending...and Happy
New Year....Warmest...
Hello Diana-- nice to meet you! Thanks for reading. It's always appreciated when someone takes the time to respond to the articles whenever I send them out because, really, I don't know who reads them. Hope to meet you soon at an OSA function sometime in the near future.
Best, Jean
Dear Jean,
ReplyDeleteAs well as being a fabulous visual artist, you are a wonderful writer! I so appreciate your positive upbeat observations.
So true there is the negative but focusing upon it only makes it grow, so here is to us finding the joy.
All the best to you in 2014,
Judy
Happy New Year to you too Judy! As always thanks for taking the time to read and to respond. Hope the portraits and other creative endeavours go splendidly well in the year ahead.
ReplyDeleteBest, Jean
Your writing is truly inspiring!
ReplyDeleteLila
Hi Lila,
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you. Thanks for the response and I hope your paintings flourish in the new year.
Best, Jean
Hi Jean,
ReplyDeleteI am glad to have received your blog today. I really enjoyed reading it!
Sue Ennis OSA
Hi Sue,
ReplyDeleteNice to meet you! Thanks-- I do appreciate it when people respond to the articles because sometimes that's the only way I know anyone is reading them. Hope to meet you at a future OSA function soon.
Best, Jean
Happy New Year Jean . I wish you a loot of health happiness and creativity trough the year. Do more articles for Art you have talent . This is your major way of expression . True in Art . Ivo
ReplyDeleteI do Art . Follow me . http://vimeo.com/67578771
http://www.overdekunst.nl/international-window/ivo-arnaudov-100.htm
Thanks Ivo! I love how you said "I wish you a loot of health, happiness, and creativity etc." I wish you a lot of loot too!
ReplyDeleteBest, Jean
Thanks, Jean, for your uplifting story...
ReplyDeleteAll the best.
Lillian
Thanks for reading Lillian-- all the best to you too.
Jean
Hi Jean, HAPPY New Year
ReplyDeleteI have to agree that grumpy people are not high on my list of friends. On the other hand artists that brag about their successes are avoided too. I enjoy people who are interested in me and my art and who can share some of the hardships we encounter in lfe.
Nice blog. Thanks
Charlie Spratt
Hi Charlie,
ReplyDeleteNice to hear from you-- Hope you are well and recovering from the past year. Thanks for taking the time to respond. You know a number of other artists also made comments similar to yours. I must say though-- I've never had the "pleasure" of anyone going on about their successes which I'm sure is one of those rather-have-a-root-canal-instead experiences.
All the best for the New Year,
Jean
Thanks Jean for this. You are so right that it is important to "emphasize the positive"
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year to you too
F
Hi Frances
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading. Being positive can be challenging but not hopeless. Hope you and yours survived the ice storm and other vagaries of weather out in your area.
Best, Jean
I had to laugh at your article because I've run into a few artists like Chad! I have also run into an abundance of artists who never ask me a question, so the whole time we stand and talk, they are talking endlessly about themselves and their work......boring! And so I'm learning as I grow older, to start backing away, or I just pat them on their back and say well, take care! End of conversation. Ha!
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year, Jean and thank you for another insightful article.
ReplyDeleteWonderful article Jean. I enjoyed your gratitude notes and am inspired to take my own inventory. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMary Seymour OSA
Hi Mary-- always appreciate those who take the time to read and respond too-- another gift I never take for granted!
ReplyDeleteBest, Jean