The Art of being ready.

This fall has been a wonderful time on the South Coast; there have been so many art shows and so many opportunities an artist can get completely confused.

Why? Because when there are shows every week, suddenly the supply of art any one artist can produce runs short. Maybe like Kim Wurster your art is so in demand that you work on each piece as it is commissioned and when it is finished off it goes to the commissioner and the next commission takes it place on the easel.

Maybe like Susan Lehman you are so creative that the act of slowing down is in itself a betrayal of talent. Why do one thing when you can do twenty and do them all well?

I don’t have either of those problems and as a photographer my production time is somewhat faster than my painter/collage pals. And I will admit that there were so many opportunities this fall that I had to select which ones I would devote my energies to, but that doesn’t excuse me from failing to be ready.

We’ve all heard that opportunity knocks but once. And every coach I ever had told me I had to be ready to grab that opportunity with both hands, because winning is when opportunity and preparation come together! But no one says a thing about opportunity’s quixotic schedule.

Yeah, if only the opportunities would pace themselves and give me some breathing room. They could for instance arrange to come along every six weeks or so. Then if I had to get something framed I could take it to the local frame shop (I’d insert the name of a local source like Easy Lane Frames, but I wouldn’t want to be guilty of playing favorites), and have it ready in plenty of time.

But that’s not what happens is it? No the damned things come along willy-nilly like they didn’t have a care in the world and they expect us, as artists to jump up and get an entry ready in a whirlwind of effort.

And they should. What, no word of defense for the creative spirit, the tortured soul of an artist, the grueling hours it takes to create art? Nope not a word.

You don’t live in a world where art is highly valued. Just take a look at what programs get cut when the public schools have a budget short-fall. You can bet it ain’t football. Why, why isn’t art as valuable as football? Because artist old buddy pal, football pays the bills.

And as an artists whether you are creating for yourself alone or for the general public, you have to find a way to pay the bills.

Now you probably have a day-job, (yeah like I could live on what I get from art), and you use it to subsidize the art part of your life, but is that fair? Shouldn’t your art pay its own way?

It doesn’t have to be in hard cash, but it should contribute something. Are you building your credits so that when you are asked for any artist’s statement you don’t have to ask for a pencil and a piece of paper? Are you proudly adding that juried show to your list? What are you doing to be ready when opportunity knocks?

When shows come hot and heavy like they’ve done this fall, maybe being selective is the right thing to do. You can’t be everything to everyone, but you are doing something, right?

Are you reading all of the resources for shows so that you can plan ahead and know when there will be a bunch of things going on at the same time? Are you on the mailing list for the Coos Art Museum, the Umpqua Valley Art assn, the Florence Events Center, the Bay Area Artists Assn, this blog? And if you aren’t why not?

Empty your closets, make time to organize your photographs, get all of those frames dusted and ready, so that the next time we have so many shows that you just can’t keep up being ready won’t be a crisis.

The art of being ready is really very simple, stay informed, stay organized and stay energized.