Your Art, Your Life - Sunday 6/25/17

Our next salon at the Microscopic Theater will be an open discussion relating to artists of all kinds. This will be a wine and cheese event at 7:00 p.m. on Sunday, June 25th. We'll consider whether pursuit of your art should, can, or might be your main livelihood. Does making money at your art in any way compromise the art itself? Should the measure of your success include the income you get from your art, or just your artistic output itself? Here's a quote from Pablo Picasso we can use as a starting point: "Well, success is an important thing! It’s often been said that an artist ought to work for himself, for the “love of art,” that he ought to have contempt for success. Untrue! An artist needs success. And not only to live off it, but especially to produce his body of work. Even a rich painter has to have success. Few people understand anything about art, and not everyone is sensitive to painting. Most judge the world of art by success. Why, then, leave success to “best-selling painters”? Every generation has its own. But where is it written that success must always go to those who cater to the public’s taste? For myself, I wanted to prove that you can have success in spite of everyone, without compromise. Do you know what? It’s the success I had when I was young that became my wall of protection. The blue period, the rose period, they were screens that shielded me."

Let me know by email if you'll be attending this informal conversation. I hope to see you there.