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There comes a point ( or many) in any artists life and career where he or she has to write a statement. It can be for a competition, an application or even just to have to hand for those interested in reading it.

I have gotten to that point, yet again and I have to say for me it is one of those things you slowly improve at but will never fully get to terms with. Finding the right words to describe your art be it painting or pottery, in a way so that it is comprehensive to others, is no simple task. I find myself feeling as if squeezing my brain for the right words to seep out.

Having said that, when you finally do find the words to describe your art after minimizing the amount of art lingo, that sense of contentment makes it all worth it!

-jeanie

As an artist I believe that what will make it or break it in terms of succeeding as an artist beyond your home, family and friends is having your own style. At the moment my own style is something I need to discover and refine once I do find it. But how do I go about identifying my very own style? This is the question that has long been on my mind. That and many others of course, but this one I am certain is one of the more crucial ones.

I would guess that the most organic way of stumbling across a style to call your own would be to paint, and I don’t mean just painting in general here and there, but a lot. Trying out all sorts of ways to apply the paint and a whole range of different subject matters and motifs. However doing it at random might prove to be quite inefficient, especially considering how most of us do not have the benefit of having rich parents or are in any other way financially stable enough to be able to paint full time.

With this in mind I have decided to approach the issue strategically and paint toward themes I am already fond of, looking at different combinations I might have previously overlooked. So with out further ado I will embark on the journey to find my niche, hidden somewhere in the depths of my subconscious.

– jeanie mester

My favorite way of blogging

When I first decided to start a blog it was originally to a) market myself as an artist and increase my presence on the web. And b) having an easy way of updating my site frequently. It both seem like the logical next step and is also recommended in various “how to market yourself as an artist”-sites.

Looking around reading other blogs I found that some of them kept writing things like ” ill write more later, no body is reading this anyway..”

I don’t know about everyone else, but as a reader that sort of comment really puts me off. On me that has the same effect as telling me: “stop reading, this has no value”. I mean if the author assumes that nobody is reading it, logically that would be because the author sees no value in his or her blog, why else would they assume nobody reads it? And if the blog’s creator doesn’t even appreciate it why should you?

A few weeks after starting this blog I find myself not worrying about how many people read the blog or how I can increase that number. Instead I find it surprisingly rewarding and relaxing, a lot less than a chore like I thought of it at first and more of a liberating option at my disposal. I actually really enjoy writing down my thoughts on art and bits and pieces about life, if nothing else because it is such a great way of flaunting my vocabulary and improving it further. Ha ha ha  and considering how I am a predominantly visual person some practice every now and then wont hurt.

– jeanie mester

I’m really excited and can’t wait untill they will finally reveal the final 100 of the 100 Painters of Tomorrow competition.  Without a final date for announcing the final 100 it seems oddly distant with only a few irregular updates to keep you posted but still no prospect of when the wait will be over.

I find that entering an art competition is much like applying for a job you really want. You start out with putting together the very best to represent you. After follows a long period of waiting, mostly to the point that you forget you even submitted anything in the first place and when the wait is finally over they get back only to let you know you were unsuccessfull.

Sad to say I didn’t make the recent Adidas competition, luckily there are quite a few other competitions on to keep me distracted from that.

On another bright note, I am making great progress on my latest painting and after day 4 I have almost completed it. With todays lovely weather thoughI must admitt that I did get distracted but hopefully the intended prospective owner of this painting will be as happy with it as I am.

As an artist at some point, if it is what you want to do proffessionally on a fulltime basis, you need to consider being self emplyed ie being a business.

So that is what I have been up to these last few days, considering this aspect of art…

When I havent been promoting my piece for Adidas’s “Crash, colide, unite all originals” competition that is. (You can vote here)

Becoming self employed is actually a lot easier than I had originally thought. However getting your head around all the different taxes and when they need to be payed, is a different story. Not to mention that there are things you can and cannot deduct tax from depending on your profit. And ofcourse it gets even more tricky if you add already being employed (to support yourself) to this numerical mix… None the less I will hopefully be attempting this feat in the near future.

I recently decided to post regular updates from now on. So on every Sunday there will be a new, hopefully interesting post to read. And sometimes inbetween for when I’m very excited about one of my many projects.

As a matter of fact the work on my self portrait is going really well and is nearing completion. If you would like to see the progress have a look at my facebook page.

To be continued…

Every once in a while I think we all have a good lazy day, some perhaps more often than others. But how often is it that you have one of those lazy-didn’t-do-anything-all-day type of day, where you didn’t regret it by the time you went to bed?
When you didn’t think, I really should have done ..xyz today?

I think there is at least two types of lazy days, the main one where you just cant be bothered to do anything even though you know there are alot of things you should be doing. And the second type which is about the same as the first except you are consiously deciding that that’s what you are going to do and therefore dont feel guilty about it at the end of the day.

Not having the guilt of “should-do’s” in the the back of your head, or in my head at least made my lazy day into a content day.
Its incredible how having a content day rested and reacharged me in a completely different way than just resting would have. My levels of focus and inspiration along with resourcefulness and drive just shot through the roof.

I suppose that is the value of allowing yourself a break. If you get a chance I definitely recommend giving it a try!

The other day I finally managed to squeeze in some time to paint and Im quite happy with the progress I made so far and thought I would share it with you.

Some progress on my selfportrait.

After a long dry spell, and I’m not talking about the weather, I finally got to take my paints out and work some more on my self portrait. The session starter really well with discovering my fast drying medium had spilt and left all of my paint tubes icky and tacky. Not to mention the floor which I still haven’t figured out how to clean.

Have you ever seen an artist after they finish painting? Or heard the expression paint everywhere? That was certainly the case for me today… as a matter of fact it even took on a whole new meaning as I discovered I had paint on me underneath my top!

– Jeanie mester ← Touch again to save

Making time for art be it in terms of freeing up more time to be creative, working less or becoming less sociable is a fine balance.
As of late I feel like the scale have been a bit heavy on the non artistic side and I’m trying my best to shift the weights around for a more harmoniously balanced scale… At least I don’t have sunshine an nice weather to distract me, haha.
– jeanie mester