Plan B

Not so long ago, Jack White wrote an article for FASO about falling into the trap of "Plan B". This is not just detrimental to artists but many people wanting to fulfill a financial dream based on the things they love to do. Plan B is supposed to be our fallback just in case Plan A fails. Sounds like safe thoughtful way to go......or is it? Does Plan B continually set us up for failure? It seems our just-in-case options become our Plan A and then our initial Plan A gets left in the dust. As Oxfam says, "Plan A.....because there is no plan B.".  Will plan A ever work if there is plan B?

What if we reversed Plan A and B? Here's the scenereo: Bob wants to paint full time but right now he doesn't have enough time to paint in order to produce sales to earn revenue to support his overhead because Bob uses Plan B, a full time job, to support Plan A, his painting, and his overhead. Bob is so tired from his job that he tends to put painting on the back burner until he finds more time to paint. Sound familiar?

Let's reverse that. Bob wants to work full time but right now he has too much painting and marketing to do in order to keeps his galleries and clients satisfied. So Bob reduces his work hours in order to paint more often. Wait a second.....did that just work?

So that's the plan. I've just done that. No really, I quit my full time design job to spend more time with the kids and painting. I now work part time retail hours to fulfill my goals. What's your plan?

Priorities, Sacrifice, and Art

On August 12th, 2011, my little Samson was born. That makes, two boys and two adults in a 750 square foot house with two miniscule bedrooms and awkwardly set up main space in our 100 year old house. Both my husband and I are artists. I paint. He writes and plays music and we've run out of space in our house to do either.

To us, art is a necessity. Without it, we both get depressed and bored. Art is our TV. So we re-evaluated each space in our house to maximize the functionality of all 750 square feet. Lets start with the upstairs - our bedrooms. Since Samson was born, his bassinet was in our room and my first son, Levi has his own bedroom which he has always hated. Samson wakes up every three to four hours day and night which means my husband has bloodshot eyes at work so he began to sleep downstairs on the carpet. Levi began to sneak into our bed in the middle of the night confessing his fear of his room.

Next, the main floor, which consists of the covered porch, the living room, the dining room, and the kitchen. The kitchen is just way too much to take on as a reno at this point so I won't even discuss it. The dining table became a place for mail, electronics, empty fruit bowls, and Levi's random findings. And we despised the falling apart, cheaply made, uncomfortable dining chairs. The dining room also sufficed as my painting studio and our "office". This room was too cramped.

The living room is our favorite room. It is the most updated with the TV and lounge furniture. We keep it the cleanest so we can relax at the end of our day. But our couch was broken.

The entrance was our temporary storage facility, always holding the next renovation supplies or leftovers. It isn't heated so it doesn't serve well for much in the winter.

What we wanted was a proper place to paint or write, a play area for the boys, a bedroom big enough to fit both boys in so mom and dad could have their own room. So here's what we did:

We first got rid of the table and chairs and made the dining room into the boys play area. Then we bought a trendy futon and got rid of the old broken couch as well as our bed. We now sleep on the futon in the living room. Our bedroom became the boy's room and Levi's "scary" room is now my studio. The "office", which is really only a table and a laptop, is still in the same room as the play area, which may or may not move into the new studio. Where do we eat? Where we've always eaten. Around the living room table on pillows like tatami mats in Japan.

Our priorities shifted the way we use North American traditional spaces and quite frankly, we like it better.

Meaning of Art or Meaningful Art?

Just recently I received an email from someone I have never met before. Sandra Fehr began to tell me of her story. Recently her family was in an accident and her son, Mark received severe brain damage. As a mother of two young sons myself, my eyes began to swell up already.

Backing up a little, a few years ago, a church we had attended requested a large painting commission from me. I was to paint the trinity as a triptic. I had a hard time narrowing down who I felt the Father was  and who he might be to others and came up with a simple scene of a boy sleeping on the shoulder of the Father. You can't see the face of the Father, but He is illuminated, casting light on the boy.

Sandra attends this church. She told me that the first time she saw the painting after the accident, she found comfort, feeling that Mark was in the arms of Jesus and that he was being taken care of. To her and many others, the boy in the painting looked just like Mark so for Sandra, the painting gave her hope that her son would be okay. Mark is recovering slowly.

Is this the meaning of art or is it simply meaningful art. A little while ago Keith Bond wrote and article called "Advancing Art for Art's Sake" where he paraphrases another article by Rose Fredrick who states that fine art art should advance for art's sake. Fine Art should "further the movement and evolution of art; to leave a lasting impression on society". Furthermore, it should be "honest" and "advance society".

My painting of the Father may never reach "society" (to which I understand as, the world), and I have not developed a new style or new technique with this painting to which may advance society, but if a work of art can affect one person, is that enough? It's her world being affected. It has honestly and positively left and impression on her. What would art be if we as artists only painted for ourselves? Is this the meaning of art? Should we as artists always strive to paint meaningful art that affects others positively? How does society advance if not one person at time?

My views may be relative but Sandra's story inspired me to keep painting meaningful work, which is the meaning of art to me. What do you think?