LOVE 4 SALE

Above, a Broken Bank Note painting gets loaded on a truck for client delivery. No, this will not be about building cases, or creating brand expectations at point of delivery. It is about the nature of selling what we do. As I start to sell this new work, I have some thoughts.

Johnny Lee
"...Nobody can pay you enough for the love you're looking for and of course everything they pay you is too much." -Eric Fischl
There is a lot of truth to that Eric Fischl statement. However, I have yet to find my number that is "too much", but I am eager to get there. Being a working artist has a lot of challenges, most no different than any other business. However, one big difference is the exaggerated sense of self one gets from working in a vacuum, creating what one hopes is the most emotionally raw representation of themselves and then hopelessly looking for love and validation of that effort from the public at large. It is that search for love through money, notoriety, award or other form, that is the minefield. We live in a capitalist economy that equates talent and success with money. At the end of the day, selling your work for a tidy sum is the validation many seek. And to be blunt: You can't pay bills with awards. I know. I have 22 of them and nobody gives a fuck. I tried to use them once to pay the mortgage ...it didn't work. So in the end, like many things, it comes down to money.

And So?
The value of your ability and the value you put on yourself as an artist and unfortunately to some degree as a person, are often tied to how much you can earn. I know this to be doubly true for men, who real or perceived, place their value in financial wealth. The thing is, if you are a creative and live like this ...life is going to be really hard. Money and talent have nothing to do with each other. Ask every person at music school you've never heard of. Or art school. Or English Lit program. I think you are getting the point.

Why Don't You Get To The Point.
I have had more lows than highs to be sure. I have lived like it was the end of days when the money was flowing and I have lived much the same when there was no money. It is interesting how that phrase works for both financial ends of the spectrum. In practice, it looks vastly different.

If you keep your value tied to your ability to sell your work, get ready for big swings and emotional roller coasters. If you think your creative is the shit because you can do no wrong, as sure as the sun will rise, that will end. Vanity and ego are destroyers of art. They rob truth for superficial filler. We create elaborate narratives to justify success. But therein lies the perils that Eric was speaking about. Looking for love and validation through financial compensation ...knowing it can never be enough and at the same time, it will always be too much.