This week I had a serious breakdown. I felt completely burnt out. The idea that I could take a break didn't really occur to me. Nor did the idea that maybe I was expelling too much effort in one direction when perhaps I should consider a more balanced method of attack. My roommate spent a few hours trying to convince me to make my work travel down the prints and greeting cards route, while my friend Ben suggested that I make more conceptual decisions with my work. Really, I keep coming back to the idea that the two bodies of work are separate entities. I make creatures and illustrations which are cute and inhibit the ideas within my more conceptual work. Eventually the two will coexist in the same evironment, but I have an entire lifetime to figure out that dilemma.
For now I consider myself fortunate to have a number of different projects to keep me occupied. Somewhere in the past couple days I realized that it is better to have a couple things to work out in your studio and creative practice than to have it all figured out. Having something to work toward keeps the process fresh.
After the talk with my roommate I looked up prices for making Giclee prints of my work, something which I think that I will do after figuring out the real costs. I enjoy the idea that an image doesn't need to be killed off after it is sold. However, I do not think that I can ever exist only on attempting to sell prints. As it is though, I will be offering signed prints of this image for a ten dollar fee through my Etsy store or if you prefer to just contact me at mike at lewisacrylic dot com.
The original is still available as well through the Etsy store for roughly twice that. I find it interesting to attempt to price work. I do not feel justified to charge extraneous amounts for work that I produce incessantly. I think that thus far at least my work has been produced at such a prolific rate that to charge much more for it would be inconsistent with my views on work to profit relationships. I'd be interested in hearing what others may have to say about that.
I've also been producing new images in the Vertical Series as well. I do not think that I will ever attempt to make prints of these. The concepts that drive this work depend upon multiplicity, but my own multiplicity of production, not a fabricated production. Reproductions would inhibit the idea of these images I feel.
Today I also met with a friend who is commissioning a large scale rendition of a work produced in the same manner that my thesis was produced. This is very exciting not only because I have get to do a large scale work for someone but also because I get to work out the issues that I discovered while working on my thesis six months ago. I couldn't justify attempt to re-envision the piece without some financial motivation, but now that I have that, I am so excited to work on this new work. I will share the sketches from that piece soon, once I have everything a little more finalized as to placement.
lastly, the conversation with my roommate touched upon how worthless it is to show in galleries, which was immediately contradicted by an email from The Hive Gallery who is having a recycled cd art show. I couldn't help but make something for this show. I was just too excited about the idea and whipped this piece out last night as a result.
It amused me to reference a discman in my image for the Recycled CD show. I will be sending that piece out on Tuesday. Things are coming together again. The upswing is always so nice, and while the rock bottoms in my mood that I experience grow harder and harder to deal with, the time that these rock bottoms last decreases each time that I get them now. There is a lot to look forward to, a lot of work to make, and a lot of opportunities if I am just looking for them.
Here's looking out.
Peace
-Mike
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