Art fills my life. I love writing too and that has been neglected on blogger more or less since 2011. For ne reason other than the main blog has been part of my art website.
So what's been happening in the past two years?
After some bad experiences with art dealers, I decided to withdraw somewhat and tried to sell my own art wiithout the involvement of any middle men. This seemed daunting at first but I soon learned that good artwork sells. I gave my all to concentrating on the quality of what I was producing.
Like many artists, if I could rid myself of monetary concerns and purely concentrate on my artwork, that would be my preferred route. The artworld doesn't operate that way however and certainly not in a recession. I consider myself fortunate that there has been enough interest in my artwork over the past few years to keep me in practice. Many other artists I know have had to either give up or have had to take other jobs. It has not always been the case that it is because their artwork is poor. I know some very talented artists who are just not that good at promoting and marketing. Conversely, I know some excellent marketers who manage to sell poor art!
Joe Hendry Graphite Art
In 2012, I hardly painted at all. Instead, I concentrated in working in graphite and sharpening my drawing skills. This continued until the first quarter of 2013 ended when I seemed to naturally return to painting. Oil painting was what I returned to first but at the time of writing, I am emersing myself in acrylic again and playing around with mark-making. Something I first really investigated during the period when I was working with graphite.
More recenly, I have started to engage with art dealers and galleries again. I have sought out people who love art, not just money and also those who have a respect for artists rather than those who look to form a parasitic relationship. So far, so good. I seem to have met some decent art dealers recently and hope that I can leave the bad experiences in the past as I look to produce new artwork.
