Retired Again

Quite a few of you know that I have retired from the art business but this post makes it official. I will still paint for my own pleasure and do commissions if anyone ever asks, but I am out of the business of public approval, i.e. juried shows, shows in general, and feeding galleries. In fact I haven't lifted a brush since May. I am peppering the post with some lesser known pieces that I am happy to call 'done by me'. Like this 2nd one, "Yard Art" from a photo of Alan Cotton's back yard in PEI. The painting went to a charity auction.

I've been putting off writing this post for months, not because I am ambivalent about the decision but because I needed to tell my PEI gallery owner face-to-face that I've retired from painting, which I did in September. Someone who works as hard as she has for me, selling about 80 pieces in the last few years, deserves more than an email message severing the relationship. At least I think so. Let me assure you that good galleries are not that easy to find, and ones that are run professionally and with integrity are even harder to find. There are all kinds of stories, some of them mine, about galleries not paying for work sold, or remembering that something has sold when you want to retrieve the piece, or taking months to pay, or going out of business with your work held against debt, etc. But the Pilar Shephard Gallery in Charlottetown is not one of those. Pilar is a CHARACTER in the best sense of the word and she has an MA in Fine Art, but more importantly she is honest and organized. So kudos to her for making a living at art for herself and artists, especially in a seasonal market.

Back to retiring. The trouble with having a hobby with a concrete result, and I HATE the term “hobby artist” because there are so many happy but unskilled artists, is that the product builds up. There are only so many walls in any given house and only so many family members and friends to offload to, and still the canvasses pile up. So then you look for a way to clear the shelves, “I’ll have a show” she says and that was fun, but now what. So then you look for marketing opportunities, coffee shops, restaurants, more shows, juried shows, galleries, and commission work. But all of that requires hours of administrative effort (sales tax, inventory spread sheets, invoices,) computer work (like teaching myself how to develop and manage a webpage), networking, joining organizations, and even some painting.

Did I mention packaging and shipping? If I never see another piece of Styrofoam it won’t be too soon. You get the drift. In order to justify the activity you turn it into a job and a job comes with deadlines and responsibilities; and really, I just like to paint. And Jim likes to travel which turned out to be not such a great mix. Two years ago we returned from the Maritimes on October 2 and left for South Africa on March 11. In between time I had 38 painting commitments to complete, which for some artists is about 5 years work. I knew then that I wasn’t having fun anymore but I was afraid to not have something to do, and I still am. Writing “retired” as an occupation feels like such a cliché and I’ve never been one to conform.

Last spring my right shoulder made the decision and fired me. The injury started when I was doing student schedule changes at school. The programme we used was all mouse operated and with a mouse your arm is always extended. What many people don’t know about painting is that it is physically demanding. I am a stand-rather-than-sit painter and again the arm is extended for hours at a time. And using oil paints on canvas means you are pushing the paint reasonably hard in the early stages of a painting unlike watercolour which is floated onto paper. Also, I get very absorbed when I am ‘working’ and don’t realize I’m in pain until I stop. I’ve been nursing the shoulder along for a long time but it’s gone past that point. Now I have a steady schedule of appointments with massage therapist, physio, and chiropractor, trying to repair the years of abuse.

I have had lots of fun, and I’ve learned lots, and I’ve had my ego stroked. Now my ego gets battered by Rob Cameron in Spanish class every week, and some days I am quite unsettled, and this past Sunday I just sat and read a book. We have 15 coming for Thanksgiving Dinner, we are going to the Okanagan for a couple of days, we’ve just booked a week in Iceland in November, and there are a couple of paintings rattling around in my head. It’s not like I’ll be bored!

So that’s the rather long story. You’ve all been incredibly supportive over the years: cheerleading, purchasing, helping with shows, encouraging and being patient. So thank you.