All too often people think that being an artist is a care free, no stress, easy going way to make a living that just touches on being a serious, worthy occupation. Our office (our studios) can be visited, it seems, at any time of the week because we’re not really doing anything that requires a schedule or appointment. For us to close the gate three days a week creates more offense than respect of the need for us to protect our privacy in order to create the work we do.
A look behind the scenes, however, reveals many a stressful day that requires an artist to have the patience of Job and the resilience of an enlightened yoga master to avoid going nuts as the once neat and tidy living room—and dining room table—become staging grounds and work stations for weeks on end for an upcoming exhibition or the car breaks down in the middle of nowhere while on the way to Hobart to photograph the paintings for such an exhibition.
We actually took two cars (mine could only hold five of the seven paintings plus my own sculpture, “Birth of Beauty”) so, in a way, we were lucky as I was able to get to the photographer on time with most of the work while Sally limped back to Roaring Beach. Having left half an hour earlier, I had no idea that Sally’s car decided to call it quits until the kind waiter (this is Hobart where a “kind waiter” is not an oxymoron) at the restaurant we had agreed to meet at for breakfast handed me his mobile phone. It also happened to be a day when the temperature rose to 100 degrees on the drive home as I nervously transported $100,000 worth of uninsured art with all the windows rolled down.
All said and done, though, it still was a good day. The photographer, Peter Whyte, is a skilled master at documenting art work and it was a pleasure to watch him work. His $25,000 camera was needed to get the necessary 80mp for a future poster of “The Birth of Beauty” (see below) as well as fine art reproductions of the paintings. The two paintings that didn’t get photographed are being shot today as Peter was kind enough to reschedule Sally ahead of her exhibition opening this coming Sunday.
Now, with just five days to go there is only the house to get transformed with the living room tided up, the dining room table cleared of hammer, screw drivers, pliers, gold leaf, pots of glue, staple gun, electric drill various jars of varnish, shellac and thinners, and, the beds made up for visiting parents, relatives and friends flying in for the weekend to celebrate the launch of the Moonstone Mandala paintings. All this plus continually working on my own ideas for a site specific sculpture for the Friendly Beaches Lodge in less than a month.
Life’s a party if you’re an artist.
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