Rowed out

More than a bit stalled-a conversation I had yesterday with two ex-gallery owners/art dealers (of a Santa Fe stripe) has convinced me i should give up as an artist and become a…well, you might as well fill in the blank as I haven't a clue.
The image of working and working, then building a fire and throwing all the stuff into the flames has some appeal. Then  truly I'd have an all-consuming audience-or at the least, an all-consuming performance.
The image of the souls who have passed on and are marching their way to heaven or hell passes through my mind-so many artists preceded me-all that work-and just how many do we know, remember, recognize?
In this is the key: we make stuff because we have to. If another is attracted by it, so it goes…this makes me think that the society that allows for art and artists needs to be revalued. If we were all treated like ordinary workers, perhaps this would be so much the better. Much like the westerner coming to Japan and seeing the now " Japanese masterpiece", the ukiyo-e print, used to repair shoji screens, we need a more humble approach to art and to the artist. At the very least in order to avoid the many disappointments inherent in the art-making biz. The war years in America yielded many artists working just for the sake of working and fine art was unknown as "fine" or as  a pumped-up commodity.

Now, art (and the artists theta make it) is either gold or has no value whatsoever and is not worth seeing (since it is not marketable). Really?


HERE IS A FACSIMILE
of my most recent painting (photo unnecessary as this artist falls into the "not marketable" category).