Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Being an Artist..



Being an artist is a crazy job. I can assure you, it is. I am one myself.

People have a ridiculous approach towards artists, especially towards painters, traditional artists and portrait artists.
  •  They demand proof of your skill.


 “Okay, agreed you are an artist or as you claim a portrait artist. Why not give me a demonstration by painting a portrait of mine? (Preferably free!!).”
  • They need you to cough up a masterpiece within minutes. Moreover, when it comes time to pay they will show magical powers to weasel out of paying you or device methods to convince you to sell it for one fourth its worth.



  • You are a local artist. Why should they buy from you when they can buy *branded* masterpieces from an upscale supermarket. Who cares if the seller paid only one third of the cost price to the artist?




The following quote eulogizes the pains of an artist and the importance of buying art from an artist directly.

“When you buy from an independent artist you are buying more than just a painting or a novel or a song.

You are buying hundreds of hours of experimentation and thousands of failures. You are buying days, weeks, months, years of frustration and moments of pure joy.

You are buying nights of worry about paying the rent, having enough money to eat, having enough money to feed the children, the birds, …the dog. 

You aren’t just buying a thing - you are buying a piece of heart, part of a soul, a private moment in someone’s life.

Most importantly, you are buying that artist more time to do something they are truly passionate about; 

something that makes all of the above worth the fear and doubt; something that puts the life into living.”

- Rebekah Joy Plett 



What prompted me to write this post is a half story I read at IndiChange.

Yet another half story that needs our help to complete.


The Artists of Raghurajpur create art that is worth a lot, yet it is under appreciated. They aim to create a website, which promotes their art so that they get the true worth for their art.

Watch this video to know about them.


)


Indiblogger via Indichange joins Tata Capital to help complete their half story.

I hope this blogpost creates awareness about their art and also helps to spread news about this effort to complete their half story.

Please, Please, Please…contribute to this initiative by visiting

http://doright.in.

Wishing the artists of Raghurajpur a bright future...




26 comments:

  1. So true Preethi ji!! People do have a wierd idea about art and artists!!! I have experienced it being an artist myself! Hope this mentality changes soon!

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    1. Let us hope... It has to start with us I guess. We should refuse to do for free.

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  2. Hi Preethi,
    It is evident that you could relate to them from your own personal experiences. While I personally respect artist community at a upper creative echelon, hope the attitude, as you have mentioned, change for good. I can't think of that at all .Also hope all of us together can do something for these less fortunate artists.

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    1. Yes..the attitude has to change for good. May art and artists reign ...:)

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  3. Like this post! There is so much talent and creative spirit in our country, it is time each one of us figures out a way what we individually can do to support and encourage the arts in our circle of influence.

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    1. There should be initiative on part of the artists themselves to improve their plight I guess.

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  4. We must support the villagers for the cause. I too would share this with people and would try to spread the word.

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  5. Loved this post! Unfortunately, artists do not always get the appreciation they deserve :(

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    1. Rightly said Pankti.. I hope artists get lucky and find sponsors like old times..

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  6. Talented artists should get what they deserve. Really unfortunate that middlemen pocket the fruits of their hard-work...
    Hope the Raghurajpur artists get their due...
    Nice post, Preethi.

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    1. Middlemen and the business people trick them out of their due...
      Thank you for dropping in Anita..

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    2. Congrats Preethi!!! You won :) Happy for you!

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  7. I have felt and still feel the same Preethi... If I could help, I would have definitely! I am currently with empty pocket since I left teaching profession and having my growing amount of loans to pay to my husband :) If I could help them right now.... :(

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    1. Same here Sindhu.. Loans and still more loans... :P

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  8. Helping these artists should not be in a charity approach, instead it should be in a philanthropic approach. Like the famous saying "Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day; show him how to catch fish, and you feed him for a lifetime." So in the case of any artists, its bad to do charity on them, instead it would be better to orient them the business approach. If an artist doesn't know how to make himself a "branded item", surely the middle man will take advantage of this ignorance or lack of financial and business knowledge of the artist. So my view is increase financial knowledge among artists, and it will definitely do the trick. Even if you see any best selling book, it need not be the best literature work, it may be just the title, or hot issues, etc. Similarly in the case of a picture, or artistic drawings, equal importance has to be given to the presentation of the art like its framing, or materials used etc. In the case of Raghurajpur artists, the middle man is taking the art from them and at a cheap value of about Rs.6000, and then modify them with better framing and presenting them in a posh location helps them to sell it at Rs. 30.000. So if this modifications done by middle man is done by the artist itself, they will become a good business man apart from an artist. Any profession, requires a business attitude within to get growing, otherwise it will perish. Showoff is not a bad thing, especially when it comes to promote your talents. So, hope the idea of creating a website for these artists will give them a better business attitude.

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    1. Rightly said Praveen.. Through the website that they intend to create, they are likely to attract more customers directly. Like you said they will learn to make their art a 'brand'.

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  9. Those quotes by Rebekah Joy Plett were too good and real. Nice read!

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  10. True words! They have an amazing skill and the value of their time in making these beautiful arts should not be depreciated. I also second Praveen thoughts and ideas above.

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  11. Yes..they should get what they truly deserve... Let us hope this effort goes more into making them self- sufficient . That we are able to show them "how to catch fish ( *customers*) and feed themselves for a lifetime". Hope they are able to attract some really big fish..:)

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  12. You wrote very well..Will be following your blog henceforth.
    Thank you..

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