September 13, 2009 -This entry is the last entry prior to starting my blog. So Check out my Blog.
Jake Beckman's artist's 2009 diary or blog:
Creative Cogitation and other ramblings about the life of the artist.
Comments? If they aren't to
evil, or vile, I could post them-Jake
June 25, 2009 wee hours of the AM. So I threw a fundraising event. Had a ton of food, beverages, and even some entertainment lined up. Spread the word far and wide. Hardly anyone showed.
You all should have been there; Judith prepared quite the spread. There were ample beverages and cocktails. Judith even line up the Phoenix 7th Avenue Fire Dancers to entertain once it got dark. I came prepared loaded with gifts for my potential sponsors. It was quite the party for the few who did attend.
You know things must be tough when free food and alcohol doesn't attract a crowd.
June 8, 2009 - I have been invited to attend the Biennale Internazionale dell'Arte Contemporanea di Firenze. It is held every two years, and apparently it is an honor to be chosen as the event is by invitation only. Everyone is telling me that I must go. So my next thought is how do I get there. While I was thinking about that, they sent me my application package. I have until July 14 to get the application together along with the 2700 Euro application fee. It does NOT include me getting me and my art to Florence. So I am feeling disheartened, as my guesstimate of my costs are about $8000 for travel, lodging, shipping my art and of course about half of that figure is the application fee. So I email a former participant, Josie, who tells me that is what sponsors are for.
I am a pretty self-sufficient gal, but I realize she is right. I do need to do this and in order to do this thing I need help. So I am officially begging. And I am open to suggestions as well.
In other news, the Art Show in Las Vegas was not a great success, but I did get to try out my new ProPanels. I had one patron, who wandered in sometime after closing while the guys were out in front talking; he and his wife expressed great interest in The Great Barrier Paisley for his office I think - I am pretty certain he was one of Ed D's regulars. He said he needed to measure his walls and I did not hear from him again that weekend. Although I am still holding out a small bit of hope.... Ed D said he would have let the guy take it home and try it on his wall - but that thought never would have occurred to me, especially at an out-of-state show. JAJ said I should have gotten the patron's phone number. Of course all this 20-20 hindsight advice came after the fact. I admit I screwed up not getting the patron's number in reciprocation for my business card, but it was after a long day of driving, setting up, showing for 4+ hours, and having popped a beer to cap off the evening - I'll let myself off the hook. Other than that I spent some time talking to assorted youngsters about how I do certain things.
The event did not go very well, largely owing to the fact that a large white man, a loud black man, and a crying woman started an altercation in front of the gallery. It was very strident and very out of hand. Patrons started gliding by very quickly doing their best impersonations of ghosts, especially after the police showed up. This started about 7 PM and and ended about 9:30 PM, which meant for the bulk of the show, the gallery did not appear very inviting. I guess I should be disappointed, but I am not. What happens, happens. Que Sera, Sera as they say.
I had time to think that evening about where my art is going and I see that I am being drawn in two very different directions. First there is the humor - I have a sort of bent way of looking at the world - and it leaks out onto the canvas. If you can't laugh at the world you will cry - I am not much for mourning. Pop Culture and my observations about it are interesting to me, and I do find it amusing as well.
The second thing that is that my art has always been fairly abstract, even though it is representational. I am very much about the way things should be, not as they are, and also looking for deeper meaning and connections via symbolism. My art is getting more and more representational abstract as time goes on even if the humor leaks onto the canvas from time to time. As I said I am pulled in two different directions.
Of course, I can always prostitute myself and do dragons, unicorns, western art, or even those non-representational abstracts, but those subjects are not the things that speak to me even if I am fully capable of doing a good job on the theme du jour. And that is a third direction that pulls me from time to time - hey I gotta eat just like everybody else. But that is not where my heart lies, merely my stomach.
My life is very busy at the moment. In addition to my day job and shows, the Florence Biennial, I am having a month of visitors. Lina is coming in from Bohn, Stephan is coming from Quebec, and Mayna is doing her annual visit too. So I have a lot of living to do in the next month. Hopefully it does not kill me. - Jake
May 24, 2009 - I have come to realize this section tends to be me about the business of art rather than the creative process. That is probably because the business absorbs so much of my time.
So I was supposed to be showing at Sunsets on the Plaza this week, but we got rained out. Still the whole getting ready for an art show drill wasn't a total waste of time as I have another show in Las Vegas in about 2 weeks. In the mean time my day job is intervening - I have tax class in Reno. DH is going to have to hold down the fort all by his lonesome for a few days. So right now I am pretty busy. AAG does seem to throw out artist opportunities on a regular basis so I would say that affiliation is working out for now.
Anyway in preparation for the show that did not happen I purchased three full sized pro-panels; very nice, well worth the price in my opinion. I opted to buy when I realized it would cost almost as much to rent them for a three day show as it did to buy them outright. The pro-panel guys got me my walls in a week; they showed up just a bit too late for the show that didn't happen, but I would say that turn around time is pretty amazing. They ship out of Texas and I am in Phoenix, so YMMV. I asked and NO they don't have local dealers, just the Texas production facility.
Also I set myself up with a merchant account. Mind you this is not a process for the faint of heart. The business is, well, downright sleazy, from what I can tell. My first foray was to ask assorted folks if they were happy with their merchant account. Nobody was. Lots of crabby people. Not a good sign. So I spent a while educating myself about the other side of credit card use. First thing I learned was ignore the teaser rate - it doesn't apply to most transactions anyway - it is for your generic credit card, not reward cards, not corporate cards and not for any transaction that doesn't go down smoothly. If you use credit as a consumer you probably don't carry a no-frills card and you have probably experience the worn out magnetic strip from time to time. Both of these scenarios result in a higher rate on the merchant's side of the transaction. Second lesson is ignore the hard sell. The salesmen and women for these merchant systems are very, very aggressive - do ask about every conceivable fee they can charge. If you don't get answers to the questions you ask, but instead get more of the sales pitch, consider yourself put on notice about the tone of your future dealings with them.
Do ask for a contract, then read it. Mine was 35 pages of fine print - I had a lot of questions and I expected answers before proceeding. It took me DAYS to read it. They will have you sign that you have read it - which is when I found out that I had been sent an outdated version - even though the newer one was only 30 pages - it was actually longer - they crammed more on each page by removing bold fonts for important bits and reducing the gutters on the page so they could cram more words on there.
Do not sign a contract with a early termination fee. Some merchant account providers make more money from you when you bail on your contract, than when you stay with them. All of them are going to have long terms - three to five years, but if there is no early termination fee... Also many will offer you a "free" credit card reader terminal. That device also may have a separate, possible egregious long-term contract. I bought my terminal outright for $560; it has wireless capability and is PCI compliant. If you work from a fixed location, you probably can get one with out the wireless capability for half that price. In my opinion it really is not worth getting stuck with a multi-year contract just to get a "free" device.
Mind the monthly fees. Some of these companies are charging $50 to a $100 per month for access, statements, etc. These will be in addition to the transaction fees and whatever other fees they can dream up. All I can say is buyer beware.
I haven't had any experience with my account as of yet, but I am hopeful that doing my homework beforehand will payoff after the fact. More on this topic later.
As for my commissions, one of them fell through and I had to retrieve the piece & the other has not yet paid. The longer it goes the more I think it might be coming back home too. So now I am rethinking the get your non refundable deposit up front before you start on these projects. I got lazy as I had been having no problems lately getting paid for commissioned works.
Well its late and my imagination is leaving for la la land - so more later I suppose.
April 26, 2009 - Survived another tax season, which is my day job. It pays pretty good, but all in all I think I would still rather be painting.
Trying something different. Joined the Arizona Artists' Guild (AAG) and the Scottsdale Artists' Guild in February (SAG). Looking at networking opportunities. Already tapped into a few, but no great shakes as of yet.
One opportunity was the Small is Big show, the AAG hosted at the Art of Light Gallery in downtown Phoenix. I didn't have anything that fit their criteria (max size 12 inches on a side including the frame) so I was forced to create (in tax season I do need a kick in the pants). So I picked up some gallery wrapped canvases in the appropriate size and came up with Me TV (see the PopCultArt Gallery). Working in that small size does have some advantages over the larger sizes I prefer to do - namely even detailed bits get done pretty fast. The Gallery owners said my work got a lot of attention, but that nobody is buying right now.
In addition to the pieces I created for the Small is Big show, I executed a few requests: a dog portrait, unicorns (no kidding), and an abstract eagle. I think all are sold, but I have only been paid for one. All are in my usual cheerful and/or beautiful feeling. No sarcasm in these pieces. On the other hand, Me TV reeks of sarcasm. In addition I have been working on a large piece called Here Comes the Sun; I don't think of this one as particularly sarcastic, but some might draw that conclusion.
I dunno about Artwork Network (AN), part of the appeal for me was having a physical presence somewhere. Sure AN has their online gig, but I know people like to reach out and touch art before they buy. AN closed down the Phoenix Metro show place and has no plans to open in another location-and they did not take any of my art to Denver. Kind of a bummer from my stand point. And no, they haven't sold anything for me either. So after something like $410 out of my pocket I can't say I have anything to show for it ; the Spring show season is almost over and summer is usually dead round here because it gets so hot. It is hard to remain hopeful.
The economy is definitely a topic in my circle. DH is getting laid off in June, and they forced him to take a 15% pay cut recently - so much for the making work pay stimulus - we got to experience tthe extra $10 in the wallet for all of two weeks before taking a $160 per week decrease in income. DH has not worked for so little money in more than 20 years and yes he is bumming. One of my buddies was supposed to be visiting right now, but changed her mind when her company started laying off people - she decided to stay home and defend her job. Alas, the plan didn't work, she got told this week that her job will go away in December - like merry F-ing Christmas. It makes me sad (mad?) to see so many people in distress. Here in Arizona, minimum wage pays better than the maximum unemployment benefit, so realistically any full-time job is better than no job. That means you have people with masters degrees and a zillion years of experience applying for jobs flipping burgers and cleaning hotel rooms. All that talent being wasted, while at the same time people looking for that entry level job are facing competition that way out classes them. As I sit here self-employed and surviving, and I admit I don't feel bad about my bean counting gig, even if it doesn't thrill me. On top of it all I am sure I will read about some top level management still drawing fat paychecks while they put the screws to the little guy.
At the same time my opinion of corporate America has reached an all time low. There are companies who are using the economy as an excuse to downsize and outsource. The friend I was talking about discussed the viability of the plant where she is working in grim terms - she said she would be amazed if the plant is in business in a year, because the people who will remain will not have the skills to produce the product they make. Basically the mother-ship is cutting the place loose in a very slow and excruciating manner. DH's work is going to Malaysia.
Also it seems to me that my own limited interactions with corporate America are pretty abysmal as of late as well, warrantees not being honored, absentee customer service, shoddy workmanship, not to mention what has happened to the value of my investments etc. I think a part of this problem is worker bee distress - what motivation does a worker bee have when they know they can't get another job for a while, probably a long while, that their families will suffer, they may lose their house, their car etc. and at the same time they are forced to take furloughs, pay cuts, lose vacation time, benefits etc all while being asked to train their less skilled replacements or they won't even get a severance package when they are shit canned.
The world stinks sometimes.
My family on my mother's side has been known to be rabble rousers and revolutionaries in the past. I can almost feel my blood talking to me. I am not sure what can be done, but what is going on now, it ain't right.
I think we will be okay for a while, but I have seen this material before and I have been planning for it. Most of the worker bees I am talking to are paralyzed by hopelessness.
If their are any entrepreneurs out there with a viable plan, now would be a great time to start up. The pool of talent that is looking for work right now is probably as good as it has been in more than 60 years and venture capitalists are looking for a good place to park their money.
More later, probably much later as I am now having to divide my time between this place, My Space and Face Book; both social networks are Jake Beckman in Phoenix AZ if you want to try and find me. I am still trying to figure out how to use Face Book.
January 26, 2009 - Man I need to write more. Like many of you the economy does have me stressed out. Kind of hard to tilt at the creative windmill, while keeping the wolves at bay.
Still there has been an interesting development in my life. I finally legally changed my name to Jake. Obviously the AKA really no longer applies, but as a trade name and trade mark AKA Jake is pretty well established so I will keep it.
Why did I change it? I had a bank that absolutely refused to cash checks made out to Jake. In the past (as recently as late 2007) I have been able to show them my vast pile of documents showing that I go by Jake and that has been enough. But my last bank went out of business, got soaked up by another bank, which proceeded to close the branches close to me; as of December 5, 2008 I had to find another bank to do business with and that is when the trouble started. My rants on my MySpace blog have all the gory details.
The net result is that as of January 14, 2009 I am Jake now and for the foreseeable future. It took another day to update Social Security (a very necessary step), and another day after that to obtain photo ID in the name of Jake. Anyway, I should never have to deal with that issue again - now it is just a matter of updating everyone else. It felt like Christmas all over again.
We artists can be a quirky lot. I talked to the mom-ster during this process. She apologized for not having the foresight to name me Jake in the first place, and says that my given name never really took as even as a toddler I pretty much ignored it. I found that tidbit interesting. But I do recall telling everyone when I was 8 or so, that from now on they should call me Jake. My father was not pleased, but I can be stubborn, and eventually everyone went along with it. Now few can recall the name that I was born with. All agree, Jake suits me much better than that old thing.
The computer issues continue. Apparently Vista 64 is just not ready to go, even though as an OS it has been around for a while. And yes even on the replacement box, the video still periodically crashes and some brand spanking new software fails to work appropriately. Even for a techie like me, it is a frustrating state of affairs.
I am thinking of writing a book, entitled something like, "Everything you need to know about going into business for yourself that you don't know about." This has more to do with my day job as a tax accountant. I must rail against the bureaucracy that I am a part of. All the books will tell you that you need to market, think outside the box or copy someone else's business model, but they tend to gloss over the nit picky stuff that gets small business men and women in trouble - things like choice of business entity, taxes, payroll taxes, bookkeeping, licenses and things like that. I find more people get into trouble and go out of business because they just don't think about this stuff, don't want to think about this stuff, and don't see the utility of hiring someone else to think about this stuff until it bites them in the behind. By then it is often too late, they are going to go out of business or they are going to get on the over-due-taxes treadmill and never get off. It depresses me. I want my clients to succeed brilliantly.
As far as Art goes, I think I am going to go back to painting large detailed canvases. I have enjoyed my foray into lighter, more simplistic subjects, but I think it is time for the stories to return. That doesn't mean I will abandon the other styles altogether, I still feel PopArtCult has a lot of potential too.
I am once again checking out art groups again. First time since I quit being an artlink board member some time ago. I was recommended four different groups, but only two have contacted me so far - makes me kind of wonder about the other two already. I attended a meeting of one group last week and as for the other they don't meet until next week. I found the meeting of the first group a bit bewildering - even before I was a member they hit me up for $300 for a building fund. The assembled mass appeared to be a bit older than I am, and the drive was a bit farther than I generally want to make, 22 miles one-way. I did join and fork over $20 for the building fund, but the jury is still out as far as I am concerned. I have hopes for the second group, who I haven't interacted with yet.
I am still thinking of becoming a lawyer. I dunno, these days I just don't feel like I am living up to my potential. Usually when I feel that way I go out and learn something new, so I can become disillusioned in a brand new area of expertise. Hangin' in. - Jake