"The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.                                                                                                                                                                           - Aristotle    

Art Economics.

                     "Art is the most intense mode of individualism that the world has known."  

                                                                                                                                                                           - Oscar Wilde    

Wm. Blake  on Creativity....

Bowie on art....

Art Talk.

Picasso on Art...

Oscar Wilde on Art...

   " Painting and art let me record and present my 'minds eye' of an image or composition - I can do a 'photorealistic' painting, but whats the point?  I could simply take, print, or buy and hang a photo if I wanted that.  I like the mistakes, the flaws, and the human touch that a hand-crafted piece of art gives. 

                                                                                                                                                                        - Me    

Stella Adler on Art...

                     "Life beats down and crushes the soul and art reminds you that you have one."    

                                                                                                                                                                           - Stella Adler  

D.L. Smith on Art...

"Every child is an artist.  The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up."

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​​" I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn to do it."

​" Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."

​" Good artists copy, great artists steal."

" There is no abstract art.  You must always start with something.  Afterward you can remove all traces of reality."

​"  The world today doesn't make sense, so why should I paint pictures that do? 

             (Unlike Music....) "Success in art seems to be a lot more about knowing and buttering up a few people.   If a visual artist

                                 is articulate about his work,  he can tell collectors about what they're buying. "

                                                                                                                                               - David Bowie June 14, 1998 New York Tmes.

      Ahhh,  the subject of art value is complex and awesome.....Like politics, religion, and sports the topic of art can be passionate, irrational, tainted and swayed by opinions that don't need to make any sense at all.​ 

     For that reason the sale and purchase of art is sticky.  Should the artist price the work to reflect the actual cost that it takes in time and materials required to make it?  I choose to do this to make it easier for the buyer to understand that the piece reflects some amount of time to create - we pay our plumbers and electricians by the hour, why not artists?

In a pay by the hour scenario there's potential to get a great deal...I truly think that some art done quickly is "Lightening in a Bottle" and represents some of the artist's best, free-flowing creativity.  You can see it and 'feel' it when you look at it - that it just flowed from thought to canvas with no filter or obstacles, no second guessing or corrections, just good, raw stuff. 

     More commonly artists will also include a difficult-to-put-a-price-on value for the years of studying and practice that it took to make whatever it is.   An artist's track record and past sales history will figure heavily into this type of pricing.   This is a legitimate and valid method of pricing - but the buyer has to trust the word of the gallery owner or artist, or do their homework on the artist before buying.  It's like buying a stock for investment.  

               I think another art pricing method follows the "Heineken Beer" phenomena.  Heineken beer is expensive, it's considered a status symbol to be buying, stocking, and drinking......but it sucks, it tastes bad and smells like a wet skunk.   Likewise for some art - a buyer will pay a high price for a work of art because it has a high price tag.  To some degree the value of that artwork will now be the last price paid for it.  A screwed up but true concept.  An analogy for this is the Bitcoin, I'm not sure if those even exist anymore but in 2015 the price of the bitcoin rose and fell - its value became the last amount someone was willing to pay for it.  I think eventually people caught on that there was never anything to it except marketing.

             Abstract artists will hate this statement, but I sometimes question abstract pieces that  doesn't have have much 'meat' or skilled labor in it...but no one ever wants to question it or they may appear to be a rube or insulting.  This is where the articulate artist will have to back up his conceptual piece with some pretty slick talk - and  then the piece may have some back story and added value to someone...read the quote from David Bowie above.  I do really like some abstract work, some just stands alone without explanation and it moves me, but something like a piece of wood on a stand with dramatic lighting doesn't thrill me.

        Lastly, a lot of very good artists will undervalue their work so it moves and gets 'out there'  (this is where the starving artist stereotype comes in).  Your neighbor, street vendor, co-worker, or strange guy down the street may be producing some jaw dropping work and then selling it for peanuts - be on the look out for this and take advantage of it!  There are artists all around us!

         What about the buyer?  Do they just go with the price tag and ask no questions?  Is there negotiation room?  How does the buyer know that what they are buying is worth what they're paying?  I believe a buyer is moved by a piece in a way that's difficult to quantify, but we all hope that the purchase will be an investment, become a keepsake, and turn into a personal possession  that will have a story and/or memory attached to it that will become part of the history of the piece after we move on to the next big thing.  

      The economics of art is a whole other facet that makes it all so interesting and compelling, I think most of the time its really all just a big crapshoot.  I prefer to focus on the 'making' end of things and the joy I get from it.  My 'bottom-line' advice for anyone buying art is if you like it and it moves you....buy it.

Frank Zappa on Art...

Creativity..

Aristotle on Art...

"I must create a system or be enslaved by another man's.  I will not reason and compare;  my business is to create."                                                                                                                                                                                       - William Blake     

O M A Y ' s    S T U D I O

                     "Art is making something out of nothing and selling it."     

                                                                                                                                                                           - Frank Zappa  

      I think everyone is capable of creating, some just don't pursue it for whatever reason.  I consider all the work I do as practice...but I don't know what I'm practicing for.

    The thought of showing other people my work used to horrify me.  To show someone your work exposes a lot - like whats in your head,  what skill or lack of skill you have in your hands, you're letting someone else see the world the way you see it.  For a long time I used to feel like it would be like standing naked on a bus (which I have never done, but it seems like it would be uncomfortable).

    I mostly enjoy the making of whatever.  Followed closely by just talking about the mechanics, optics, chemistry, physics, geometry, and psychology of art.  The whole vibe of just hanging out around beautiful or thoughtful art that's been hand made by someone who cared enough to take the time to make it is just very relaxing and nice .

     As for criticism,  I no longer fear it.   I suppose I appreciate someone taking their time to actually look at my work and then go to the extra effort of forming an opinion about it.  Compliments  are always nice, but negative criticism is okay too (now...it used to be devastating) - I don't get as bent out of shape over it like I used to.   I like hearing and watching a critic critique.  To listen to a critic try to put into words the 'technical flaws' they perceive, listening to assumptions of "what was I thinking",  and "what style are you trying to be like?"  is amusing and welcome conversation.  To steal a line from the '7 rules for life'....." What other people think about me is none of my business".