I recommend to my students they should not focus on making money as an artist; although making money is fine, the intention behind creating their art should be pure. They need to strike a balance. Create both art for arts sake, and art for commerce sake.
They should paint and hope to sell, not merely paint to sell.
This was a little 9x12 oil painting I painted up at Ray Strong's Birthday celebration in 2009. It is on the top of East Camino Cielo. We'd gone to paint and celebrate Ray's life (Most OAK Group artists were present), and the brilliant day was soon fogged in.
I only had so much time to paint, so I quickly made a decision to paint a section of the mountain road, meandering behind Montecito Peak. The fog was looming like a monster; billowing up and over the ridge, allowing the sun to filter in only now and then.
It is a somber painting, but it says, "California Landscape" for sure. I never though I would sell it because it is so unusual a composition. None the less, it did sell to a very fine architect in town, and it looks great on his wall.
I guess in this case my art for art's sake blended to become my art for commerce sake.
I have no complaints.
Looming Fog, E. Camino Cielo.
9x12 oil/board 2009
Private collection
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