As I mentioned in my last post, I’m starting a new resolution of creating a new, small painting every day. Here’s the first one, painted January 12, 2009:

Whirlypop: blue
8 X 8, acrylic on canvas
$55

One of my new year’s resolutions for 2009 was sparked by Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers. A lot of people are talking about this book (as they were when Blink and Tipping Point came out) because he loves to research subjects that we hold true and flip those ideas on their heads.

In Outliers, he’s examining what it really takes to be successful in any chosen field. There’s a ton of research that’s gone into the book, so I won’t try to sum it all up in a short blog post, but the most inspiring part for me was the discovery that “naturals” don’t really exist. The art world in particular loves to promote the idea that some people are born naturals, graced with god given artistic talent, but we love child phenom stories in every field. And for some reason, we tend to tone down how many hours of practice and devotion those children put in, week after week, year after year.

The researchers quoted in this book noticed that excellence at any complex task requires “a critical, minimum level of practice.” Though most of our elite performers in any field started very young, the number of hours they spent honing their craft seems to be about the same – 10,000.

“In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice-skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals,” writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin, “this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years… No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.”

10,000 hours sounds like a lot, but when broken down to 3 hours a day over 10 years, well that feels a little more doable, doesn’t it?

So…the resolutions:

1. Paint a minimum of 3 hours a day, every single day.
2. Paint a daily painting. To jumpstart my 3 hours and flex my painting muscles, I want to start creating small paintings each day. Some days I’ll be working on larger pieces or will need to spend more time sketching and planning, but I really like the idea of creating tiny, quick paintings that are start to finish less than 3 hours. It’s a good way to try out new styles, to practice painting still life and to just plain old PLAY. No attachment to the outcome because it’s small. Because I’ll do something else tomorrow. Because it’s fun!
3. Pay the bills with my artwork. This goal is a lot trickier since there’s no clear steps for success. I know I need to get more traffic to my site, to show my work in person, to get my name out there in general, but again, um….how do I do that? I’m going to try selling on some other sites, like ArtFire and eBay. I’ve signed up for a show in NYC in March and a couple of craft fairs already. And hopefully doing things like the daily paintings will help draw some attention my way.

2008 was an amazing year for me and despite the constant media freak-outs about the recession, I feel like 2009 is going to be the best year yet. When times are tough, we tend to pull together as people. We look around and start to remember what’s important to us. Though I suspect there may be less spending on ringtones and jewelery for dogs, I think people will be even more likely to buy handmade items, crafted right here by local artisans, rather than the mass-produced junk rolling out of some polluted Chinese factory. It’s all happening.

After posting about my new art doll-inspired series of creepy girls the other day, I was relieved to hear back from Colleen Downs, the super talented sculptor of Loopy Boopy art dolls. As I said in my emails with Colleen, there is a line that separates being “inspired” by someone else’s work and copying the work outright, but unfortunately, it’s one of those fuzzy, squint to make it out lines. My best explanation for what constitutes stealing in the art world is, “I know it when I see it.” Going by my gut is hardly a scientific method, so it came as a huge relief to check in with Colleen and be reassured that we’re on the same page.

Katie
12 X 12, acrlyic on canvas
prints available in the shop

The concept of a painter stealing from another artist is strange since it doesn’t involve real tangible gains for the thief. A painter copying someone else’s work still has to spend the hours to paint the copycat work, laboring over every detail. It probably takes the copycat longer to duplicate the masterpiece than the original artist spent creating from scratch! Doesn’t seem like much of shortcut, does it?

So why copy? I believe most of it comes down to simple insecurity – new artists who haven’t gained the confidence to develop (and trust!) their own style. Everyone is influenced by other artists’ work. Unless you’re able to create in a complete vacuum, you’re constantly effected by the world around you. Like my painting instructor Martin loves to say, “Once you’ve seen a Michaelangelo, you’re ruined.” You can’t UNsee it.

The trick is to take all of those influences and put your own personal spin on it, develop your own unique style. When people see my work, I want it to be instantly recognizable as a kgb painting. I’m not there yet and still discovering my style, my voice, but I feel like I’m getting closer with each new painting. Which is probably also why I’m so fickle – I love the newest girl on the block until I paint the next one. Then *she’s* my favorite!

I’m already a week into 2009 & not only have I not blogged or painted, I’ve hardly gotten out of bed. Me and the boys came down with a wicked flu bug while we were in Seattle celebrating New Year’s Eve with my sister and her family. We’ve been walking around like snotty, coughing zombies ever since. 2009 is not off to a good start!

After snorting my morning Dristan, I’m feeling reasonably better today, and just in the nick of time. I start a new painting class tonight – Brushstroke Bootcamp. I’m super excited about this one, hoping to get good technique lessons rather than the more conceptual stuff my other classes have been. So, lots of coffee, lots of Kleenex and hopefully I’ll be all set for tonight!

How’s 2009 treating you so far?