Image credit: Erin Chipps Photography
Do you follow artists on social media, quietly double tap the images, read captions and maybe occasionally leave a comment with a few praise words and emojis? Are you too shy to ask questions, offer your opinion or share how the artist’s works makes you feel just because you don’t think yourself qualified to express opinions about such lofty matters as art?
Guess what? The artists on the other end of this shy dance are shy and insecure as well! Hell, we are shyer and more insecure than most.
The “art world” is designed to feel exclusive and unreachable. It’s exclusive and unreachable for the majority of artists, not just for you.
But I really want you to take the following to heart:
YOU ARE A PART OF THE ART WORLD
Yep, you!
You are here reading an artist’s blog.
Paintings, sculpture and installations regularly show up on your social media feed. You wish you knew if the artwork you saw this morning was for sale and wish you could afford it, but would never dare to ask for the fear of offending the refined and lofty creature that is the Artist.
You spend time with art, even if only on your phone screen. And you are a part of the conversation and I want to tell you that the artists want to hear what you have to say!
Image credit: Erin Chipps Photography
One way of entering that conversation is through an artist studio visit
Back in the good ol’ days that would mean walking into into a battered warehouse in an industrial part of town, climbing some rickety stairs to get to a suffocatingly hot or a freezing cold raw loft studio to observe this exotic creature, the Artist, in her native habitat.
So let’s make some lemonade from the new crop of pandemic lemons and use our newly acquired teleconferencing skills to bring the studio visit experience to the comfort of our homes without the turpentine fume exposure.
In the last four months I’ve had more studio visits than I had in the prior two years.
The lockdown has normalized digital meetings and has forced many artists to turn to new ways of presenting our work and engaging with our audiences and art world professionals.
it’s been surprisingly easy, fun and comfortable. I am not saying that a digital studio visit is better than a real one. However, it does allow a close approximation of the experience. And it’s fantastic for being able to meet artists who live far away from you. While I hope that one day we can travel as usual, not all of us have the luxury of hopping on a plane just to meet our favorite artist and see their work.
This is what I want you to keep in mind about doing a studio visit:
Artists WANT to show you their work
Artists tend to work alone a lot, they crave interaction and feedback
You don't have to buy anything! This is an invitation to engage, exchange ideas, and mutual learning and discovery. It is NOT a sales pitch. But if you do fall in love with a piece, feel free to ask whether it’s for sale and the price.
Your questions aren't stupid. You don't have to be an art historian or an art buff to have an engaging conversation with an artist whose work you find interesting. Art is not some sort of special category that only the select few are allowed into
And if you need a welcoming and easy going studio artist experience to get a taste for it, book one with me!
Just write me a brief message with your preferred dates and times and we’ll connect on a teleconferencing platform of your choice. I am always excited to invite you to my studio.
SCHEDULE YOUR STUDIO VISIT
And here’s a short video of a studio visit I had with a fellow artist, arts educator and podcaster Brainard Carey.