+My Angle
January 4, 2002
Dear Artist,
"So what's your angle?" a subscriber asks. I try to think what he means.
Yesterday I protested in my return letter that I don't have an angle. I'm just a guy who
likes to paint. I guess I'm also guilty of trying to empower others. Then again I think
it's a matter of considering how others might empower themselves. I've decided that
"what's your angle?" is a valuable question.
My angle is that generalized lives aren't too effective. All-encompassing woo-woo
fancies and feel-good panaceas are old hat. Collectivization is dangerous but brotherhood
and sisterhood aren't. In addition, academia is suspect and criticism has wandered off to
another planet.
My angle is that by following an intensely personalized process you are led to growth,
self-esteem, success and a degree of happiness. My angle doesn't offer to fix everything,
but it has the beauty of practicality. It works. My angle is to train yourself to be
absorbed in a specialty whether it be bookkeeping, bee-keeping, good-housekeeping,
philately, marathoning, inventing the light-bulb or painting watercolors. It has to be
something with enough complexity to hold an inquiring mind. My angle is to do the
spadework for the growth of passion.
I've found that the greatest joys come from the confluence of brain, heart and hand.
I've found that the way to self-realization and the serving of society is to just get your
nose into a subject. It's all in the details. I've found that work itself is currency and
while the world is full of wonder and love and surprise, the greatest world of all is the
world of human imagination. That's my angle.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Positive thinking alone does not work." (Robert Kiyosaki, Rich
Dad, Poor Dad)
Esoterica: There's another popular book going the rounds these days: The Cultural
Creatives by Paul Ray and Sherry Anderson. It describes a supposed phenomenon
whereby a growing number of sensible and sensitive people are currently affecting our
world in a positive way. Many artists will fit the profiles that the authors describe.
The following are selected responses to the above and other letters. Thank you for
writing rgenn@saraphina.com
+Rehearsing life
I think a lot of art has become diluted because the spadework isn't
there and/or the brain is allowed to dominate the heart and the hand (to use a couple of
your metaphors). I think it's important that when practitioners of art are able to speak
eloquently about their work processes, that they do so - as you do in this letter. It's
really important, I feel, to describe art in terms of rehearsal as well as in terms of
inspiration. Not rehearsal in the sense of too much pre-planning of an artwork, but
rehearsal in the sense of preparing oneself through life, through drawing and through
experimentation, where the artist takes his or her eye "off the ball" for a
while and is prepared to be caught unawares by an emergent visual fact and yet ultimately
capitalize on that fact as a newly discovered personal gem idea. With this in mind, I love
reading the interviews that David Sylvester did with Francis Bacon and those collected
interviews of Matisse in the book by J. Flam (Matisse on Art). I really felt inspired by
today's letter and found much to agree with. When one's confidence in one's artwork is
built through practice - who can argue that away with words? Personally, I'm not immune to
verbal criticism of my artwork, but I feel that my practice has already built something
slightly more bullet-proof than any literal argument.
Peter Jones, Manchester, UK peter@artists.u-net.com
+Not a hobby
Thanks for your angle. A friend lately commented that my art-recreate old masters
technique, is a hobby. Very irritating!!! Not only do I put my all into it, I think they
are good. Your article said it all. Why do people consider producing beauty a hobby? There
has to be a short reply that will stop them from this shallow mind set.
Mary Dresser mdresser6@hotmail.com
+Labor of love
The question you answered this past week, "So what's
your angle" crops up from time to time with the Artist's Website Directory my brother
and I started a few years ago. Unfortunately our world is full of skeptics and scammers
that rob the positive energy of many people with an idea or dream they are willing to act
upon. The Internet is a great communication resource, but as animals around a watering
hole, it will also attract the predator. This creates an uneasy defensive mechanism in us,
unfortunately many miss out on something they would enjoy. I sometimes wonder why I spend
20 or so hours a week working on the website. In building the web site, my brother and I
now have something in common, plus I have met a number of great people through the
internet I wouldn't have otherwise known. My brother the same, plus he has developed his
data base and web site skills to a point where our site can offer art related services
specifically tailored for visual artists and their interests. These skills keep him
current in a rapidly changing industry.
Paul Constable, p.constable@sk.sympatico.ca
(RG note) Paul's directory for artists is at www.artistsincanada.com
+Ignored my heart
I'm an electrical engineer by profession and an artist at heart. My
fantasy is to some day become an artist by profession, or at least an artist without a
profession. When I was young trying to decide what to do with my life, I chose a path that
I thought would provide a reliable income. I ignored my heart. It has taken me almost 30
years to realize this. I'm in the process of getting back on the path of my heart, and
your emails provide me with insights and encouragement.
Ed Donnely, Pittsburgh, PA, USA edd@lifecor.com
+Just don't get it
People have asked me the same question from time to time. "Perpendicular to the
circumference of a smile." has been my answer on more than one occasion. I just feel
that sometimes people just "don't get it", and feel that everyone has some
"angle to wangle" especially when it comes to the business of art. In all
seriousness my "angle" has always been to do as much as I can for myself and
others, without drawing lines between the good and the bad. It is hard sometimes not to
step on the cracks, especially when the sidewalk is crumbled with age, but we just do what
we can do and move on down the road.
Deborah Russell, Lutherville, Maryland, USA sellwein@hotmail.com
+Block out the negative
I think it is fair to say that you get out of something what you put into it, so it's
actually logical, and for an artist surely a necessity, to invest as much of yourself as
possible into what they are doing. The quality an artist has to have most of is the belief
that all things are possible (even if some miracles take a little longer). The person
looking for your "angle" has simply missed the point, not only of the
newsletters, but of their own existence. He is not able to understand that caring for the
needs of others (whatever form that might take) and does not need an angle. I believe that
every act of creation is like a newborn child, needing loving care and lots of attention,
consuming your time and energy, and not necessarily profit-making. But if the urge is
strong enough, you keep going. My voice teacher at college always said "you have to
have blinkers on" when she felt there were too many distractions from the
"straight and narrow". She was right. You have to literally blot out negative
influences such as a question like that might engender. The German composer Max Reger once
said about a rather negative newspaper review: "I have your remarks in front of me.
Soon I shall have them behind me."
Faith Puleston, Germany fpuleston@gmx.net
+The key
"I've found that the greatest joys come from the
confluence of brain, heart and hand." Here's a meaty, albeit abbreviated wealth of
mature knowledge. Viktor Frankel: "Will to meaning, would applaud you, as I do, for
this succinct enlightenment. Getting one's nose into the subject is the key to
self-actualization in the grandest sense."
Zoe Hecht ParsifalsSister@aol.com
+TV tyranny
The very opposite to the "angle" philosophy is the
television set. It is the worst destroyer of the human spirit, worse than any drug. It
seems so innocent and attractive, yet it has everyone fooled.
Jim Rowe jim.rowe2@sympatico.ca
+Saskatchewan beauty
One of your readers commented on the flatness of Saskatchewan. Some of Canada's most
beautiful scenery is in our province. My wife and I have a summer residence/painting
retreat on the edge of the Qu'Appelle Valley, 8 miles north of Wolseley, which is 60 miles
east of Regina on the Trans Canada Highway. Every day, winter or summer, presents stunning
landscapes awaiting interpretation by the wide awake artist. I hope that travelers will
take the time to meander a bit through this special part of a special country. There is a
lot more than meets the eye.
Slater Tubman, Wolseley, Saskatchewan, Canada s.tubman@sk.sympatico.ca
+Tax question
I've been a self-supporting artist for the last 50 years. Just
recently I became aware of your web site, And even more recently bought your book. You go
into a fair amount of detail about Canadian taxes (on page 98). I get the impression that
artists get a different deal than do other civilians. My wife and I plan on moving to
Vancouver Island some time in the next year. Although I live in the United States, I am
also a card carrying Canadian citizen. Is there a web site that you know of that could
bring me up to speed regarding the tax situation up there? I hear horror stories about how
high the taxes are in Canada and while I can't imagine it being much worse than here, a
little knowledge wouldn't hurt me either.
Neil Boyle, Westlake Village, California, USA bswcaltd@earthlink.net
(RG note) The Canadian tax situation is about the same as in the USA, except it's
a little more punitive. Having said that, artists with large cash flows in both countries
can deduct or depreciate just about everything for the sake of the muse: cars, planes,
motorhomes, travel, materials, assistants, studio space, shipping, etc. I recommend you
talk to Bob McMurray. He's my accountant, he specializes in artists, and has
cross-border clients. An article written by him about Canadian tax and artists is at: http://www.artists.ca/FCA-7c3.html
þ
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You may be interested to know that artists from every state in the USA, every province
in Canada, and at least 80 countries worldwide have visited these pages since January 1,
2002. That includes Anne Gunderman, AnneGunderman@aol.com
of Buffalo, NY, USA, who says, "Life is art!" and Norma Hopkins, norma@elizabethangold.co.uk of Bolton,
Lancashire,UK, who says, " I too try to empower others who are searching for
self-expression though creative embroidery."
(RG note) Some email addresses have been changed, bounced back, or have somehow been
lost in the last while. The following artists are ones to whom we are currently not able
to send the twice-weekly letter. If you know any of these artists please alert them as to
the reason they are not receiving. They may wish to re-subscribe with their new addresses.
Thanks. Rodrecas Davis; Tim Krause; Gerald Soworka; Victoria Culbertson; Morgan Larsson;
Debra Jackson; Doris Quintana Cela; Susan Bruck; Will Naemur; Kent Wilkinson; Jack Whyte;
Per Ola Juusola; Yiannos Ioannou; Zach Zachry; Damien Viadas; Troy Ackley; Denise Berkley;
Kathy Robbins; Willa Harasym; Lee Scoggins; Carole Bake; Nathan Bellomy; Betty Millike;
Meena Chopra; Anne Davis; Seataka; Buscio Communications; Allison Elliott; Spencer Kong;
Linda Denis; Georgina Hedges; Kay Schroeder; Danielle Pare; Catherine Connoll; David Butt;
Betty Whitney; Hellen Mantha; Shirley Kristensen; Mark Stosiak; Wayne Enslow; Mary Carter;
Ray Christian; Cheryl Gilman.
They can re-subscribe at subscribe@saraphina.com
Selected responses to the previous letter, "New Year's
Resolutions" are at
http://www.painterskeys.com/clickbacks/newyear.htm
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