I can’t remember how I stumbled upon this blog (www. joannemattera.blogspot.com), but I am so glad I did!  Especially her posts filed under marketing Mondays.  I am starting to work my way through all of them, and oh boy I wish I discovered them earlier!

Its not that I want to disrespect the institution where I studied, but I wonder if they shouldn’t have discussed these topics with us during “professional practice” classes.  Maybe they did and I didn’t pay enough attention?  I never thought of viewing myself as a business and what it might entail and what it might do for me.  Recently when I started the Lobotoy-me project I came into contact with vigorous marketing and went for workshops etc.  As an artist I was previously under the impression that it all must come from the/a gallery.

I especially enjoyed this post:

 http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/2011/11/marketing-mondays-are-you-ready-for.html

Now I have always destroyed my work or reworked them since I needed the board, canvas, paper and instead of buying new ones to save costs, I just painted, draw or pasted over the unsold ones, but what if I might need that work for a retrospective one day.  Also I have not been so diligent about documenting, tracking and safekeeping of existing work.

I wonder if that is why so many artists I know of have assistants- to do all these stuff and they can concentrate on the art-making?

I like the way this part of her blog is like a huge discussion.

Another post that got me thinking was this one:

http://joannemattera.blogspot.com/2011/09/marketing-mondays-who-is-professional.html

Here she poses the question:  “What do you think is a good definition of a professional artist?”

I haven’t formulated an opinion yet, I still have too many questions:

If I view myself as a professional artist, would I be more successful?

What does success mean to me?

What does professional mean?- More business like?

Why not be like the ‘outsider/art brut’ artists, and just do because that’s what I love to do, and don’t want to do anything else- art as life and not art as business?

At least I have a business card

Right?