Questions? Comments? Opinions?
Send them to Laura Lark Loves You: lauralark@glasstire.com
(or leave your message below)
If you could describe and suggest a daily routine (things to read, do, act, etc) what would you suggest? Also, what type of resources (advice) would you suggest in trying to figure out how to market your art (to galleries, buyers etc)?
Dear Mary,
Glad you asked! Allow me to share some of my own rich experiences!
My routine: I shower at the gym every day; I don’t want to get my tub or towels dirty. Later, if I have no deadline, I complain and talk about how I’d really like to be “normal” and do something like be a secretary and go to happy hour and drive a Toyota Camry.
If I have a deadline, I complain and watch back to back Law and Order episodes on TNT. They know drama.
As for reading? I don’t read about art. It’s a snooze. Unless it’s about me; then I’m mesmerized. In 2005, I was asked to contribute my thoughts for a piece entitled “Reading Material” in Art Papers magazine with Andrea Bowers, Luca Buvoli, Stuart Horodner and Mathilde ter Heijne. I imagine folks had high intellectual expectations of me that were quickly dashed by my confessed reading list. There might have been something about Jackie Kennedy‘s fashion designer, Oleg Cassini in there. What an eye that man had! They really knew elegance back then.
As for marketing and galleries, I don’t know of any hard and fast rules, and I don’t consider myself a shining example. Gravitate to those you admire. Make yourself a presence without being an annoying ass-kiss. Figure out where your kind of work might go. Find opportunities where you can. If you can’t find them, make them. Again, without being an irritating suck-up.
I entered juried shows for a while, which was occasionally helpful. My first solo was in the ladies room at The Next Door bar. Really! I sold everything and got a review before I had to take it down because drunk chicks were stealing stuff. I’ll be the first to admit, however, that I hardly consider myself a success story.
Finally? Work your ass off. After all is said and done, it’s the only thing that matters. More than moving to LA or NYC or boning up on Who’s Hot and Who’s Not.
Too provincial a sentiment? Nauseatingly optimistic? Probably. But one has to put faith in something. Fantasies about joining the secretarial pool probably won’t pan out if you can’t type 50 words a minute and don’t have a snappy wardrobe from Ann Taylor, and the thrill of even the most gripping television drama often pales after 138 hours of reruns you’ve seen for the fourth time.
Basically, Mary, I don’t know any secret formula and I don’t know anyone that does. If I did, I’d be famous and wouldn’t have time for this shit.
Thanks, Mary!
Love, Laura Lark
