Between Artist and Viewer

Work In Progress

Final Friday again.... the gallery is open for the evening, with live music and food and festivities galore... crowded rooms full of artists displaying their work, while visitors browse and chat... and once in a while, somebody buys a piece to take home with them. 

I love Final Fridays.

I dread Final Fridays.

Final Fridays are exciting.

Final Fridays are draining.

This past Friday, toward the end of the night, when things had slowed down a bit, one of my studio mates observed that the artist renting the space next to mine had not sold anything, even though his work always seemed to draw a lot of attention and compliments from visitors. 

"His work doesn't sell because he doesn't attend Final Fridays," someone said.

"Right," agreed another, "People want to see you and talk to you when they buy your artwork."

"They're not just buying an item. They're buying YOU."

I was sitting nearby, just listening to this conversation as I drew in my notebook. Afterward, I couldn't get those words out of my mind. 

They're buying YOU.

In a sense, that is exactly what somebody is buying when they buy your artwork. It's more than just an item, like a pair of shoes, or even a pretty decoration. When somebody stops in front of a particular drawing out of hundreds of others on the walls, it is because that piece holds some sort of connection for them. They are looking at a visual expression of something that is within themselves. Maybe it's a very simple connection, like their favorite colors. Or maybe it stirs a memory, or a feeling that they strongly identify with.  Whatever the connection is, they want to meet the person who created it, in order to make the connection complete. 

Most times when visitors want to talk about a particular drawing... it's not just to find out what I was thinking when I created it. They mostly want to TELL me what's on their own mind as they look at the piece. Whether they realize it or not, they've made a connection to the piece, and also to me as the artist, because I created a visual expression of something within them. 

To me, it's just as rewarding when that happens, even if they don't buy the piece. Those are the conversations I love, and the words that I carry around in my head for several days afterward.

Each one of those conversations also affects me and affects the way I look at the piece that was discussed. Sometimes that takes a long time for me to assimilate. I think I'm glad that Final Friday only comes around every four or five weeks!

Anyway, Merry Christmas to all my blog friends! And PLEASE come join me on Facebook, which is where I've been spending most of my computer time! 

Posted by Katherine Thomas 13 comments

Labels: art, child., Cincinnati, colored pencil, drawing, fantasy, Final Friday, gallery, grasshopper, illustrator, imaginative, katherine thomas, map, sailboat, sky