Art Nerd

I’ve cancelled my subscription TV services in favour of the free on-demand apps and I’ve been watching Fake or Fortune each night this week. In the process I’ve remembered that I am a massive art nerd. How could I forget that?

In the Dream Job (for those playing along at home, that was the job in which I ran a company making artwork for interior designers. I loved it and hated it in equal measures) I often said I could give up painting but never give up art. By this I meant, I could easily pack up all my brushes and give away my paints and as long as I could still appreciate the art of others, I would be happy. I even loved helping people choose frames for their artwork. And it still stands. It’s been nearly 2 years since I painted anything and I am happy, and I am still as infatuated with the work of other artists, both contemporary and long dead.

Watching Fake or Fortune gets my blood pumping. I LOVE the business side of art. I love movies and books about the art biz. A few years back I read Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton and found it really interesting.

Anyone who wants to be a working artist should read this book. This fascinating read gives a sneak peek into the business side of the art world which is crucial for anyone wanting to create an income from their art, because that is the divide. You make money or you don’t. Now, I don’t believe that making money equals success. I made money from art and I believe that was a win for me because that’s what I set out to do. I wanted to make my income from painting. Are my artworks gracing the walls of museums now? Not at all…never will be! But that wasn’t my plan. (It probably was my plan early on but plans change and priorities shift!) Everyone has their own idea of what constitutes success but this book is about the business of being an artist, making it your career and making a living from it. Those who just want to create and not worry too much about the biz, then go for it.

I’ve loved painting since I was a little kid but I am also completely fascinated by art history, auctions and galleries, frauds and fakes, and restoration and conservation of works (I used to do a little of this in the Dream Job, too!) In another lifetime I could be a conservator and work at the Louvre. I could be a gallerist in Berlin. I could be an art historian disovering the lost Rembrandts on Fake of Fortune if Fiona Bruce every wanted to retire…

But with writing… I love writing. I don’t just love having written, I love the process and the fact that I feel as though my writing has improved over the three years I’ve been writing every day. This is something I need to remind myself in the first few days after wading into a second draft