Separation Anxiety...the Artist Variety

An artist creates...creates mood, feeling and many emotions within their work. They lay their inner being on to a canvas in order to share it with a viewer. When they get in front of an empty canvas they are faced with difficult decisions and must overcome many obstacles. Masters of problem solving and the ability to overcome an error, they continue to press on to end up with a work that others admire and sometimes want for their own environment. That is where the issue comes into play. The issue of Artist Separation Anxiety.

I will spend hours, days and sometimes longer in front of a painting. I know it from the inside out. Every brush stroke is an old friend. Every color becomes an actor is the wonderful play I am writing. In the end they are a part of me on many levels. That is what I do as an artist. Some people realize this and are moved to give me money to own that part of me I placed on a canvas. Then they actually hang them in a place they can enjoy and even show it off. That is one of the most wonderful things that can happen to an artist. In all of that wonder the down side is that I often miss that part of me. I can never re-create that particular part of me ever again. (and that is why original art work is so powerful, it lives as an individual, a one of a kind)

My home is filled with my work. On my walls are many pieces of me. I hang them, and rotate them in and out of prime wall space. They will hang to dry, to cure, but really for me to enjoy before they may possibly be sold. I have some stacked against each other in my studio waiting to be displayed in my home or in yours. I love each and every one of them in some way or another. They are part of my family.

That is what you get when you purchase original art from a person like me...you get more than simply canvas and dry paint....You get a slice of my soul!

The other pressing issue is what to charge ($$$) for this? I am just a simple guy living in Sioux Falls, South Dakota USA. I am not a well known artist with awards and fancy gallery shows. I don't know all the "in" art people, even in my town! I had enough of that self promotion world of image falsity in my 20+ year RocknRoll music career. I know the time and materials it takes to create a cool piece...but what is that worth? I guess whatever someone is willing to pay? It is one of my biggest issues right now....What is my art worth? that's a great subject for a future rant!

I love to sell paintings....I love the rush I get knowing that someone wants to own a work of art done by me. I know that they can enjoy that for generations. It becomes part of their family and world. I just miss an old friend. They are all important to me. That is the wonder of it all!!

So Yes!.....Please give me a complex...another spell with Separation anxiety.....it is the disorder I do enjoy...Give me that feeling right before I pack it up to ship to look at it with my own eyes one more time. Maybe even a happy tear? Just know when you get it in your hands that is was done with all of me....I would hope that when you hang it on your wall that throughout time you will also learn the inner workings of it and create your own attachment. That is my goal!!