Dear Artist, Monty Python alumnus Terry Gilliam was recently bemoaning the current sad state of British film comedy: “The worst thing that can happen to anyone in the movie business,” he says, “is success. It takes away the desire to…
Dear Artist, Last weekend I gave a two-day acrylic workshop. I don’t advertise these events because they fill up immediately, and there are always many on the wait-list. It’s not that I’m so brilliant at workshops, it’s just that I…
Dear Artist, “Work is not necessarily work,” wrote Bob Abrahams of Perth, Australia. “It depends on how one views it. Work is like ‘service’ — to others or to humanity. Serving is a joyous activity.” Thanks, Bob. Actually, a lot…
Dear Artist, Yesterday, Emily Moore wrote, “Recently I have been admitting that the bottom line is ‘light, middle and dark.’ I resisted the importance of value over color for a long time, but I have succumbed. Bowing to value can…
Dear Artist, Yesterday B.J. Wright asked, “What about titling artwork? I’m asking which comes first — the chicken or the egg? I have paintings that are still untitled, in spite of trying several titles, as one would try on prom…
Dear Artist, Subscribers email me the reasons why they don’t go to work. One should not work for money, they say, or for relatives, intellectuals, selves, instructors, men, dealers, patrons, governments, customers, the masses, or religious organizations. The variety boggles.…
Dear Artist, For the next couple of months I have a retrospective exhibition in a public gallery. Something that surprised me was that the gallery issued me a cheque for $2065.50. (This was just about enough to pay for three…
Dear Artist, I’m laptopping you from “Café Red” at the South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan. Having just stepped out of a remarkable exhibition, I’m thinking it’s worthy of a note. Imagine life-sized sculptures of naked men kicking soccer balls…
Dear Artist, I’m laptopping you from the foyer of the Museum of Modern Art in New York. I’m a bit depressed — it’s the wet umbrellas flooding in from 53rd Street, and the Edvard Munch retro, The Modern Life of…
Dear Artist, Something a bit unusual happened to three of my dealers last month. I realize now that it’s part of a trend that challenges how galleries operate. While there are several variations, it goes something like this: An art…