From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Sun, 14 Mar 2010 23:12:10 -0400
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] ants and grasshoppers


>But when is the last time you heard plumbers, accountants, doctors,
etc., expect to be supported by society in general? Where is the grant
money for being a plumber? Where is the NEP (National Endowment for the
Plumbers)?

And I have heard people say to plumbers, mechanics, etc. who show a
flair and love for their 'art' something very much to the effect of
"Oh, I wish I could do that. You are so lucky!" In fact, just like
puppetry, painting, music, etc., luck has much less to do with it than
hard work and sometimes a natural ability. The 'luck' usually comes in
finding you have a natural ability to do something you love for a
living, be it an art, welding, surgery, or whatever.

Christopher
_________________


Oh, but I did not refer to endowmnets or "being supported".
I was commenting specifically on the perception of artists, as I perceive 
it, as opposed to the perception of plumbers (etc).
It doesn't seem that there is an automatic negative reflex from people being 
told you want to become a plumber, or are a plumber. Plumbing seems like 
"honest and hard work". Which it is! I'm not taking anything away from 
plumbers, whose work I greatly appreciate.

I've been a janitor, a nurse for people with disabilities, a fruit picker, a 
rock picker, a "person who ties raspberry bushes", a mascot, a mascot's 
escort, a birthday party clown, a housepainter, a babysitter, a lawn mower 
(pushed, not driven), a kitchen's aid and diswasher, a waiter for corporate 
events, and I'm sure I forget some. I know what hard work is, and I respect 
it.

Art work for me is just as hard as any of those, yet in different ways, but 
made easier by the fact that I'm love with it.

Believe me, most artists I know and decide to keep on knowing are hard 
workers and try to support themselves. Some do apply for grants, because it 
is available, and might allow them to breath a little or do a bigger project 
otherwise unavailable.
But I believe most of them, if grants did not exist, would still do their 
best to keep on doing their art.

I have this biased perception, wich is in no way backed by actual data, but 
by feelings:
It seems to me that visual artists are expected to work 4 times as much as 
office workers, for a quarter of the pay.

I believe "hard work" by itself is not the way to success. If it were, less 
people would die from exhaustion, or starving, at the end of their 
resources.
Smart work, honest work, good employer-employee relationships, good 
customer-supplier relationships, generous sharing, are all necessary.


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