Having thought about it, I realise it is closely aligned to other questions I get asked. People seem interested in knowing just how ‘long’ it took me to ‘learn’ to do something like peel a banana. It seems to surprise most when I say it took me "just about as long as it took you". This is not a ‘smart’ answer, it is simply the truth . . . just like them, I didn't ‘practice’ how to do it. I just wanted the banana and peeled it for myself (in my own unique way) before I learned to walk.
But going back to that podcast …. I really don't think people are all that interested in how "long" it takes anyone to paint a picture or to ‘learn’ how to peel a banana… I know that what people want is to make a connection and start a conversation.
And if the conversation is about art, difference or disability, it can be intimidating, even challenging to get it off on the right foot. This is especially so if one gets the impression that this artist might be especially prickly and easily offended. I am neither prickly nor easily offended, but I am very direct. I know that this worries people witless in a world where directness is a daring concept and “expert nuancing” is the guideline for successful social encounters.
Needless to say, "nuancing" is not my strong point.
Anyway, going back to the art of conversing about difficult subjects. Another of The Messy Studio podcast hosted by Rebecca Crowell and her son Ross is about awkward moments and yet another about preserving and minding one's reputation . . . (that one had me firmly under the covers).
I think it is hard to talk about art and find something to say that cannot be interpreted as offensive, unintelligent, or unintelligible?
I know just enough to know that unconscious non-verbal cues give us easily away and I recall hearing the writer John McGahern talking about this when called upon to respond to other writers whose work was sent unsolicited to him for review, he responded by saying that the work had “a lot of energy”. He reasoned that no-one could take offence, and if I recall correctly, that neither did the comment amount to much, in terms of feedback.
I admit that I have used that very phrase myself and so, when I stumbled across this tongue in cheek, Gentleman’s Guide to Modern Art, I could not but agree that there is "this whole language around art which is extremely hard to understand. But you can decode it because there's a tiny bag of words and phrases that are used again and again.” So, after reading it and smiling a lot as I recognised past conversations, I made sure to cut and paste it into my electronic notebook and have kept it for years.
And since you ask about the artwork, how is it going? The painting above is one from the September page of my two year calendar. That's about all I got left to remind me of what once was a thriving art working space. My home is still stuffed with the contents of my studio and it is hard to find a hammer or a nail. I am experimenting with Tech 7 glue at the moment, trying to finish a painting that requires a lot of technical know-how because it has three dimnensions. Oh for simpler days, when all I needed was the open fields and my guerrilla artist's kit (photo below).
My new website on the other hand, is thriving and bringing in a lot of enquiries and a few sales in the last few months.
Apart from that, there is precious little going on. My career as my own "Buildings Project Manager" staggers on as the build grinds to a complete halt. While the studio is very nearly finished, it has been like that for weeks and it is just not quite there . . And so, I spend my days negotiating the return of unused underlays, talking about soffits and flashing, roofs and rebates.
In between times I am grappling with the challenges of offering free shipping (worldwide) on artwork on my website. This is quite a terrifying subject as it is very complex and it involves lots of numbers. My attempts at fixing it so far have only caused chaos. International subscribers to my email newsletters will have a free pass for the moment do contact me soon if you wish to acquire your very own Mary Duffy artwork.
And you thought being an artist was easy, relaxing even? If you listen to the Messy Studio Podcasts you get a window on this complex world of working artists and while I listen regularly I am fascinated with all the subjects and considerations that pop up regularly and how contemporary they all are, like this one on place . . . we artists love our "places".
Please do listen to at least one of these on a rainy day (or night) and be sure to let them know what you think because all this writing, podcasting and reaching out is art work too.
For the moment, it is back to the list of To Dos, and while I love this place, I am almost despairing of ever taking up a paint brush inside a studio again, I still push on and on and on to the next thing, knowing that I will get there, one slow step at a time.
For now, that next big hurdle is breakfast.
With warmest regards to you and yours, in these peculiar times,
