The Question: Hey– I always knew I was an art slut, but it is kinda like AA I didn’t know there were so many of us !

Best or worst art slut stuff I’ve done over the years: write some one else’s master of fine art thesis (I think he got the mfa, but he is dead now), carry fifty television sets up and down two flights of stairs for a television/video project at the fab mab in SF (famous punk club), steal steel sculpture and pay for it with pot….later got marriage proposal from victim….we have lunch often, he is 80, I’m 48….

My quandary: Have left evil misogynist husband after 15 years, two
kids, he has house, started MFA program, but will need three years. He is trying to take away my spousal support and school– how to prove
to court I am worthy ? — Need jobs that require MFA that make over
$50,000. they don’t have to be real jobs, they just have to sound
good– (oh, I haven’t worked in 12 years and he makes three hundred
thousand a year)(in good years)(when he wants to). Have completed first 6 units, two classes, got B - minuses (they were tough courses, esp with two kids and divorce) only 56 units to go ! !

Advice ? (besides get remarried, right away….) ? Go to more AA
meetings, work out and buy cute pink slutty shirt to wear with with
really short white shorts….

 The Answer: Hey, Short Shorts! I would probably never say, ‘get married, right away’, unless you were really in love- of course! Congratulations on getting away from the bad man. I am sorry that life took that detour, but I’m certain that you gained from it a lot, even if it’s not easy to see right now. Have you considered using it for fodder for new work? Maybe, it’s as simple as painting a series about what you want your life to be like.

Yes, without question - DO, get the adorable little pink tee, but don’t wear short shorts around the kids. It freaks them out to see mom looking too sexy! As for financial advice, you didn’t give me a lot to go on. So, all I can really say, is stick to your guns on the spousal support. It’s great that he was able to go make that kind of dough & he couldn’t have done so, if you weren’t willing to take care of those chillens for him - cocksucker!

Anyhooch, about this MFA & the J.O.B. you’re looking for… what do you want to use your degree for? What is your medium? Without more info, I can tell you that there are well paying jobs in the arts field, but most will be in the business side of art or teaching, but that takes a lot of time.  Are you interested in marketing for a major or chain gallery? Did you get a cash settlement in the split? Perhaps you could use that to open your own space.

My first advice is to get a copy of my book. There actually is a TON of useful info for artists in business, inside. Then, send me some more details on your sitch & I will do my best to be of service to you.

Meanwhile, enjoy your fabulously sweet, soft pink, ArtSlut Tee! Send me a picture of yourself in it & I’ll post your gorgeousness on the site! ‘Till then… Love ya, Mama & thanks for being one of us! Now, go get creative!

Babs

Ps. Does that post heading sound like a tagline for a dirty porn show, or what?… It’s just a coincidence, I swear. ArtSlut has nothing to do with porn. That’s just a nasty rumor, like the whole ’slut’ thing. It’s a bout ‘ART’ - Duh!

` The Question:

OMG! I saw the piece on ART SLUT in ArtNews Magazine & I LOVE IT!!! But, when I went to your site to get one of those bitchin’ tee shirts, I didn’t see an off the shoulder version, like the one you were wearing in the picture - Tres` Fabu on you, btw. Where can I get one like that? Thanks, Tonya

Ps. I’m a painter & sculptor from WAY back & I can’t wait to wear this to my next show. Love you! TT

 The Answer:

Oh, how I LOVE the ART SLUT LOVE! Keep it comin’, Baby! You are ABSOLUTELY RIGHT! Wearing an ART SLUT tee at any time, is brilliant, but especially if you want to talk about your work (& who doesn’t? DUH!) This is an excellently sly type of marketing. Next thing you know, after “What’s an ARTS SLUT?” They’ll be saying, “What kind of art do you do?… I need a ____________ (fill in the blank).

“How very observant of you, too! - It’s true, the shirt I was wearing in that pic has been deftly modified. Although, our standard girlie tees are perfectly remarkable (in terms of jug smuggling, gorgeous girlishness!), I wanted to add a little extra spice to my ArtSlutty wardrobe’s offerings. Here’s how I did it & YOU can too:

1. With a sharp pair of scissors, neatly cut the tiny rolled hem out of the neck. Cut it in half & save it- easy peazy.
2. Next, cut the top of the cutie-pie capped sleeve up the center, ’till you get to about 1″ from the seem.
3. Use the two halves of the hem, cut from the neck to make neat, little adorable ties from the center of the slit you made up the top of the arm to the neck line & Viola!… Tres’ Goregeous!

Here are some more great ideas for ArtSlut Fashion!

JOIN ME for a Virtual Book Signing, TONIGHT 5-8PM Eastern time!

Click this link to sit on on my Skypecast… 

 

Find out more. Just enter ‘ArtSlut’ in the search

bar & join us!

 Join me, this Saturday (that’s tomorrow) Dec. 8th from 5-8PM Eastern time, for the next Virtual Book Signing with me - Barb Benson, the Top ArtSlut & Author of ‘The ArtSlut’s Guide to Makin’ It ~ As a Visual Artist’!

Listen & watch LIVE - it’s Freee!!

All you have to do is Join Skype. It takes literally, 5 minutes, it’s free & you won’t even need a webcam to watch. It’s real-time interviewing, questions and advice, yada, yada, all during a huge gallery opening in Nashawannuck. Then, just follow this link: https://skypecasts.skype.com/skypecasts/skypecast/detailed.html?id_talk=3653350 to watch & listen as I share ArtSlutty Advice with fans, artists, book buyers & gallery goers in Nashawannuck… All the way from Key West, Florida!

Did I mention the girls & I scammed some free wine & will be having a little get together of our own, while I get ready for an evening on the town?

Don’t miss it! There’ll be bustiers & clay masks, garters, art, drinkies… what the heck? It’s the life of an ArtSlut - back in the tropics, where she belongs, Thank God!

Get The Book & all the ArtSlut Stuff, right here on ArtSlut.com!

*Also available at finer bookstores, on Amazon, Barnes & Noble.com & of course the Nashawannuck Gallery! See you tomorrow -or, I guess you’ll see me!
 

People are always asking me, ‘How did this get started?’ Or, ‘How did you become the ArtSlut?’. So, I’ve decided it’s time to tell the story. It’s really long & weird. So, I’m going to do it in sections. I hope you like it. Feel free to ask me, if you have any questions.

 I was a poor black child, just kidding. I’m actually brown. I was always into something crafty. My first art gig, was when I was about 6yrs old. My dad used to take us on these miserable camping trips & make us be quiet, while he fished. So, I would spend that time collecting drift wood. I would then take it home & glue leaves & rocks & dead bugs to them & spray them down with Aqua Net & sell them to the neighbors down the street. Yes. I killed the bugs & No. I’m still not a serial killer… I didn’t torture them or anything, but somehow, I knew there was cash to be made in the arts & I was right. In 1976, I went to Six Flags over Mid America with $80.00!!! That was huge & a career was born.

 When my parents split, I started spending a lot of time alone. My dad had been an artist & I missed him terribly. So, I wanted to be just like him & started to paint & draw. I was trying & it wasn’t going that well, but I wanted it SO bad & I’m a Taurus. So, I’m very determined. When I was started the 4th grade, my art teacher, Mrs. Campbell, was beautiful & talented (sad for her, her son was ‘that kid’ who always ate glue - Gross!). Anyway, she was kind enough to give me this great watercolor of a strawberry she did & naturally, I took it home & told my mom it was my work. She still has that painting to this day. I can’t believe she didn’t kick my butt for lying.

 As I got older, I knew I wanted to do something creative for a living, but of course, saying you want to be an artist, in Mid Missouri, is stupid. It’s like saying you want to be a rock star, Talk about no respect! It didn’t help that we were poor & weird either, but I was determined. Unfortunately, the art instructor was a basketball coach - you know the dealio. In order to be a coach at many high schools, you have to teach a class. So, they stuck him in art, because they thought it was so unimportant, any nit wit could do it. I’m still ticked off about it to this day, but I appreciate the fire that it gave me. See, he only respected & gave good marks to perspective drawings & if you’re reading this site, I’ll bet you know that’s not what creativity is about.

Anyhoo, that’s the early story… More to come like, the ‘escape to Mexico’, ‘the jewelry gig’,  ‘meeting some ART SLUTS’, posing naked & ‘You’re not an artist’… All next time.

 The Question: Today’s question is a general response to people always asking me about love… which is really pretty funny, since I’ve never married. So, considering that - wtf do I know about relationships, Right?

 The Answer: Well, off the top of my head, I can tell you a sure fire way to avoid divorce - don’t marry! On the contrary, I’m all about marriage if it’s what two people want, but I really do believe in waiting for the right one & not just someone. That involves a LOT of factors & although this column usually leans toward the art of things, today I decided to go for the scientific reasoning behind our actions. The following article is from yourmamazingbrain.org. I hope you enjoy.

Then, go get my book for a few spiy tid-bits on gettin’ it on… Btw: Any amazing men out there have about 34 minutes to spare?

The science of love

When do you know if you fancy someone? What does love do to your brain chemicals, and is falling in love just nature’s way to keep our species alive? We call it love. It feels like love. But the most exhilarating of all human emotions is probably nature’s beautiful way of keeping the human species alive and reproducing. With an irresistible cocktail of chemicals, our brain entices us to fall in love. We believe we’re choosing a partner. But we may merely be the happy victims of nature’s lovely plan.

It’s not what you say… Psychologists have shown it takes between 90 seconds and 4 minutes to decide if you fancy someone.

Research has shown this has little to do with what is said, rather 55% is through body language, 38% is the tone and speed of their voice, Only 7% is through what they say.

The 3 stages of love: Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in the States has proposed 3 stages of love – lust, attraction and attachment. Each stage might be driven by different hormones and chemicals.

Stage 1: Lust - This is the first stage of love and is driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen – in both men and women.

Stage 2: Attraction - This is the amazing time when you are truly love-struck and can think of little else. Scientists think that three main neurotransmitters are involved in this stage; adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin.

Adrenaline - The initial stages of falling for someone activates your stress response, increasing your blood levels of adrenalin and cortisol. This has the charming effect that when you unexpectedly bump into your new love, you start to sweat, your heart races and your mouth goes dry.

Dopamine - Helen Fisher asked newly ‘love struck’ couples to have their brains examined and discovered they have high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This chemical stimulates ‘desire and reward’ by triggering an intense rush of pleasure. It has the same effect on the brain as taking cocaine! Fisher suggests “couples often show the signs of surging dopamine: increased energy, less need for sleep or food, focused attention and exquisite delight in smallest details of this novel relationship” .

Serotonin - And finally, serotonin. One of love’s most important chemicals that may explain why when you’re falling in love, your new lover keeps popping into your thoughts.

Does love change the way you think?
A landmark experiment in Pisa, Italy showed that early love (the attraction phase) really changes the way you think. Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who’d been madly in love for less than six months. She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover, were related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients.

Love needs to be blind - Newly smitten lovers often idealise their partner, magnifying their virtues and explaining away their flaws says Ellen Berscheid, a leading researcher on the psychology of love. New couples also exalt the relationship itself. “It’s very common to think they have a relationship that’s closer and more special than anyone else’s”. Psychologists think we need this rose-tinted view. It makes us want to stay together to enter the next stage of love – attachment.

Stage 3: Attachment - Attachment is the bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to have and raise children. Scientists think there might be two major hormones involved in this feeling of attachment; oxytocin and vasopressin.

Oxytocin - The cuddle hormone - Oxytocin is a powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm. It probably deepens the feelings of attachment and makes couples feel much closer to one another after they have had sex. The theory goes that the more sex a couple has, the deeper their bond becomes. Oxytocin also seems to help cement the strong bond between mum and baby and is released during childbirth. It is also responsible for a mum’s breast automatically releasing milk at the mere sight or sound of her young baby. Diane Witt, assistant professor of psychology from New York has showed that if you block the natural release of oxytocin in sheep and rats, they reject their own young. Conversely, injecting oxytocin into female rats who’ve never had sex, caused them to fawn over another female’s young, nuzzling the pups and protecting them as if they were their own.

Vasopressin - Vasopressin is another important hormone in the long-term commitment stage and is released after sex. Vasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone) works with your kidneys to control thirst. Its potential role in long-term relationships was discovered when scientists looked at the prairie vole.

Prairie voles indulge in far more sex than is strictly necessary for the purposes of reproduction. They also – like humans - form fairly stable pair-bonds.

When male prairie voles were given a drug that suppresses the effect of vasopressin, the bond with their partner deteriorated immediately as they lost their devotion and failed to protect their partner from new suitors.

And finally … how to fall in love

1. Find a complete stranger.
2. Reveal to each other intimate details about your lives for half an hour.
3. Then, stare deeply into each other’s eyes without talking for four minutes.

York psychologist, Professor Arthur Arun, has been studying why people fall in love. He asked his subjects to carry out the above 3 steps and found that many of his couples felt deeply attracted after the 34 minute experiment. Two of his subjects later got married.

 Every now & then I’ll meet somebody who talks about ‘just wanting to get laid’ or makes an assumption about me, because of the name ‘ArtSlut’ (although usually people are smarter than that - Thank God!).

So here’s the thing: We all want to get laid-duh! But it’s not just sex. We are wired, as humans, to want love & I personally, don’t believe that anyone is exempt (If they are, I don’t want to meet them). Humans need love, like drugs - what? Did I say that? You know what I mean… So, in the words of Kid Rock, “Get inthe pit & try to love someone”!

The Song of the Day is a chemically charged, rockin’ & raunchy lover’s song by Lucinda Williams, who was obviously high on Dopamine & Seratonin when she wrote it… (Lucky bitch). It’s called “Righteously”. Listen carefully, it may cause addicition or somethin’.

 The Top ArtSlut is on the air TONIGHT at 10:00 PM, Pacific Standard Time on CJAD’s “Holder Tonight” Show, hosted by Peter Anthony Holder. We’ll be talking about all things ArtSlutty like the “Ask ArtSlut Advice Column”, the “Are you an Art Slut?” Quiz, the new book, “The ArtSlut’s Guide to Makin’ It ~ As a Visual Artist” & more!! Tune in and listen live online at 10:00PM at http://www.cjad.com/

So, listen up ArtSluts! & light up the phone lines with your comments & questions for ArtSlut Annie!

Toll Free at 1-800-491-CJAD

The following list is composed of some of the greatest pieces of literature ever written and they have all been banned at some point. Celebrate creative genius and read what ever you want.

Read the rest of this entry »

I just found out that one of our favorite ArtSluts - Bassist, Brian Napolitano will be playing on Jay Leno Monday night, July 16th, along with actress/singer, Minnie Driver!

How freakin’ fabulous is that? Two, TWO, 2 ArtSluts are better than one! And I hereby proclaim Minnie Driver the Honorary ArtSlut of the week. Acting & singing? How very creative! And she’s beautiful to boot!

The following is an excerpt from her site: http://www.minniedriver.com/?id=audio.php#

“Though best known as an actress, Minnie Driver defied critics’ expectations and established herself as a serious artist and musician with her well-received debut album Everything I’ve Got in My Pocket. Her new CD SEASTORIES goes farther in exploring new musical territory, from the rich sonic textures of “Beloved” to the bluesy soul of “Cold Dark River” to the seductive minor key groove of “Mockingbird” to the poetic chamber folk of “Lakewater Hair.” Producer Marc “Doc” Dauer and guest musicians Ryan Adams and The Cardinals, Liz Phair and Rami Jaffee (The Wallfowers) match but never overwhelm Driver’s vivid lyrics, soaring melodies and spirited performances on this thoroughly pleasing collection of intelligent pop.”

“Blasting holes in the actor-singer stigma…Minnie Driver isn’t like most actors who treat making records as a hobby. She’s actually good.” - HARP

 It’s bluesie, sweet stuff. Enjoy!