Today’s question is a continuation of last week’s post. We had to think about this a lot, in order to make it clear & to the point. So, FINALLY, here it is:             The Fill-In-The-Blank, Break Up Form:                                                                                        Please copy & distribute!

Okay People, Everybody’s a chicken now & then, but it’s not right to be a puss at the expense of someone else’s self esteem. It is NOT better for them to be ditched with no explanation, it’s just a little more convenient for YOU. It’s wrong & cruel & you know it. AND, guess what Ya Dope? If you think you’re avoiding drama by avoiding her/him… Joo got it all, ass-backward, MaFriend… NOTHING brings on the dramatic reaction faster or larger than somebody being abandoned - Eegads! Don’t give me that crap about ‘I told him/her’, either. Using someone is wrong, period, whether they ‘let you’ do it, or not. I thought everybody had a deadbeat dad these days & would’ve learned the hard way, not to do that?? Wait a minute… Is there a chance that you secretly, enjoy the drama of someone crying over you, because it makes you feel special to be the object of some ‘psycho’s’ affections? Hmmm… So please use this fill in the blank, break up, form letter to keep people from suffering, do to you being a wuss… Read the rest of this entry »

 The Question: Today’s was actually delivered verbally, from a neighbor & it went something like this: “Dude, I gotta f*ckn stalker. This chick is nuts. She calls me constantly, shows up at my work, blah, blah, blah….” Turns out, she was an intended one night stand, picked up at a party.

 So, you get what you pay for, right? Not that JD was trying to pay, mind you. I’m just sayin’, she’s not trying to get picked up for sex, duh! She’s just got a missguided means of looking for love & guess what if you were trying to use her for a screw… You get what you pay for. Fair enough, suck it up.

 Anyway, the convo goes on to reveal that this person has lots of problems like this, because even after he’s been dating someone & sharing the tender moments… when things go awry, he pulls a “Presto-magic, Dissapear-o, No call-O!” To get rid of the now offensive, damsel & he ‘believes’ that this is ‘best for THEM’ (?!) And, to that I say, “Bullshit!”

“Dude”, You’re a cool cat. I know you & I think you’re a good person, but that is some f’d up shit & a sure recipe for drama every time. Haven’t you ever heard any of those old adages like, “What you think about you bring about’, ‘do unto others’, ‘be cool fool’, ‘what comes around goes around’??? His response was shock, that I didn’t dig the ‘chew your arm off & sprinkle yourself with dissapearing powder’ method of breaking up… Anyhooch, we came to the conclusion that he needs a fill in the blak, form letter so he can do it in a way that’s relatively painless for him, but not so f’n cruel that somebody sicks the Humane Society on his dumb ass!

So, that’s what my next entry is gonna be. Stay tuned for the ‘recipe to Coke’ of breaking up with humane grace. While you’re waiting, buy my book!

 Hi Barb!

 The Question: Dear Art Slut, I read your book & I have to say, I loved it! You really gave me a lot of great ideas that I’d never thought of before. I’ve been giving my work away to local charities for years - partly because I want to help & yes, for the exposure too. It never occured to me, that I was knocking myself out of the market place by letting the people who want & can afford my work to pick it up for nothing at charity auctions. I live in a small town & looking back - that hurt me, bad.

So, that leads me to my question: Now that I’m somewhat known where I live & still, unfortunately starving as an artist, it look slike the market’s kind of saturated with my work. How can I reinvent myself & create a new market, so I don’t have to move away?

 The Answer: Dear Hurt Bad,

You’re gonna be okay, Jose’. This is an opportunity! You didn’t tell me what kind of work you do, but if it’s 2-D, hopefully, you have good pictures. One of the first things I advise you to do is start posting it on sites like www.DeviantArt.com that will sell print on demand giclees of the images you upload & give you a kick back of the proceeds - that’s free money & something we will be doing on ArtSlut.com, soon. Now, on to re-invention… Use your great reputation to your advantage. You can start by working with your favorite gallery to put together a show of collaborations between you & unexpected artists. For example, if you’re known for painting, collaborate with a metal artist, a ceramicist, an illustrator, maybe even a clothing or fabric designer. It’s good for them & for you. If you’re known for vivd watercolors, try doing all monochromatic paintings, whatever it takes to make a departure & still be you. Don’t forget to write a press release about everything you do. I’m sure you’ve got that press list handy, right? It keeps your name in the paper, your work fresh & will inspire all who are involved. Now that I think of it, I’m going to do the same thing. What a great idea! The other thing to remember is not to limit yourself. If you’ve had that much success with your work, consider busting out of your bubble & begin contact artists’ & licensing reps in larger towns, applying for trade shows, like Surtex, which is geared toward the licensing of art work. In that way, you can get your work to work for you, instead of you working for it - novel idea huh?

I hope that helps! Let me know what you come up with & when I can purchase your amazing creative genius online. BTW: What’s your URL? We wanna see it, Baby!

The Question:

hey art slut…;) i was wondering, if you want to be an artist, and you want to be both true yourself and your style, yet you also want to make a living, and make clients happy…where do you begin? how do you stay true to yourself, while just trying to please others?

and, is ’selling out’ really such a bad thing? thanks, Jilly-Poo

 The Answer:

Howdy do, Jilly-Poo? Thanks for the question Mama. It’s a good one & here’s thepoop-skinny on the doodoo, Poo. Everybody’s gotta pay the Piper.

Yep, you heard me right & it’s only fair, right? We all were given the delightfully-daft impressions that we should ‘only make art for art’s sake & good art should never match the sofa & we’ve got to ’suffer’ or be ‘tortured’ in order to be a ‘REAL’ artists… Well, ya know what I say to that? - “KAKA!” Those are separatist notions created by weird, unlicensed art-police who apparently have something to gain by making others feel bad & THAT is wrong. Listen, I’m not saying go paint people’s kitty cats in blue ’cause they have a blue sofa (well, not unless you love painting blue kitty cats!). I AM saying temper what you love with what you need to do. Figure out what you love to make & find the right audience for it. In no other profession are people told to do jack-all & expect a magic benefactor to magically fall from the sky. It don’t work that way, people! If you’ve chosen art as a career, that’s lovely. Treat it like one & it will be a career that will tickle your fancy for the rest of your life. Did I answer the question? Um, I meant to say:

Do what you love & make some concessions like learning what (of what you love to do) sells best, implement a marketing plan, network, yada yada… And, the only people I’ve ever heard calling anyone a ’sell out’ were choking to death on sour grapes! You can do this with grace, passion & success, Poo! It’s all in my book & I’m sending you a digital copy as thanks for the great question. Thanks, J-Poo!