Inspiration Fridays! How do you know when it’s good?

How do you know when it’s good?

I may be an introverted socialite. I love a good opening. Art shows can be magical. The conversations, laughter, wine, and art combine to make an electric stew. Add some sales, simmer and… serve. Still, when it’s all over, I am sapped.

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Over the last six months, I’ve been working on my latest body of work Departure for this winter’s open studio. These paintings are the culmination of several years of shifting perspectives and experimentation in my work. Some pieces are more radical than others, and there are a few that feel completely original. I don’t just mean new for me. I mean, they feel like the kind of painting that this world has never seen before. That sweet spot between abstraction in representationalism that has been so elusive. This is why I paint.

Gabriel Mark Lipper – Fractal Light – acrylic on panel – 12”x12” SOLD

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Gabriel Mark Lipper – Harmony – Mixed Media on Canvas – 36”x48”

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Gabriel Mark Lipper – Resilience – Mixed Media on Canvas – 48”x48” SOLD

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Some of the best works in this show haven’t sold yet. I’m not complaining, the sales have been good. Still, when a piece stands out but doesn’t receive the coveted red dot right away, it can leave us artists wondering why. This can be a slippery slope. If we start conflating the value of strong work with how many pieces we sell, or how many “likes” we get, the quality and power of our painting can get into trouble fast.

Gabriel Mark Lipper – Infinity – Mixed Media on panel – 36”x 72”

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Gabriel Mark Lipper – Seclusion – Mixed Media on panel – 48”x 48”

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So the next time you are wondering if your paintings are any good… instead of comparing them to other people’s work you may have seen in galleries or online, compare your paintings to your own best work. What is it about your favorite pieces that worked so well? Are your current paintings better? Why? Why not? This is where the real innovations live. We are always learning and evolving, and there is plenty out there to discover, but the best art that we can make comes from learning to trust ourselves.

What works best about your best works?

When you look at your paintings are the voices in your head your own?

How do YOU know when it’s good?

December 9, 2022/by Gabriel Lipper

Inspiration Fridays! Does having a show get any easier?

Inspiration Fridays

Does having a show get any easier?

Every show is last minute. No matter how much time I’ve set aside, no matter how many lists and deadlines I’ve put in place, I never feel ready.

“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” – Kurt Vonnegut

Over 25 years of gallery shows and I still can’t sleep the week before an opening. The nerves are still there. What has changed for me is the work. Painting is an evolution and I take great pleasure in the newness of what I’m doing. I used to wonder if my paintings were good enough or if people would like them (and therefore like me). Now the only question I have about the work is if people will understand and appreciate what I’m doing with the paint. I know it’s good. The real journey, is to find my people, my community. Not everyone has to like what I do. What I’m looking for, is a connection with those of you who love it.

Gabriel Mark Lipper – Infinity – acrylic on panel – 36″x72″

Hanging a show is intentionally standing naked in the front of the classroom. You know who you are. No surprises there. Now It’s up to the world to decide if they like what they see. This fear of showing up can be crippling, but it’s also what makes our art real. Painting in an echo chamber doesn’t make for strong work. When I know the work that I’m doing is going to be seen, I show up in a different way.

This new body of work is entitled Departure. It addresses the physicality of travel, and explores the way that our lives can be beautifully affected, and even fragmented by the experience of something new. When we travel, we can never return as the person we were before we left. The newness of our experience changes us. We inevitably bring a part of that newness home with us and leave a bit of ourselves behind.

Have you found your community of artists and art lovers?

Is the act of painting enough or does the work need to be seen?

December 2, 2022/by Gabriel Lipper

Inspiration Fridays! Deadlines

Inspiration Fridays

Deadlines

I spend a disproportionate amount of time thinking about what I’m going to do. I’m not talking about planning mind you. It’s more like throwing ideas around in my head and hoping some of them land.

“If you do not know where you are going, every road will get you nowhere.” – Henry A. Kissinger

Some ideas become paintings, but most continue swirling about in the busy ether of my subconscious.

What makes an idea real is a deadline. Placing some kind of marker out in front of my creative process is the only way to get my work finished. I used to procrastinate quite a bit. I don’t even call it procrastination anymore. I like to hold it up as part of my process. I like to give myself as much room as I can around an idea. But what about all of those unfinished paintings that keep stacking up? For me, this is where the deadline becomes invaluable. Without a deadline, my work is never done.

Creating a hard date for an open studio or gallery show puts my feet to the fire. My time management solution is to lie to myself. Rather than putting the real deadline on the wall, I come up with a date a couple of weeks early. Nothing too clean, maybe 11 days, something that’s hard to keep track of. I pin this number to the wall and look at it every day. After several months, it becomes the deadline. It’s just like setting my clock. A little fast.

8paint Inspiration Fridays Deadlines Studio Implosion

My studio tends to implode when I’m working toward a show.

Creativity isn’t linear. Learning isn’t linear. Half of the lines I draw aren’t even very linear. When we’re embroiled in our creative work, we need to give ourselves room to experiment and allow time for things to gel. A deadline can just start with a title. When I give my deadline a name it helps me to rain the ideas in and begin moving in a specific direction with the work. “I’m working on a show called Departure.” You can design a show without having a place to put it, but once you decide that the world is going to see it, a new level of accountability kicks in.

I regularly end up spending more time painting in the studio in the final couple of weeks before my deadline than I do in the two months prior. Deadlines force us to make decisions, and they sharpen who we are as artists. Hurdling through the holidays is a great time to experiment with deadlines. You might try giving yourself exactly an hour and a half to paint in the studio. Get going! You know there is something in life that will inevitably drag you away. Take every minute! Even these kind of short-term deadlines makes the work more finite. If we only have an hour and a half, we had better start painting.

Painting and drawing from life is a great way to stay honest about time.
Nothing says “move” like a model holding a pose for you.

What can you do in 50 minutes?

How do you handle your deadlines?

How do you get it done?

November 25, 2022/by Gabriel Lipper