Post #761020 by Tiki Shark Art on Thu, Mar 17, 2016 9:07 AM

On 2016-01-23 04:54, swizzle wrote:
Are you aware that nobody comments on your posts/thread??? Think about why. You are actually a talented artist, but you are a wanker.

What? I don't even know what a "wanker" is.
I thought TC was a place here I could mingle with my Tiki Tribe in friendship. I considered it a world wide artist collective where I could share my struggles to create art with other tiki artists and collectors.
TC is like an Artist's Collective of many many many Art studios all over the world, with a different Tiki Artist working in each; you can stroll through this part of TC and see what they are all doing.
LLT ( Ken Ruzic ) is always making amazing original Tiki Art at an incredible pace we all marvel at. Robb Hamel is maybe one of the few painters in the world creating new beautiful Black Velvet Art. VanTiki is breaking all stereotypes of what a Tiki Mug is and creating a whole new kind of Fine Art Sculpture! There are very major talents here like Big Toe, Doug Horne, Crazy Al, Eric October, Thorsten Hasenkamm, THOR…. it goes on and on, just take a look. You don't need to comment on every art studio.

If you see stuff you may not dig, don't freak-out and be an idiot, just go on till you find a studio with Art that you like. Talk to that Artist if you want to. Ask how they do what they do. Let them know you love their Art. Information shared. Support given. Maybe even buy a piece. ( ! )

Artists here are struggling. It's extremely hard to make a living as an artist. Some here are still fighting to turn a hobby into a career. It's a hell of a lot of work. To become a successful gallery artist is one of the hardest job paths you will ever find. You have one in a thousand chance of making it, if that. The work is crushing. It takes away most of your life. No more TV. Ever. Your personal life suffers. You are painting all the time. You are fighting to keep your space in a gallery that excepts you. You agonize over every new piece - is it good enough? Is it Low Brow Art? Does it have a meaning? Is it "Tiki" enough? Is it offensive to Hawaiian culture? Is it as good as the new piece by so-in-so who's hanging in in the same group art show? The mental pressure and stress destroys people. What do you think happened to The PIZZ? He was hanging in Museums! Still he battled stress we could not fathom.

I show my "art in progress" here, if you like it or not - you can look or not. If you got questions or criticism about my art, I am happy to listen & answer & even take advise. I never require responses from folks who just wanna' watch. I enjoy critiques from folks, who know me, or know about Art, or know about Tiki. LLT often tells me exactly what I'm doing wrong, and I cherish Kenny's criticism. GROG gives the greatest Art Direction and has helped me greatly many many many times.

But, being told I'm a "wanker"?

First off, I'm still not even sure what that word "wanker" means.
Hey, maybe it's an Art term I never heard of? I google it… hmmmm…. I guess it means I "masturbate" overly much… ? Still not really understanding it.
Okay, maybe I go on and on about my obsession with obscure pop culture references. Like TIKI? I know. Hey, I'm weird. I totally know that. I'm a "Low Brow Tiki Artist". I'm supposed to be weird. That's the one up-side to being a Low Brow Artist. The biggest part to being a Low Brow Artist is a LOT of HARD WORK, 10 hours a day or more, alone in your studio, struggling to make ART. Worrying if it will be real "Art", or just crap. No social time. You tend to go of the deep end. Artists are strange folk. Read Art History, you'll find every great artist was some kind of freak, drug addict, drunk, criminal, or maniac.

What are these bad feelings about having to get more replies or not? When did the art studios on TC become a popularity contest?

Ya' know what? This has taken the fun out of TC for me. I got way too much pressure in my life to create Art now. I really don't want to worry about these bad vibes from non-artists, about why or how I'm using TC.

I have a horrific amount of Art to create before April 1st. I don't have time for this. Not sure I'll post here anymore.