‘Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.’-Booker T. Washington

‘Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.’-Calvin Coolidge

‘Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.’-Sylvia Plath

I finished this work a few days ago. This was a semi-demanding painting, although demanding in a completely different way from the painting I made of Ella at the beginning of the year. That painting was a challenge because I knew it was going to be large and how would I convey what I wanted to convey about Ella? This one was demanding because I knew what I wanted to convey, but I was wondering how exactly I was going to get through all the detail involved. So it wasn’t so much technically or artistically demanding as it was physically challenging. This painting gave me some serious mental and eye fatigue. I could only work for brief periods of time on the difficult areas. The strain of staring and painting all the tiny details just wore out my eyes. I didn’t think I’d ever finish that necklace, it just seemed to go on and on and on. One of the things I like most about the work is her right arm. I’m also pleased that I managed to paint all the tiny details well without making a total hash of it in a difficult medium like watercolor.

‘Roaring 20′ is a portrait of Julia, a friend of mine. An art major, we catch up every now and then and have a talk. I use that term liberally, because mostly our conversations consist of me nagging her incessantly about how she plans to be successful as an artist. What steps she might be taking now to ensure that happens, instead of waiting until she’s finished her degree like I did and almost everyone else in art school usually does. What I try to convey to her is that I think she has talent and can go somewhere with it, while at the same time letting her know that nothing happens if you don’t take the planning of your success seriously. It’s not like it’s gonna fall out of the sky. I’d like for her to consider those kinds of things and maybe avoid some of the prolonged pitfalls, setbacks and distress that I’ve experienced. I’m amazed she still talks to me I nag her so much. It’s obviously a far different era than when Picasso, Jeff Koons or Julian Schnabel got rich running the show. Damien Hirst changed things completely last year when he bypassed his dealers to take his work straight to the public via auction and made a killing. The man made over 100 million dollars during a recession.The hustle is always shifting and we often discuss the kinds of things that can make ones career move forward, or set it back.

Be on point otherwise it’s pointless.

Speaking of steps forward: I mentioned on FB that I’d entered that Washington Post online competition and gotten selected as one of the 10 finalists. You can see the finalists as they come up here.  I got notified that I was chosen as a finalist but then there was a bit of a question over the eligibility of my entry since I don’t live in D.C. full-time. After they discussed it with their legal department and the Post contacted me again there were only two things I felt: justified and elated.  My state of mind over my work is far different from when I was younger or even five or six years ago. I have a real strong sense that what I’m making is good. Solid. Still the art world is a strange beast where portraiture and watercolor get so overlooked you know? There are no bells or whistles to it. No shock value. I’m not sawing animals in half and encasing them in formaldehyde. No paintings on broken plates on canvas. I’m not setting people on fire before booting them off the Brooklyn Bridge as my magnum opus: ‘Gore meets Kierkegaard: An Auditory Excursion Into The Relativity of Global Warming On The Human Condition.’ Stuff like that. My work is simple, straightforward. Excellent. But in the art world that’s often just not enough to take you places. You need help to get you over the hurdles and that has always been a nagging thorn in the side of my artistic career. Your career in art is strictly who you know. Talent often has very little to do with it in the overall scheme of things, in the big picture. If you’ve got it that’s a plus not a prerequisite. You have to know the right people or have the right sort of people take you seriously. Otherwise you’re just going to spin your wheels and get quite disillusioned in the process. Take it from someone who knows firsthand. So, while my works have always been truly appreciated by my peers, the people around me, and my contemporaries, it has taken a long time to find any sort of favor with the people who could really make it go somewhere. Who could get my career started on the roads towards the upper echelons. That’s due to certain factors I’ve already mentioned plus a good portion that rests solely on my shoulders: Pure ego and youthful naivete coupled with some serious laziness for years. Then the amount of  time it took to find my own voice and artistic way of doing things. I always worked hard when it came to the work, but I didn’t always work hard in the other ways you need to work hard. In the art world that’s a luxury few can afford because that world is all about networking, consistency in networking, presentation and the gift of gab. Laziness and complacency cost you. At any rate those days are long over. Diligence and accountability are my modern mantras and I consider my work exceptional. There are days where even I don’t know how I’m doing it. It’s just coming from some other point and place and what keeps coming just comes forward stronger and better each time.

The Post selection and interview are a big deal to me because it is precisely the type of thing that can move your career to a completely different level. Even the PR from being selected as a finalist is pretty outstanding. To buy that same kind of PR or ad space within the Post would cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. It’s recognition from one of the most recognizable entities in the entire United States. It’s recognition from my hometown. It’s recognition of my work. That’s beneficial to me because it’s really difficult to stay focused at times. Over the years that I’ve been working I’ve had so many broken promises and sludged through so much repeated disappointment. I mean so much that even my wife doesn’t really want to hear about gallery opportunities anymore. You know that says something because she’s believed in me from the start. She was thrilled about The Post opportunity. But galleries? Lol man she doesn’t trust anything that comes out of any gallery dealers mouth anytime, anywhere. They could tell us the sky is blue and she’d still tell them they’re full of shit and I don’t blame her. I think she is well within her right considering some of the unbelievable stuff we’ve been through over the years involving my career. A lot of stress and an even greater number of setbacks. That takes a toll no matter strong your self-belief. It takes a toll on your confidence, your path, your state of mind, your finances, your relationship. Some days I feel like I’ve been taking the most circuitous route to success that is humanly possible. No one is given anything for free in life and the world doesn’t owe any of us anything. Still, there are days when I think of my work and I sort of look at it and think “Man. I may not be owed anything, but surely it’s worth something more than where it currently stands.” That’s the part that often confuses me, because I’m not asking for favors. I’d like things to go forward on the merit of what is, what is right in front of the eyes of people who could help it to go forward. Not because I’m worth it, but because the work is worth it. Am I making any sense?

I don’t know if this press from this interview is something that will actually go a great deal towards furthering my career. It may or it may not, there’s just no true way of knowing. I certainly hope it does because I have goals left that I’d like to achieve. Just to see if I can achieve them, if they can be done. My overriding goal has always been to get my work into The Hirshhorn somehow. To establish more connections and contacts back in DC and the US.  To get off the Feast-or-Famine rollercoaster and ease the toll that that takes on my wife. Or it might simply end up as being a nice interview. Either way I plan to make this absolute most out of the opportunity  with the Washington Post. I plan to be the best that I can be. I’m really glad I was selected as a finalist because it has gone a way towards restoring my belief that at some point, if your diligence and talent are great enough, they will be recognized. It may not be at a time that is ideal or that you would prefer, but it can happen.

Image: ‘Roaring 20′, Keinyo White Ltd©®