Tag: Kleber Press

Blinky

There’s a cottage industry devoted to helping people to pursue the dream of becoming a working artists. There is a lot of advice, some contradictory and other things just not how it works in the real world. Or, if it works that way, it is far slower going and heavily sprinkled with rejections and other unavoidable negative aspects.

The one commonality though is that one must have an online presence. Starting with a personal page which should not look as if only free sample software was utilized. There is also the need to have a social media presence. This is the thing so many get wrong.

Have updates of what you are doing in regards to new releases, shows, concerts etc. (It is strange though to keep up a steady stream all day long on twitter et al. When are you working? )

The biggest mistake with social media is the machine gun approach. The theory being if you have something you want people to buy/see just send a deluge out onto social media non-stop. Ten, fifty, one hundred thousand people see it and then if only “X” percent act….

Rarely does it work this way, to a higher percentage of people you are being an annoyance or another thing to mark future communications to go directly to spam folder.

Of course all artists want their work to be seen, myself included. But you should want an audience, not customers. Social media has definitely made it so that there is potential to reach many people with the press of the button, but done too often or two impersonally the only thing achieved is adding to the volume of cacophony of voices yelling “look at me, buy my stuff”.

I have several pages which have been around at this point for years. Anyone familiar with them sees that I rarely steer people towards commerce side of my artistic life. Exceptions being mainly when i have a new book out.

My newest collection is just out and you can find it at amazon in Paperback & kindle versions.

by Wayne Wolfson

Where’s My Stuff?

As I wrap up various projects for 2022 time feels oddly accelerated. There’s not enough hours in the day.

I was recently turned onto the Post website. From what I have seen of it, I like it. By way of saying thank you and showing appreciation to all those who have bothered to seek out my works I posted a free essay from my last collection Funeral Clothes.

Happy and Healthy holidays to all!

https://post.news/article/2JKHi8u5FG0ywYjyn7DObbTTiSb

by Wayne Wolfson

Funeral Clothes

The magic of the internet, artists no longer need face the prospect of spending a life in service of the process but with their oeuvre largely unseen. The flip side of this coin is that there are some artists who, without easy access to an audience would have to work harder and ultimately become better artists. It also has made artists seek not an audience but customers, their output reduced down to just another commodity.

I try to largely eschew promoting what I have for sale. A cursory look at my blog shows what a rare occurrence the promotion of things for sale is.

However, I am not anti commerce. Art is meant to be seen, to be read. I have a new collection which just came out. Succinctly, it’s beautiful, it’s heavy.

Available at Amazon in Kindle & paperback

by Wayne Wolfson

Gossip

Being in Paris has always been a sort of battery for my work. During this pandemic for the first time in decades I found myself cut off from my usual arrondissement and sources of inspiration. I recognize many had it far worse than I, so bare in mind I am not complaining. I needed to find a new way to work for essentially first time in my career.

I had my usual routine but mixed in with this were little challenges, explorations as to facilitate both evolution and insperation. I started several series utilizing new to me mediums, ideas and goals.

Gossip in one of them. It is not a book so much as a work of art which utilizes text. It is not only something very different for me but in general unique. I would call the art “immediate” in the same sense as some of the works by Wayne White & Ed Ruscha’s text incorporated pieces. You view it, have initial ideas but then chew upon it after the fact.

One thing I highly recommend is that you do not take a peek inside as amazon offers but rather go in completely cold with no idea what awaits you. Were it up to me, I would offer no “sneak peek” but amazon has other ideas in that department.

Rarely do i promote my works to buy. I would always rather have an audience than customers. With Gossip, it is meant to be viewed as a whole start to finish and there is simply no way to show parts of it in journals or what not without loss of effect.

All the images are created by me as is the text.

From the back cover:

At its best, the stream of life is like a great jazz standard. There is the familiar melody but with each player there are infinite variations and improvisations occurring within the known framework. Not just what the player says but the way in which it is said, the tone, make it worth revisiting. Further variation derives from our perceptions. One person’s requiem is another’s calliope.

Here is my riffing on humanity, flurries of notes darkly funny, tragic and image rich.

by Wayne Wolfson