Author: Artist Rafi Perez

Recently I found myself in a conversation with another artist about her lack of sales. She was asking me about my sales and the secret formula I was using to find the things that were trending.

I think I was rather disappointing because I don’t follow trends, if fact I believe that following trends and what is popular stagnates art. As an artist I believe that we create things that we can’t find in the world. If you are following trends, then you are just creating more of what already exist.

I may sound a little upset in this video, I’m not, it’s just that this subject is really ridiculous to me… It’s one of the reasons I believe artist struggle so much…

Don’t Be Nervous and Have Fun

So You are showing your stuff at your first festival. Don’t be nervous, it’s easy.

Things You’ll need:

10X10 White Canopy
Tables, easels or walls
Chairs, sunscreen and umbrella
signage and business cards

Oh and HAVE FUN!!

https://youtu.be/tt0KlnRhh04?list=PLZfqKjqJWoIgdMmJxhh0j3IBWGQGRFWdy Go Back To Art Smarts Page

My opinion on how to deal with a critic or a hater

-Put yourself out there, don’t let the fear of being criticized stop you. -Change your perspective, you aren’t creating for everyone and some people aren’t going to dig your creations. -Create what you create for you, it’s easier to create your niche market of YOU pieces than try to make something people will like. It’s easier to not care what people think when you love it. -Don’t take it personal, it really doesn’t have much to do with you or your creation. It has to do with them and their personal taste. -Ignore the haters, it’s not worth it. Honestly if someone is hating on something with no kind of intelligent comment then don’t worry about it. https://youtu.be/kLoX-2-SUmo?list=PLZfqKjqJWoIgdMmJxhh0j3IBWGQGRFWdy

Every once in a while I am reminded of how awesome it is to be an artist. Sure, we have our ups and downs like any other field of work. In fact, many artists believe that it is their unhappy periods that generate their most powerful work. This results in artists being moody, disgruntled, argumentative, aloof, and weird.

Of course, not all artist believe that you have to be sitting in the shower crying in order to find inspiration. I can’t create anything that I like if I hit a low point in my day, let alone crying in the shower. My personal way of finding inspiration daily is to remind myself how awesome it is that I create my art for a living. I call this “Arting it Up Like A Boss.”

You know, I’ll do the thing where I wear a hat and sunglasses, so I don’t get recognized by the paparazzi. Sure, I know they may not be looking for me in the first place, but hey you never know. Besides, I’m a creative, and I believe that the most powerful thing any of us have up our sleeve is our imagination.

Oh sure, it’s easy to say “I don’t have a vivid imagination and I’m not creative” but that’s bullshit. Next time you are picturing something going horribly wrong, and you are terrified to speak in front of a group, keep in mind that all that fear is coming from your imagination. The really cool thing is that you can use your imagination for good.

For example, I like to believe that I am making a huge positive difference in the world with my art. I picture all of these scenarios where people look at my paintings on their wall, causing them to feel good, empowered, or just happy. I keep that in my mind and my imagination when I’m creating a piece.

Why would someone picture people hating them or hating something they’ve created simply because of fear of fooling themselves? That just seems really stupid. The truth is, some people will feel really good and others will simply not like my art. The question isn’t “what is true?” there are a lot of truths, the question is “what would you prefer to focus on?”

As for me, I’ll focus on Arting It Up, Like A Boss!

This year I’ll be donating a piece of art to an event that is raising money for Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc.™ they are dedicated to the physical and emotional rehabilitation of disabled active military service personnel and disabled veterans through fly fishing and associated activities including education and outings.

You can find out more at http://www.projecthealingwaters.org

The Event is called Blasting For The Brave. Right Click on and print the picture below to register or become a sponsor for the event. You can also register by email or phone.

This question pops up often, or maybe I just notice it more because I’m an artist now. I’m always interested to see how people answer this question and am usually surprised by the many answers.

Usually, art is considered the process of deliberately arranging elements in a way that appeals to the senses or emotions. That way it can encompass a diverse range of activities, creations and ways of expression, including music, literature, film, dance, sculpture, jewelry and paintings. I kind of like this as a definition but I believe it’s a little simpler than that. Also, sometimes the arrangement isn’t all that pleasing to the senses and the piece could still be a beautiful work of art.

Some will argue that art cannot be defined. As an artist, I think this concept is a little hard to follow considering it would mean that I have a career in a field of undefined products. It’s just a little too scattered for me, although I agree that the definition of art could be different in each artist’s interpretation.

Art is also considered an activity or product done by people with a communicative or aesthetic purpose—something that expresses an idea, an emotion or, more generally, a world view. I can dig this, but I think it over complicates the meaning of art to need a large world changing purpose. It’s one of the reasons that some very popular artists within their collectors are not popular in the museum scene.

I don’t know, the fact of the matter is that Art historians and philosophers of art have long had classification disputes about art regarding whether a particular cultural form or piece of work should be classified as art.

The definition of art is open, subjective, debatable. The truth of the matter is that no one really has a definition, just a bunch of opinions. People will continue to have opinions about what is art and what is not art because there is no one way of looking at a piece of art.

I’ve seen some installations that look like someone just threw a bunch of garbage in a corner, which causes me to scratch my head. I can say “That’s not art, it’s just a bunch of garbage.” MOMA would say “It is the artists representation of our culture and wastefulness.” Who’s right? Me or MOMA? Some people would say MOMA is an expert establishment so it must be art. Others that love my art would say Rafi is an artist so he must know what art is. People that don’t care would say it’s garbage, but then again those people could look at a Picasso or a Jackson Pollock and say that is garbage.

Honestly, I think it doesn’t really matter. If people connect to the meaning of something on some level, and they consider it a work of art, then who’s to say it’s not. I won’t be putting any deliberate garbage installations in my house any time soon, although my father has a few of his own installations in our yard. Truthfully, once a pile of garbage had a deliberate purpose and placement, it did make me think a little, so maybe, just maybe I can think it’s art.

That being said, I think everyone will either find value in something someone created or not. Whether or not something is considered art by the masses is not important. I think the important thing to remember is that no one can tell you what is or isn’t art. If you like something and you want to display it proudly in your house, then it is art. Simple as that… Of course that’s my opinion.

This piece was created for someone who’s son passed away.

She has a special bond with him, and dragon flies constantly appear in her life to show her that her son is still there.

Her son’s inspiring wisdom also lead to the words and the name of this particular piece “It Just Is”. I think we can all learn from this wisdom when ever we start making a mountain out of a molehill.

My intent was to capture the connection we have with that stream of consciousness that exist beyond what we think we see. The fact that the only time we are not connected is when we feel the misery of missing someone we believe is not there. We simply cannot see or feel them because our focus is askew.

Well, that’s my belief on the matter of death, I think we are infinite beings and we have no end. We are all connected, always. Whether it is proven or true, doesn’t matter in my opinion because honestly it’s all relative.

Ok, so yeah, I know it sounds a little weird. But if you’re feeling stressed or sad, maybe the best thing you can do is crack a smile.

New research shows that smiling — and especially genuine smiling (where your eyes and mouth muscles are engaged) — may play a part in lowering heart rate after you’ve done something stressful.

Basically they discovered that smiling and being happy is a two way street. If you are happy, you smile and now they know that if you smile, you’ll be happy.

“The next time you are stuck in traffic or are experiencing some other type of stress, you might try to hold your face in a smile for a moment,” study researcher Sarah Pressman, of the University of Kansas, said in a statement. “Not only will it help you ‘grin and bear it’ psychologically, but it might actually help your heart health as well!”

The study included 169 university students who were first trained to hold chopsticks with their mouths (the chopsticks forced them to smile). The researchers trained them to either smile in a standard fashion (where just the mouth is in a smile, but no other facial muscles are being used), a Duchenne smile (where the mouth and eye muscles are used, apparent in a “genuine” smile), or a neutral expression.

Then, the researchers had the study participants continue to have the chopsticks in their mouths as they did a series of stressful tasks, such as putting their hands in ice water.

The researchers found that those who were trained to smile — and especially those who were trained to smile the Duchenne way — had a lower heart rate after the activities.

And while you’re at it, maybe you should laugh some, too. Research shows that laughing has a myriad of health benefits, from lowering stress to easing pain to boosting your immune system, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Plus, a study from researchers at the University of Maryland Medical Center found that people with heart disease are less likely to laugh than people without the condition — thereby suggesting there could be a link between laughing and heart health.
“We know that exercising, not smoking and eating foods low in saturated fat will reduce the risk of heart disease,” Dr. Michael Miller, director of the Center for Preventive Cardiology at UMMC, said in a statement. “Perhaps regular, hearty laughter should be added to the list.”

So crack open a can of smile like a fool and have some fun today!