Looking back to a simpler time? Times weren’t so simple.

As time goes by, I am faced with statements in this business like; “The art business was so much easier in the 80’s” “you could sell anything as art”, “The 70’s was a time of discovery for artists”.  And ultimately the final statement, “Things used to be so much simpler and easier.”

It’s easy to sit where we are now and look back at the halcyon days of the past.  We do it every election, stare back at the past with longing but things weren’t as rosy as they look through the mist of time.  Friends of mine are facing current health issues that can be simple fixes now and would have been major surgery then.  We have cars that can go hundreds of miles on one tank of gas that holds less than 15 gallons.  We have cars that run on electricity instead of gas.  Gas might have been cheaper, but I remember the smog we had in major cities.  You used to never be able to see their lovely sky lines. Sales at shows might have been easier but I have sold art to people I might not ever see face to face.  Think about that, she saw it on my computer and reached out to buy it, we did everything but packing and shipping electronically. Shows are different, but we are reaching more people through social media.  I don’t have to drive to get my work seen across the country like my mother did.  Finally, you could sell anything.  Artists still speak with anger about the party sheet that guests threw stuff at which won a huge artistic honor at a show.  It was entered on a lark and sold for the most at auction.

It is easy to judge our current times through the rosy filter of time but we need to be realistic about what those times were like.  I know several artists that we lost because of the toxicity of our pigments.  No one even considered those issues and it doesn’t matter if you were using oil paint or egg tempra, pigments can be and some are very poisonous. So while we are struggling with the fears and frustrations of where we stand, take a moment to look for the strides we have made.  Stuart Semple created a black that competes with vanta black.  Vanta is toxic and dangerous to use; Stuart's isn't toxic and smells like cherries plus, it's pennies in comparison.

There are ebbs and flows, ups and downs to everything and we need to maintain a healthy perspective of where we are actually placing our feet. Instead of looking back, lets look to our future and the positives we take for granted now.  My friend will be able to get up out of the hospital in 48 hours instead of 2 weeks when she goes into the hospital this next week. When I am in Seattle, I’m going to take a ferry and enjoy the skyline under clear blue skies.  While you might be aggravating me by what you are saying, I will celebrate the fact you have the freedom to irritate me. Lets share a glass of chilled wine from our refrigerator and toast the store front downtown that used to store ice harvested from the lake for our “ice boxes.” Connie, I’m so glad that you are gonna be around to drink with me along with a few others.