Exceptional Person!

At the Viridian Gallery in Chelsea, I met the artist Arthur Dworin. 

His work drew me into the small gallery space, and after reading his biography, I felt that I'd stumbled across an exceptional person. Arthur is a painter of large huge!) scale abstract art that focuses on color use. He wants to inspire feelings in the soul of the viewer, and he hopes to inspire feeling in himself as he does the work. Dworin is a kind man, and he came by with a handshake and a helpful chat the second I entered the room. He's painted sets for Broadway shows (and belongs to a union of theater designers), shown his paintings internationally, drew illustrations for the New York Times, worked at the MOMA, and painted movie sets. His specialization is faux finish wood, and the frames on his paintings on display in the Viridian gallery were faux wood. I didn't know it until he pointed it out and insisted I take a look. Even up close they seemed like real wood. 

He ended up doing all of the things he has, including knowing how to paint fax wood finishes, by practicing. Working on theater sets often required making things look real when they weren't, and he perfected his skill by working on them from a young age. Dworin stressed the idea of each work of art being the result of a lifetime of work; all experiences add up into the next. He used the people he knew to join galleries, and has been designing sets for 20 years. Painting is his passion but sets put food on the table. He was willing to do any job, even doing illustrations in the New York Times as a favor to his friend, the Creative Director. 

His tips on how to become his type of professional (a successful artist) are pretty straightforward. DO your work was the first one, as he doesn't think many people realize just how important it is to simply finish work carefully and completely. He then said that it is necessary to build a body of this work, so that it can be displayed, photograph the work, and then make sure that as many people see it as possible. He praised the use of social networking sites like Facebook and free website makers like Wix.com, saying that it made it that much easier to get noticed. He used his Facebook to advertise his website, then got hits on the website that way. It was smart, intuitive marketing that got him where he needed to go. He also adds that it's important for artists to know other artists who have gotten into galleries, as it not only keeps you abreast of the happenings of the moments, but it gives you people who can recommend you to galleries. Like Victoria Monsul said, get comfortable with telling people about your interests and showing them your work. 

Lastly, Dworin said his most important sentence: Have passion. Without passion, the work loses something of itself, and one would have a very hard time getting anyone else to care about it. One fails a lot on the road to success, and sometimes the passion is the only thing that can keep you going.

Victoria Monsul : Post Graduate

Post-graduate Pratt student Victoria Monsul came to class to talk about life after college, and the things that she did to find success. Monsul graduated in 2007, and because it was so recent, she's the perfect candidate for the tough job of relating life after to people still in school.
The presentation was a little all over the place, but that's because Victoria's life was a little all over the place. She taught the room many things, but the one point that I came away from the presentation with was that sometimes it takes a while to find one's niche, but all the experiences leading up to it are  learning experiences.
She posed the questions of "how do we become who we are? Who am I? Who are you?" Who she was was defined by what she wanted out of life after school. She didn't know what she wanted to do, only that she wanted to be surrounded by like-minded people in a creative environment. Victoria accepted that as a part of her, because she believes that being true to oneself and authentic is an important part of understanding yourself and other people. Understanding other people is a key ability that successful people possess. She was selective about who she chose to be her friends, knowing that friends can either help or hinder you, and she was open with her passion for whatever she was doing.
Monsul covered the benefits of having a degree, something that college students often overlook. It isn't just a piece of paper: it gives one a leg up on the competition, and school itself builds the kind of confidence that you can't find anywhere else. It also teaches one to deal with critiques, both helpful and useless. Degrees open doors, but confidence is what compels people to actually do things once those doors are open.
Over the course of the lecture, Victoria pointed out the importance of networking, even if she wasn't directly speaking of it. Her first job, her second job, her third, her internships all came to her by speaking to people. Everything important started with a casual connection. Sometimes merely saying hello and leaving your information is enough to get you in the door later on down the line. She stressed that it's important to get comfortable talking to people about your interests, so they know what you're capable of and what you love doing. One must learn to leave their comfort levels behind, just open doors and pop in to say hi.
The most important and poignant part of the presentation was when she said "You must learn how to fail, guys." That's key to anything that one wants in life, failing and learning to pick yourself up and keep moving despite that failure. It was a good point to end on.

Agent Anything

     I was on the train, looking at advertisements when I saw one for Agent Anything. The banner left much to be desired in the way of information (beyond something along the lines of "our agents do anything!"), so I came home and checked out agentanything.com. Apparenty this company saw a need for more time or at least another pair of hands in the lives of most working New Yorkers, and decided to fill it. With college students. 

People who need help post errands on the website, and college students (who have signed up with a valid college email address) can run the errands, confirm that it's done, and get paid directly through their email. It's a creative idea, and they post requests for anything from dry cleaning to someone who can help them build a website.

     It probably doesn't have much to do with design, but it was certainly interesting. It could be an interesting method of obtaining freelance design work, since all of it is on a computer anyway. Perhaps one could create a design and be paid for it via paypal.