Neural misfires from a northern brain

Life isn’t about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning to dance in the rain!

—Wisdom from a kitchen magnet.

I study light – that’s what I do. When I’m out walking on the street, and I see a beautiful highlight on the ground, I will stop and backtrack the light, trying to figure out how it’s created. If I discover that the light shines through some leaves and hits a window in a certain direction, I will then try to recreate that in my studio, let’s say using a softbox and a reflector. That’s how I learn. And that’s what I try to bring with me to the set.

—Geoff Ang (A Lot of Lights | Profoto Blog)

Truthfully, though, I’m more interested in becoming a better artist than I am in becoming rich through my photography. Money is nice, but it’s a means to an end; having money for the sake of having money is a silly game to play, especially in this day and age.

—

Me, back in early ‘09

How one’s aims change so quickly.

Very close to my brainspace right now (via jackscoresby):

mollycrabapple:

At the start of my career, I was often accused of spending more time promoting myself than I did focusing on my art.

While it might have been 50/50, or 60/40, or 40/60, this was probably true. I did ALOT of art. But also a LOT of business. And never slept.

Now, that I have a crew of amazing people that deals with my schlepping, hauling, calling, invoicing and emailing, I’m 90% art time. Conclusion? Devoting yourself to your art is a fucking luxury, and no one should ever criticize a young artist for being a scrappy hustler. Cause the business stuff- someone has to do it. Before you’re making enough bank to support an assistant or gallery, that person will be you.

Me and @KimBoekbinder have talked about how the lie fed to artists is the same at that fed to chicks… that if you’re good and pretty and nice enough, some man or gallery will sweep you off your feet …and if they don’t come, well it’s positively vulgar to get out of your tower yourself, you whore

It’s something I think about alot now- how much having cash and a crew frees me to do crazy, ambitious dream projects. The stuff I got criticized for doing when I was starting out still gets done. But it’s considered less vulgar to pay someone else to do it.

Considering hustling and business stuff vulgar is just another way of saying people who want to transcend their station are vulgar. 

Anyway, that’s my Saturday afternoon rant.

Also, send some love to @glukkake my whipmistress assistant, who lets me make art all day.

What’s critic’s math? It’s the mathematical formula most of us use when it comes to criticism. Here is an example of how it works: 1 insult 1,000 compliments = 1 insult.

—Larry David & the 3 problems with critic’s math. | Jon Acuff’s Blog

I demand unconditional love and complete freedom. That is why I am terrible.

—Tomaz Salamun (via therealkatiewest)