commissions (he has done seven, for which he charges up to $12,000, over the last few years) are just a small part of his working life. Asked what he would do if he was
faced with a customer who wanted a painting that he was unmoved to cre- ate, Lee answers that he has "been lucky enough that I haven't had to face that question, knock on wood. I hope I don't really ever have to face the question of, '
"SO MUCH OF OUR IDENTITY IS PLACED ON HOW MUCH MONEY WE MAKE AS ARTISTS.
"
Am I going to modify my artistic ap- proach to meet a collector's demand?' I think in that case I would just say, 'Why are you commissioning the work from me? Find an artist who's going to actually paint something with passion that you want to see.'"
"YOU NEED TO BE FLEXIBLE."
Firestone agrees, adding that artists
who believe they can provide what cus- tomers are looking for shouldn't hesitate to join the ranks of those who work on commissioned pieces. "My advice to artists is that if you can
get someone to hire you for a commis- sion, then do it and see how it goes for your own personal self-discovery," she says. "We judge ourselves so much, and we limit ourselves so much. So much of our identity is placed on how much money we make as artists, and I feel like the sooner you can open that pipeline to being comfortable with making money from your artwork, the better it is. "I know great artists who are just
terrifi ed to do a studio tour," Firestone continues, "or are terrifi ed to post how much they charge on Facebook. Artists have to be brazen. You have to jump off the cliff —you have to put yourself out there." ABN
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