Incredulous things people have said to me about my paintings

Incredulous things people have said to me about my paintings

I feel like there aren’t many people reading these blogs. It is still early days to build up my readership. At one time I blogged faithfully but then had my address taken over by a UK Escort Agency, but I’ll save that story for another day.

This week I wanted to write about storms. I love a good prairie storm, especially when you are have shelter. Hailstorms have caught me while out painting. But the most annoying storms are the things that people have said about my paintings. Fair warning—this is a vent. So, if you aren’t in the mood for it, just scroll past and look at my lovely paintings.

I was told that I paint like a man. That happened when I was at a joint show. When I overhead someone admiring my painting, I spoke up, “I painted that.” Another bystander replied, “I was sure that a man painted that.” I don’t even know what that means. At another show I had a different painter tell me I was a nice little Sunday Painter. At the time I was showing my work in galleries, she was not. I come from a very vocal family and at the tip of my tongue was, “And aren’t you a cute little designer?”  But I chose to just walk away. 

I applied to join an art society. It took a bit of maneuvering to have my paintings delivered in person as I was out of town. They rejected me with a note that said, “You need to learn how to handle paint.” That comment just made me mad. I had been painting for over twenty years.

Recently I was told my work is, “Brilliant or not.”. That showed me they lacked knowledge of the creative process. If you are pushing yourself, that is something to be expected. Most artists, even the greats, will have work that misses the mark somehow. They filled their studios with these works. How helpful it is to tell an artist that, I’m not sure.

Once, when attending a Peter Fiore workshop, the lady next to me told me that my paintings didn’t match my exterior. When I asked her what she meant, she replied, “By looking at you, I thought you would paint nice pictures of Geraniums.” Again, I was at a loss for words. I mean I like Geraniums. What is wrong with Geraniums? But maybe that is a preconceived idea of what an artist should look like. I remember once having a joint show with a friend. A lady said she liked a painting. It was mine. Yet this made her disappointed as she wanted it to be my friend’s painting. “No, it must be hers, she said.” Well, my well spoken friend is stylish. The woman couldn’t connect the painting she admired to frumpy old me. I wondered if Emily Carr got the same reaction?

I have many experiences painting plein air. In my neighbourhood I met a man, with Nazi sympathies, who tried to convince me that Hilter was an art lover. I worked over twenty years at a Jewish Day School. This wasn’t something that I could let stand. After our debate, he looked at my painting to say, “Not Bad”. High praise, I guess.