Art By Tali Landsman

I have been giving a lot of thoughts to the idea of "self promoting". I realize that an artist need to learn to express herself and her vision with clarity. We need to be able to speak about ourselves and our art without cringing or feeling self absorbed. There is a fine line that we try not to cross between talking about our accomplishments and dominating conversations and being a bore. I think that the first rule is to speak about yourself and your art when sincerely asked. Nobody expect us to go on a long self promoting monologue when seated on a plane. But when giving an interview to a journalist that is making a story about our art, we need to know how to tell our own story in a way that is interesting, memorable and enjoyable for the listener.

I have spent the day making a proposal for a prominent art collector. I have visited his house years ago and admired his taste and art collection. He had contacted me requesting 29 paintings that he likes on my web site which he intend to place in his offices and around buildings that he owns. If he likes my proposal, I will be busy wrapping and packing art for the next two weeks. Even thought I need to be making more art to prepare for the summer shows that I have applied for, I welcome this opportunity as a gift to me for the end of the year.

Jules is feeling under the weather, so we have been staying home instead of going to ski. Today in the studio I finished the piece above. I temporarily named it "Toy Boy". Referring to a boy that never grows and surround himself with toys. I guess it would be more accurate to call it "A Playful Boy". But as I said, the name is temporary. I had a lot of fun painting this piece, but it also took a long time. I plan to start a new piece and integrate into it some snowboarders and skiers.

This year is ending! Time to welcome in a new brighter year. It may not have been an easy year for some of you. Whenever we go through turmoil, be it through bad economic times, war, strife, disease or attack, we begin to contemplate our mortality. We may forget that we are not small mortal beings, born but to die, to smile awhile but mostly suffer pain, only to end our short lives in misery and ill health. I composed this short poem (borrowed heavily from the Course In Miracles) to help us remember: There is a light in you, which cannot die Whose presence is so holy That the world is sanctified because of you. The waves of the ocean bow down before you And the trees extend their arms To shield you from the heat. They lay their golden leaves before you on the ground, That you may walk in softness. The flowers offer their scent As a gift to you While the wind sinks to a whisper Around your holy head. All living things are holy, There is a light in them that cannot die. All wrongs you dr...

Happy Holidays to all! To those who celebrate Christmas - Merry Christmas to you all. To those who celebrate Hanukkah - Happy Hanukkah to you. We drove today to Eagle to ship a painting to a client and to have a late lunch at a local cafe'. It felt so good to sit in the warm Yeti's Grind cafe' with a foaming soy latte' and an organic bagel sandwich, reading the newspaper. It reminds us that living in rural areas, does not necessarily means that we have to do without services. We also have a new bookstore in Edwards - "Bookworm", that makes great fresh crepes in their cafe' and a great selection of books.

More snow is falling daily on the Rocky Mountains. The path between the house and my studio is knee deep in snow. Yesterday I packed a painting to ship to a client, but with the snowfall we had all day yesterday, I am not sure that I will drive to FedEx to drop the box today. I will continue to work on the piece that I have in progress on my easel. These pieces are taking a long time. I am almost finished with snail-mailing the Holiday cards to my clients

I just realized that I haven't left the house since I drove Jules to the airport on Saturday. It was quite an adventure driving back from the airport. The temperature was below freezing. The I-70 was De-iced by salt and the highway's scrapers, but our local road up the Colorado river was like an ice rink. Normally I am a careful and slow driver and this time was no difference. I inched my way along the winding road that snakes around the river. Suddenly a family of deer jumped in front of my car. Instinctively I slammed on the brakes and proceeded to glide like an Olympic ice skater on the road. Those of you who live or lived in cold climates surely know the feeling. The brakes does absolutely nothing and so does the steering wheel. Turning it to the right or left has no influence on the direction the car is gliding to. I remembered that Jules told me to pump the brakes if I ever get into a situation like this. So I started doing so and with the help of the hand brake, eventual...

This morning I woke up to find the house surrounded with a foot of snow. I haven’t moved the car since I took Jules to the airport and the car was buried under an igloo of snow. Now that Jules is in Miami, I spend most of my time painting. This makes me think that if I were not married, I would probably have a much less interesting life, being in my studio days and nights. I like the new piece that I am working on. I am also working on some new pieces from the “Unnerving To A Frugalist” series. They take longer, as I am only able to apply one layer of color per day.

I spent all day yesterday cleaning the house and studio. Today was devoted to painting in the studio. I got this lovely email from a client in New Zealand, which made me feel lovely for the day. "Hello Tali I wanted to let you know that I have hung one of your gorgeous paintings in my new business – my husband and I operate a farm walk/petting zoo and café in a tourist complex on the Kapiti Coast and I have had 3 offers of people who want to buy the painting in the last week alone! I wondered if you had any more of the same series of artwork left – I would be happy to display some pieces for sale if you were happy for me to do that – the level of interest in your painting has been amazing! I would be happy to purchase them from you and on-sell them if that is better for you? Also, as a part of our venture I am setting up a kids arts and craft studio for local artists to run workshops in and I would LOVE a big version of one of your paintings as the main feature for the studio – i...

Edith Gregor Halpert was a gallery owner and an art dealer who helped shape the modern art market in America in the beginning of the 1900. At that time, collecting art was the domain of the wealthy. Wealthy families across America provided the much needed support for young American artists experimenting with abstract and other expression of none figurative forms. American artist were not highly regarded at the time. The art market was thought to be happening mostly in Europe and the young American painters were dismissed as doodlers. But despite the resistance, American artists made some local waves and the interest and faith in their art started to rise. Around the 1950's in America, an emergence of interest in modern art started to occur. The post war years brought with them a sense of abundance and hard working middle class people started to collect art made in America. Edith had an aversion to the direction in which the new art market was heading. People no longer bought art b...

In the past few days I have not done much beside pack paintings to ship to clients, make receipts and FedEx labels, and update my records. I am extremely grateful to be busy this way, but today when I had a few hours to spend in the studio, it felt sublime. I started a new piece in my sketchbook series. This time, I am changing the order of doing things. Instead of drawing the grid of the sketchbook on the canvas in ink first, and later doing the charcoal drawings, I started with the charcoal drawing. I have done this so I can spray the charcoal with fixative to prevent the smudging of the pencil and charcoal. If I spray after I have the grid, the ink runs. Live and learn. I am moving into a marketing mode, applying for summer shows and researching my options. I have also started to prepare my end of the year card to my clients. This is a long task since I have a mailing list of 750 collectors.

How fortunate you are to be able to enjoy Art Basel. When we lived in Miami, I visited every year since it started and enjoyed it tremendously. I also loved all the satellite shows that sprouted up around the city. I did read that attendance and sales are down this year. It is only to be expected when the economy is so shaky. As to your question about my art career, I have had four inquiries since we've returned from NZ. I already shipped two of the paintings, the third is a commission for a client and the forth did not respond back yet. This is pretty good for only ten days. I am actually applying to do some art shows over the summer. I did not get any answers from any of the shows yet, but I am hoping that I will get in. I see no other option for me than to keep on promoting my art. I chose to be an artist and I will do all that it takes to make my living as an artist. I know that there will be hard times, but I will have to economize and keep on trying. What works well for me is...

We spent the day skiing on the slopes of Vail. What a wonderful experience it was to be zooming down the snowy runs with the winter sun lighting up the horizon. Of Course we are a bit rusty and our muscle tiers faster than they should, but we know that we are adjusting our bodies back into skiing shape. We met lovely people on the gondola and chatted with them casually. We affirmed how blessed we feel to be living here and to have such a wonderful life. Just to enjoy good health, to have one another, to be able to ski, in one of the best ski resorts in the world, to come home to a good shower, a home cooked meal and a movie or a good book- what more can we hope for? And for all of this, I am extremely grateful .

Today was a very busy day in the studio for me. I had worked on many things simultaneously, allowing others to dry and continuing on to other projects. Early in the day, I worked some more on the commissioned piece. Later in the day I added more doodling to the piece above. (I am almost finished with it). I also worked on some small pieces. I am adding an image below. First I've sculpted the heads and now I am painting them and working on integrating them into the small canvases.

I am still in the process of getting adjusted to the new time zone, here in Colorado. But I am up and around and doing things. I spent some time in the studio working on a commissioned piece yesterday. I like how it is progressing. There is something very intimate about painting a commissioned piece of art. There is the fact that the piece has a waiting home mixed a little with the client's taste, that make the process of creating it, easier. There is much less self doubting involved. Yesterday night we watched a documentary series about contemporary art in America. It was inspiring to listed to living artist talk about their process, about their art, about the art world and to take in their different views. I always find that listening to other artists who live and deal with the same challenges that I do, but maybe are already further along the path than I am, very inspiring. They are my path blazers. Doing and demonstrating that it is a possibility.