Every Day We Paint is a Victory

Where Stranger's Dreams Cling • 30" x24" • ©2010 Megan Chapman
Click on image to see more paintings in this series

My friend Megan says I need a new blog post. She is ready to move on from Blue Oyster Cult. I listen to Megan. She knows things.

She knows about Fayetteville, Facebook and blogging. She knows about painting and photography and music. Music is her muse. It seems to enter her ears, travel down her spine and release through her hands onto the canvas. Since her studio is just down the hall from mine at the Fayetteville Underground, sometimes I get to witness this extraordinary process. It is inspiring. Inspiring because, even though I just made it sound like magic, it isn’t. Megan shows up and she paints. Day after day after day, she goes in her studio and makes art. Sometimes it flows, sometimes, well, it doesn’t, but she shows up anyway. I believe this is central to her success. I used her motto as the title of this post: Every day we paint is a victory. I love that—so much so I made up my own modified version: Every day we make art is a victory. It’s a victory over fear, over lethargy, over indifference.

What I did this summer from Megan Chapman on Vimeo.

Last month Megan had an experience that has already become legend at the Underground. She got a call from the gallery on a Saturday evening, “There’s a woman here who loves your work but she says these are too small, do you have anything bigger?” Megan went to the Underground, opened up her studio, spent time with the customer, a first time art buyer…and the woman bought nine paintings. Nine. It makes me smile just telling you about it. Nine. I recommend reading the story in Megan’s own words.

So that brings me to her blog, Megan Chapman’s Studio Blog: Ideas about making, marketing, selling and talking about art. If you are interested at all in the business and process of art this is a must read. You will find invaluable information, insights and tips. Start here, at the beginning.

Megan told me that historically April hasn’t been a very good month for her, but she set an intention that this one would be good. I don’t think she had any idea what “good” could mean when she imagined it, but isn’t that the best way?—set the intention then give up expectations and remain open to what may come.

So here we are in May…what will happen next?