tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post8542274584029140272..comments2024-03-03T15:01:00.402-05:00Comments on Joanne Mattera Art Blog: Marketing Mondays: Who's Self Taught?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-21673917691300857362012-07-10T19:49:36.936-04:002012-07-10T19:49:36.936-04:00Self taught means that the "talent" of t...Self taught means that the "talent" of the artist is raw and unbiased by teachings. I am a self taught artist and although I love to see other artists works and learn from other artists, my style is all my own and is guided not by what is in my head but what is in my heart. That cannot be taught in a classroom.Franhttp://www.fymartworks.weebly.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-34801061369749387842012-06-10T22:44:48.538-04:002012-06-10T22:44:48.538-04:00p.s. Great question :) !p.s. Great question :) !Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16004790953962458640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-10000199989631084802012-06-07T21:28:35.457-04:002012-06-07T21:28:35.457-04:00I don't think I should have to "think&quo...I don't think I should have to "think" about being self-taught at all. How was I to know that I would start painting abstract art after the age of 40? I kept painting knowing nothing at all in the beginning, because I HAD to paint! At some point others not myself, called me an artist. I own it now though frankly, I feel I still just paint.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16004790953962458640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-50407125713725757772011-11-09T10:21:20.471-05:002011-11-09T10:21:20.471-05:00I'm late to get back to the comments, but agre...I'm late to get back to the comments, but agree with Sandy and Ken. Self-taught feels so egocentric, and not at all what I'm trying to convey, which is that I have a mixed formal education, with a ton of self-directed learning.<br />I suppose, as an art-school dropout, I'm sensitive to some of the sniffy elitism I've encountered in the intervening twenty years since, from people Ben Stansfieldhttp://benstansfield.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-43234962007715584182011-11-07T23:48:51.205-05:002011-11-07T23:48:51.205-05:00Hey Joanne, you had better read Steven Henry Madof...Hey Joanne, you had better read Steven Henry Madoff's (no relation to that other Madoff) "Art School."<br />It is a very academic text with some fairly heavy writing. There are some really interesting characterizations along the way by various arts intellectuals. It should be required reading for anyone interested in art education at any level.<br />Best to you, Anon.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-50766369967285182392011-10-30T13:40:08.116-04:002011-10-30T13:40:08.116-04:00Oh, you are a great group of commenters! Each of y...Oh, you are a great group of commenters! Each of you contributed something to this discussion. <br /><br />A couple of comments:<br /><br />Aron says: "When you're self taught, it all comes down to form and technique (especially when you are young). How do I do this, how do I do that. It is not until much later in life when you become aware of your work as a whole and its relationship Joanne Matterahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02564594823192456546noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-8344053272598365252011-10-30T13:11:15.596-04:002011-10-30T13:11:15.596-04:00I agree with Ken Greenleaf that formal education d...I agree with Ken Greenleaf that formal education does not correlate in any causal way with achievement in the visual arts. I have a BA from a state U, not a BFA from an art school, and no graduate degree. I did "major" in art but I could legitimately call myself self-taught because I didn't learn much about making art in school. <br /><br />People have different learning styles. I Oriane Stenderhttp://orianestender.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-76535479037836933192011-10-27T18:41:08.763-04:002011-10-27T18:41:08.763-04:00I might be willing to concede that today's hig...I might be willing to <i>concede</i> that today's higher education (in any field) has more to offer than just a networking opportunity and passport to more remunerative employment, if there were any indications that its graduates had mastered even the basic reading, writing and 'rithmatic skills that used to be required to finish grammar school.LXVhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18396149640519096992noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-89806508639468067272011-10-27T00:06:13.068-04:002011-10-27T00:06:13.068-04:00Art school is a laboratory. It is a place to lear...Art school is a laboratory. It is a place to learn about process, philosophy, criticism, theory, and maybe about life. Art is about life, however.<br />Think about it, one of the world's most important contemporary artists, with a range materials produced that is extraordinary, dropped out of college. He never had a formal degree in anything whatsoever. His name, Steve Jobs.<br />That Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-33766505870726058152011-10-26T21:45:05.228-04:002011-10-26T21:45:05.228-04:00I was a pre-med major in college but graduated wit...I was a pre-med major in college but graduated with a degree in French literature. After college, I worked in human services and I wrote poetry for years, then I switched to drawing and making found-object sculpture and studied with a local artist in his studio at the same time I was setting up my own studio practice. I would say I am self taught except that I studied at a very prestigious Donna Dodsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17068704959733467515noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-27666471781776072472011-10-26T14:18:46.208-04:002011-10-26T14:18:46.208-04:00This is an interesting thread. I live in Santa Fe,...This is an interesting thread. I live in Santa Fe, ground zero of artist life switchers and galleries that will show them. There are also numerous artists who give workshops to those people and I have seen the most awful work, with no color sense and no sense of composition. I know those people are enjoying themselves and that's fine. People buy their paintings and that's fine too, but I Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11114670968145057571noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-3129744141787832702011-10-26T07:22:29.810-04:002011-10-26T07:22:29.810-04:00I'm not self-taught, but don't have a degr...I'm not self-taught, but don't have a degree - I studied privately with an artist. This was still a stumbling block with *some* galleries. What I learned? It was because my work wasn't strong enough and I was approaching the wrong galleries at that point. It was too early. But I worked hard at just showing anywhere and everywhere I could. Co-ops, local societies, non art spaces, then Tina Mammoserhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18407199513409994699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-49872482714771764532011-10-25T22:54:39.821-04:002011-10-25T22:54:39.821-04:00I liked Ken's response, so I'll just say d...I liked Ken's response, so I'll just say ditto.<br /><br />However, one area that I doubt some pedigreed/degreed artists are proficient in, is the chemistry of paints. I once discovered that the former arts chair of a major university knew little about it, and freely admitted as much.<br /><br />Now that IS important because our paintings will deteriorate in time if we haven't been Victoria Webbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10291330032156184322noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-40968277969447903242011-10-25T22:10:22.661-04:002011-10-25T22:10:22.661-04:00I had studied art history more than the making of ...I had studied art history more than the making of art in school. Then I painted for 2 years at the ASL, but never graduated in anything, never got a degree in anything. I think it hurt me in my early 30s - especially as in NYC everyone always asks you where you went to school. <br /><br />That question is rarely asked in your 50s however! Now I think the situation might be the opposite; it has Evahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04526963554623770078noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-52622740679387047232011-10-25T00:06:58.764-04:002011-10-25T00:06:58.764-04:00I am considered "self-taught" (I have a ...I am considered "self-taught" (I have a masters degree in math education) but by no means am I ignorant to the art world and what is necessary in order to be successful. I do my research. I paint daily. I market my work. I put the necessary time in and I think my work shows that. I just got my 9th gallery today (of which most came from the galleries finding me) and not a single one of Jhina Alvaradohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15246235409357281057noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-32730928858804734682011-10-24T21:57:31.368-04:002011-10-24T21:57:31.368-04:00By training I am actually a lawyer. After seven ye...By training I am actually a lawyer. After seven years working as a lawyer, I decided that i wanted to become a quilt artist. I think there is a lot to be said for being a self-taught artist. Yes, I used the skills I had developed as a lawyer in switching to becoming an artist. I spent a lot of time looking at art--thinking about it and trying to decide what worked and what did not. I was also Ann Brauerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14570155886420698848noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-21958985673094509252011-10-24T21:11:15.986-04:002011-10-24T21:11:15.986-04:00Soon after graduating from highschool, it became o...Soon after graduating from highschool, it became obvious that I wouldn't be attending college. There have been times when thinking about having to wear the label of "self taught" was discouraging. But it doesn't seem to be so critical anymore. It's been encouraging lately to watch some of the street artists come in from the cold and grow and mature as they become part of theAdeanerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05856668654356245246noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-64174580800371236602011-10-24T20:24:36.165-04:002011-10-24T20:24:36.165-04:00"Most (not all) self-taught artists always se..."Most (not all) self-taught artists always seem to make the same visual mistakes in their work.." Hmm..I wonder what that means. Having been in art now for 40-plus years, written about it at length, seen hundreds of shows and spent my early adulthood practically living in museums and galleries in NY, I can say without worrying about contradiction that most of the 'visual mistakes&#Ken Greenleafhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11527714994079313715noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-61209589047503429202011-10-24T16:48:25.133-04:002011-10-24T16:48:25.133-04:00I had enough degrees but I did want to learn. So I...I had enough degrees but I did want to learn. So I put myself through continuing art courses over ten years at the college level with accumulating credits. However,I enjoyed the freedom to pursue the teachers and classes thatI wanted, when I wanted and needed them. I studied under a working full time artist for another three or for years until he "kicked me out of the nest". I do what Imariandioguardi.comhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16963944767715466681noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-73271183021622430442011-10-24T16:03:55.952-04:002011-10-24T16:03:55.952-04:00Just the term 'self-taught' is a cringer. ...Just the term 'self-taught' is a cringer. Nobody is self-taught. You learn from other people, from studying other art work, from conversations with artists, and yes, from taking classes and workshops and seminars even if it's not degree-related. The point is to take as complete a submersion in art as can be managed, and that's how you learn. Degrees are fine, they show a Sandyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04286461271083389001noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-9018404474618292222011-10-24T14:18:02.094-04:002011-10-24T14:18:02.094-04:00I am a career switcher who chose to study art at m...I am a career switcher who chose to study art at mid life. I went to art school knowing nothing about art and having little exposure to it. The years I spent there in studio classes, theory and art history put me in a kind of shell-shock that made me stay away from painting for a year after getting my BFA. Then I began what I think is a lifelong study of art in history and practice. I became Nancy Natalehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03325421420384484035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-818620467472166612011-10-24T14:07:53.620-04:002011-10-24T14:07:53.620-04:00Interesting questions Joanne. I see a lot similar...Interesting questions Joanne. I see a lot similarities between artists and software engineers in this context.<br /><br />I have a BS, MS plus 2 additional years working on my PhD in computer science. I've got a solid background in the fundamentals and the theory (yes - there is theory) of computer science. <br /><br />These days there are oodles of self taught programmers running about. Lisa Callhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08757517309377110626noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-62115978563743895832011-10-24T13:57:21.170-04:002011-10-24T13:57:21.170-04:00As somebody who was self taught for years before a...As somebody who was self taught for years before attending art school, I'd say college helps you focus and redirect your curiosity.<br /><br />When you're self taught, it all comes down to form and technique (especially when you are young): How do I do this, how do I do that. It is not until much later in life when you become aware of your work as a whole and its relationship and Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12935539402955866639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-65439991064711797622011-10-24T13:27:15.562-04:002011-10-24T13:27:15.562-04:00I prefer to call myself "self-directed" ...I prefer to call myself "self-directed" rather than self-taught simply because of all the people I have learned from. <br />That being said I am getting ready to exhibit my first solo exhibit at a gallery. I will have textiles, mixed media and photography. And she invited me to exhibit. This is after several years of having a booth at art festivals in the area. Her comment when shekathyhttp://www.katherinesands.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30832682.post-90464272187393704232011-10-24T12:31:37.867-04:002011-10-24T12:31:37.867-04:00I'm not sure where exactly most would place me...I'm not sure where exactly most would place me on the self-taught/formal education spectrum.<br />I would say my skills come from teaching myself, or more accurately, seeking out sources who could tell me what I needed to know, experimenting until I got it right, analyzing what I liked, and reading. Also, drawing, drawing, drawing.<br />I was frustrated with the year of university in fine artBen Stansfieldhttp://benstansfield.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.com