Nigel Fox Artworks

My favorite English teacher in college always said “write about the things that you know.”  I believe that artists should also work from what they know; and not just writers.  It follows that creative people should reflect upon their lives, what they know and the people they have met along the way.

The tough part about creating from what you know is that the cuts that make the most impression are usually the deepest.  Reflecting upon past memories is a lot like touching a carving or sculpture with your hands.  You can feel every cut, every contour, every nook and all the “scars”.  The deepest cuts make the most impression.

A carving can’t feel back, and so too reflection can be a very one-sided thing and quite unhealthy if you’re not careful.  I learned this lesson with much pain and difficulty.  It was another lesson learned in college.  It was about a girl.  And like feeling a carving, any feelings were not mutual.  It’s painfully funny how something can, for all intents and purposes, look alive and yet have no life.  What I thought was attraction, turned out to only be attention-seeking.  I fell for the wooden doll that never came to life–that could never love me back.  I was in love with the likeness of someone and not the person.

I fell for Pinocchio’s sister.

Skip ahead a few years, after much wandering in confusion, God sent a messenger who breathed life into me.  And though I was very attracted to her, she had something that I needed so much more desperately, the Holy Spirit.

She gave all the credit for the success in her life to Jesus.  The dark reflections in my soul (aka shadows) shuddered and even scrambled to explain it away; the light was rejuvinated!!!  The cut was made!

I remember the day when we sat in her Uncle’s car, watching the distant killer whales blow pillars of mist into the golden remnants of evening light that made haloes around her most beautiful eyes and face.    She told me that I have the Holy Spirit in me.

Like the air that the killer whales need to breathe, she breathed life into me.

I will carry what I saw on those shores for the rest of my life.  I would thank her, but she would just give the credit to Jesus anyways, and so I thank God!

Now, you might be thinking that we were destined for love and great things.  And we were…but not together.  I was in love with what shone through her.  I was in love with Jesus.

We tried to “make” it work over the years, but the relationship was built on sand before it was ever built on stone.  Hearts were wounded, tears shed, paths carved seperately.

I wish to this day that I could say that I am sorry for how things worked out, but that’s probably just me over-reflecting.  After all, things haven’t been all that bad.  She’s now happy working as a pediatric nurse at BC Children’s hospital and I’m happily married as an artist.

And now, like most of my stories, I leave you with a paragraph pertaining to a perpetual platitude applied to personal perceptions.  Good art is like a reflection of who we are.  Great art is a reflection of who God is.  It’s healthy to reflect upon who people are, but it’s healthier still to reflect upon who God is.

Or, as the very centre of the Bible states:

  “Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in people;
Far better to take refuge in God
than trust in celebrities.”

 Psalm 118:8-9
The Message

I had a couple practice presentations at community futures this morning for the Best of the BEST competition in Vancouver this weekend. I will be going down to Vancouver for this competition. It should be a good time. I was critiqued by an audience of two people at Community Futures today, but I have to say that it was actually harder doing the presentation for my wife last night. She is a way harder critic.

Raven on a tree on the NWCC campus, Terrace Raven on a tree on the NWCC campus, Terrace

I caught the tail end of Harold Demetzer’s speech today and he was talking about galleries. Harold said that even the most prestigious artists use galleries. He described the variety of galleries that are in Vancouver and he made it clear as to what ones were more presentation oriented and what ones were more production oriented. I definitely want to go with a presentation oriented gallery if I have the choice. Stan Bevan told us that we need to make our own decisions as to who we feel comfortable doing business with.

In the afternoon, we resumed our projects. I am working on two bowls right now and I am almost finished my spoon.

Evan Aster and another afternoon carving

Geo McKay is an aboriginal artist from the Nisga’a nation, who resides in Terrace. Geo has been at this game for a whole lot longer than I–40 years in fact–and has a lot to offer the native art market and the local community of artists.

I invited Geo McKay out for a coffee tonight with the intentions of gleaning some of his wisdom and maybe a good story or two. Geo, not wanting to miss a beat went into telling stories right away. Geo told me about his childhood and difficulties with school and how he dropped out to help out his family at home. Geo later came back to school and graduated within a short period of time. In drafting and architecture classes, Geo excelled with an A+ average.

Geo was mentored for a time by Freda Diesing, a Haida artist whom Dempsey Bob described as “the only teacher [of traditional northwest coast art] around at the time.” Also, one thing that Geo noticed about Terrace when he started carving, was that there was no native representation in the tourist markets around Terrace. Geo was determined to change this and worked hard over many years to develop his skills.

Over the years, Geo would come to sell to the museum in Prince Rupert–where a friend told him that people were buying. Geo lived for 15 years in Prince Rupert. Geo also sold to certain galleries in Vancouver, developing relations with the Spirit Wrestler Gallery and the Royal BC Museum.

Geo related to me a story about how he had three masks that he had carved that he was hoping to sell to the Royal BC Museum. He said that one of the masks he was selling for $800, another for $1200 and another for $1500. When asked why the difference in price, Geo referred to the fact that the first mask had one face, the second two and the third three faces. So, the buyer purchased the first two masks, but told Geo that she couldn’t afford the third mask. Not wanting to let Geo get away with the mask, she made a counter offer; she would take the mask on a 40% commission. Geo got a fraction of what he was hoping for, but he was still happy because it was more than what he would have had otherwise.  I think that the moral of the story was that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Geo also went on to say that when an artist sells to galleries in Vancouver “it doesn’t matter how many emails or photos that an artist sends to the galleries down there, the artist has to actually meet with the gallery owners that he wants to do business with, because the artist is selling himself.”

Geo went on to share his knowledge on pricing, mentoring, artist representation, target markets, relevant market factors, sponsorship, business partnership, and why some art businesses fail.