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This was the first cover design of many produced for The Link Magazine.
As of the 2007 season, my collaboration with The Link Magazine has
come to an end.
Below is an article for The Link which was featured in the September
2004 issue.
Full Circle: The Independent
Artist
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by Stefanie Clark
Published in September 2004
Edition of The Link
Sometimes the calling is
too strong to even call it a choice. In walking this path as a full time
artist, and living with another artist whose devotion to his art is
steadfast, I have learned much about the ebb and flow of ideas, the
renewable resource that is creative energy, and how narrow the path can
get.
It has been fourteen
years that Petrus Boots and I have been together; creating art, running a
business, doing shows, traveling together, walking on very narrow
ledges…. and showing our work in Galleries, separately and together. We
always approached the art in different ways. Petrus decides what to
create from an inner place, not the marketplace, and the results are very
unusual, sometimes controversial, and definitely uniquely his own.
Compromise is not in his vocabulary, and respect of the source is one of
his highest priorities. Ideas and visions are in abundance… as long as
you don’t place conditions on them.
I felt there must be
different types of artists, I myself leaned towards the commercial end in
my approach. I respected my partner, seeing the importance in allowing
his purity of ideas to shine on, and I worked on my pen and ink originals,
destined to be displayed on t-shirts under my own company Me on Mother
Earth. My inspiration stemmed from a pure heartfelt acknowledgement of
the plight of endangered wildlife and native peoples. We built a solid
true reputation.
Eventually, with money in
mind, I licensed my work, and Me on Mother Earth was virtually absorbed by
my distributor. With their constant prodding I expanded my body of work
to include a number of ‘marketable’ images. It was many years before I
realized that my inspiration had started to fade. Although I was creating
beautiful artwork, it was no longer coming from within. I was creating
for the market, and the ideas stopped coming freely.
It wasn’t until the
bankruptcy of this distributor, and the circumstances that followed, when
my art was high jacked, bought and sold, and people began squabbling about
it, that I realized the scope of the shift that had occurred. It was no
longer about the art. I was a minor player in this drama centered around
something I created. I was actually spoken of as a resource to be
exploited. It had turned into a battle for the almighty dollar. And I
had gone from being the creator, to a place of absolute powerlessness.
After this long learning
curve, I find myself thinking differently about my art. I had to take
back my power of creation, rediscover my purpose, dust it off… polish it
up. After this trip on the merry-go-round I arrived home, not unscathed,
but with a stronger sense of self-preservation, a deep respect of my own
self worth as an artist, and a renewed commitment to that source inside
me, where ideas flow as readily as breath. I know now that I will never
again risk losing that wellspring inside, for without it, an artist is an
empty shell. I have seen my recent work, which I created with no thought
… shine.
~
And so it is from this place, that Petrus and I,
along with our three-year-old daughter Samsara, find ourselves opening up
our home as an independent art gallery, aptly named Art Unseen. From here
we will stand and face the world, strong in our convictions and the belief
in ourselves. Open year round by chance and appointment (just phone (705)
656-2705), we are more than happy to show our work to the world. Making
our debut on the on the Apsley and District Studio Tour this year in
September, we hope that our art will over time become visible as we remain
true to our purpose. To see the art, please visit our websites, at
www.stefanieclark.com and
www.petrusboots.com.
Stefanie Clark
~
August 19, 2004
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