I'm posting again and still finding my way

Two years and a few months can really change your life around.  This is Mandalin, and it'll just be me on this blog now. Kelly moved up north for a better life out of the transient sands. I got a lucky break around the same time (5/2011) getting a desk job at HOWL Gallery & Tattoo.  Andy Howl took me on as his apprentice about a year ago and it seems I'll be coming on the floor as a tattooer within the next month or so... I can't tell you how much being at the gallery has influenced my painting and drawing... refining and cleaning up work and learning learning watching so much to know... I'm such a tattoo baby. haha in the infantile newbie sense. I'm a sponge for everything tattooing but my cheesecloth memory is such an impediment. Names and numbers seem to go in one ear and right out the other.. at least I've got my pictures. AAaaaaannnyways. I've been drawing and painting and writing and poeting and singing and making things I like to make... and meeting some great people.. there are so many complaints against fort myers being such a nothing happens here kind of town.. but I have met several musicians and artists of all kinds and they are all making things. True, there's not a hoppin city atmosphere where you're constantly assaulted with different concepts, opinions and visual stimulation... but its not a city you get lost in. So if you're looking to self-improve as an artist and get known for making art its actually quite nice. Ya know, little fish growing up in a little pond can be cozy... I am such a baby fish. bloop bloop bloop haha
I started this blog to give advice to struggling or starting artists.. and I've realized that route is bleh. Don't want to do it. The more I'm out learning the more I realize how little I know. Open to questions, though and I have a long wind in me. haha
The shop is so slow today. We're in the midst of moving to a new location and all the walls are bare. Seems like such a shell of the lively, colorful place I've grown used to and fond of. I've heard it's going to be another frozen yougurt place for the snowbirds to patronize. That's just what we need around here. Another expensive treat shop... why don't you paint the walls with palm trees? Definately not enough palm tree and dolphin art in florida.
...so I realized I do have encouraging words to share: be your own culture. No matter what is going on around you- be what you want to be because if you are to be an artist worth a damn you must cultivate your own identity.
Ok.. now it's time to go clean/pack/draw something. Oh ya, I post artpictures on instagram @cagebrain, songs and spoken word on www.soundcloud.com/bubblebreather  and I reblog inspirations on tumblr www.cagebrain.tumblr.com
HOWL gallery's website is www.howlgallery.com

Have a swell day, Internet Anon.

You have to be there

Hello there, internet void.  Mandalin here.  Sorry it's been awhile since my last post. I've been battling deadlines and flu virus.  Season has also finally made its way to southwest Florida, so pirating has gotten busy again as well.  Speaking of being busy brings me to my point for this post-

You have to be there.

Getting work as an artist (especially freelance) is a pretty random process.  It comes down to being in the right place at the right time, with the right portfolio and YOUR CARD.  You never know when you are meeting a future client, so get comfy being in interview mode.  Work on your elevator speech (5 seconds) telling people about your style and recent work.  Quick and to the point is best. Overselling yourself comes across as desperate... (trust me, been there.)

I have to have a 'real job' to support myself until the art can, so off  a-pirating I go.  Okay, so few people would consider being an entertainer a real job, but the key for me is in multiple jobs.  I get to create my own schedule- but I'm also responsible for filling it.  When the pirating gets slow after season ends, I'll be looking to art and other things to round the income out a bit more... either way, I'll have more time to focus on alone time with the pencil.  Looking forward to that... 

Until then I'll be

Artfully yours,

Mandalin

Finding Your Way

Hi, this is Kelly Londot, Mandalin's partner in crime for Imminent Artist. I am a full time tattoo artist and painter. I attended art school at Columbus College of Art and Design in Ohio. Though I feel like the bulk of my education happened outside of school. In fact I would say that my best years of learning and discovery stem from the years that I decided to abandon my traditional education and strike out on my own. I struggled in school because of the structure and organization of the institute of education. I found myself reading biographies of some of my favorite artist and seeing that the only common thread in the stories of how they came to make such wonderful work was that they couldn't help but to be themselves.  Diane Arbus, one of my all time favorite photographers, was quoted as saying," there is more than one way to learn about art."  and the context of the quote came as a response to why she had been absent from her art classes. She had a curiosity for the world around her that needed to be explored and the classroom was no place for her. Though my experience does not completely parallel that of the late Ms. Arbus, I can say that the thought resonated with me. Art is an extension of its creator, who is an extension of the world around him or her. With out fully knowing ourselves or with out having taken time to gain authentic life experiences our artwork is more contrived and akward. In other words the authors voice is not fully developed. Of course there is beauty in development, and an artist will always seek the hidden potential behind their work, but I found that in a college atmosphere I was not seeing the depth and spirit that I saw in the works of Nan Goldin or Patti Smith. I wanted to live a more raw and gritty life with out all the creature comforts I was raised with. Because like Diane Arbus I always new that in my privileged upbringing there was somethings that I was being sheltered from. A life where the human condition was free to float and falter as it experienced ups and downs and to express each mood as it came, and to live and love in each others company free from the rat race. Diane Arbus found this in her freaks, Weegee found it at crime scenes, Patti Smith found it in Punk Rock, and I found it in tattooing.  Of course not everyone would see the beauty in such places, but in human strife we find the beauty of the human experience. 

So what I'm trying to pass on that I gained from my experiences thus far is be your self, your path will be your own. Don't let others decide for you and don't let society decide what the most appropriate path for you is. Go where you want to go and be with the people that light your fire. Make mistakes and and rebuild yourself over and over. Make art because you love it, and others will respond to what you are doing. Life is a bittersweet experience that we all choose to be a part of, so embrace both sides of it and learn to live in balance with the good and the bad. Let your work be the expression of your soul's experience. Find other imminent artist to share your work with and watch your community grow.

     

We Arrr... Imminent Artists!

My name is Mandalin, and I am obsessed with birdcages, painting things gold and making things with my hands. Aside from a one night stand with Political Science, I have always known that my life path will lead me to being a professional artist of some kind... but how?  I dropped out of Middle Tennessee State University in July 2009 and started working full time as a server in Fort Myers, Florida.
From food service to freelance professional is a journey from possible to probable.  Now, a year and a half later, I'm sitting in my studio at Dream Your Ink tattoo shop with my best friend Kelly Londot. We met at the Bubble, a restaurant we both worked at when I first moved to Florida.  Kelly gave me my first tattoo when she was still working out of her spare room at home.
Kelly just celebrated her one year anniversary as a professional tattoo artist at Dream Your Ink, and is about to unveil her first solo show of oil paintings.  In November 2010, I won the People's Choice Award from the Sydney Burne & Davis Center for the Arts for my installation 'Curious Life', and 4 days ago I sold 'Curious Mind' the second piece of the series. 
We are Imminent Artists, striking out into the wilderness of the world with portfolios and business cards. People say being a freelance artist is one of the toughest careers to break into, much less succeed in... Well, I know its easy to do what I want and damn, I want it bad.
Confucius said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so Kelly and I have decided to document our steps in hopes to inspire others to follow their dreams, no matter how improbable they appear.
So for tonight, I bid farewell to the crickets of cyberspace... cuz I have a commission to finish and a proposal to write. I'll tell you about it when I'm done. ;)

XOXO
Mandalin (Kelly says Hi)