|
Ol’ Swaphos has two heroes: one 19th century, Juan Lorenzo Hubbell (1853-1930); one 20th century, William Edwards Deming (1900-1993). The first did well in the 19th Century what the second taught well in the 20th Century. Fail to see how either connects with your success as a 21st Century artist, artisan or craftsperson? Deming spent years doing field studies of Japanese management and marketing practices, then brought them to the United States and became rich teaching the techniques. Oh yes, Ol’ Swaphos has studied him well. But Juan Lorenzo Hubble settled into a life among Native American Peoples and applied the same “outside the box” techniques before Deming was a gleam in his father’s eye.
Deming taught the art of realizing a management dream by seeing a team approach from the lowest production worker to the ultimate customer, where creator and connoisseur are on equal footing, and management and marketing supports both, and not as a superior to either. Hubbell found a native people isolated and engaged in production of survival tools. He, as neither their leader nor their follower, dreamed of bringing their artistry into appreciation across the nation and the world. Everyone prospered and benefitted beyond their wildest imagination. Navajos wove blankets for warmth. Hubbell took artistic design and enhanced functionality of unique woven rugs to American and European buyers who were enchanted by something which without Hubbell would have left them poorer for their ignorance.
If you see yourself as a creative genius as yet undiscovered, perhaps you should team with Ol’ Swaphos as your Hubbell and Deming of the 21st Century. If you view yourself as a lowly crafts person, perhaps you should let the appreciative eye of Ol’ Swaphos disabuse you of your humility. If you are a customer of Santa Fe Trading Post™, perhaps you should avail yourself of the opportunity to acquire and appreciate contemporary masterpieces and collectibles for a long-term investment that pays you daily dividends: enjoyment of art before it is co-opted by the maddening masses.
If you are an artist, send Ol’ Swaphos an email.
- List your BFA’s, other degrees, showings and awards if you have them, but don’t worry if you don’t!
- Attach as many jpeg pictures of your work as you think will show what you have done or are capable of doing.
- Describe your work as you would like it to be seen, together with your aspirations.
If you are a visitor/customer of Santa Fe Trading Post™, send Ol’ Swaphos an email.
- Tell us about your style, your lifestyle, and what turns you on.
- Tell us what we have that you like, what you don't like (that's ok), and what you would like to see.
- Tell us how you would be willing to become a patron of budding artists and in what price ranges.
Meanwhile, rest assured that Ol’ Swaphos is busy:
- Constructing a Gallery of Fine Art.
- Constructing a Gallery of Folk Art.
- Evaluating and suggesting “out of the box” ways to connect creator and connoisseur.
|
