Skinny Dipping and Stereotypes

There are very specific and entrenched stereotypes of artists that make being one both super fun and a little challenging. The fun part is that people assume we’re fun-loving, off the beaten path, wacky, free spirits. This makes it very easy for me to hang out “outside of the box” in my actions and personality. The challenging part is working against the preconceived notions of being disorganized, erratic, irresponsible and a terrible business owner. Interestingly, I’m very organized and fastidious. I always have a paper trail. I like things just so and I’m very responsive in my business .

As with all stereotypes, navigating your way through them can feel like an uphill battle. This dichotomy of how I fit into being a “working artist” is probably why the wax figure series continues to excite me. I can represent a little bit of everything with them. They are silly and whimsical while at the same time they are very clean, organized in their composition and blunt in their messaging.

As much as I try to dispel and ignore all stereotypes, sometimes there’s a grain of truth to them. The other night, I felt like going skinny dipping…so I did. How very artsy-fartsy and, perhaps, a little free spirited of me!