 A&CNET INTERVIEWThis article comes courtesy of an interview done for A&CNet. It was featured in one of their online magazine issues.
A&CNET:
Tell us about your start as an artist; did you have a passion for drawing or painting right from the beginning? Or when did you know you could, indeed, call you yourself an artist?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
My first inkling that I might like to draw was back in Junior High, about 1967. A drawing that I did as a Centennial project was singled out as something of note. I had always drawn for as far back as I can remember, but that was the first time that I had the thought that maybe I could be an artist, or that I had some creative talent in me. As for calling myself an artist, it was more than 30 years later before I could actually say that word in reference to myself without choking on it.
A&CNET:
When you and I first met, I was fascinated with your style, "Pointillism". Tell us about the kind of art you create. Why Pointillism?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
For years, Pointillism was just a way for me to play or doodle, or pass the time. It wasn't until I was working as a Design Draftsman with the Ministry of Highways here in British Columbia that I realized that I could use this technique of expression as fine art. The style came out of one of the design designations for showing concrete objects on our plans. This was done as a series of dots and short line squiggles. I gradually changed this to all dots and it became the 'standard' way of showing these concrete objects on all the Design Plans throughout our region. After a number of years and millions of dots later, it did bring back memories of my art history in High School and the work of George Seurat.
A&CNET:
Who was George Seurat?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
George Seurat was a Parisian artist, a master of over 500 works of art. He's the one who developed the style of painting known as Pointillism. He spent his life studying color theories and the effects of different linear structures. Seurat was not just interested in the way that the colors were put onto the painting or the painting itself. He concentrated on the science in the picture and the optical mixing of the colors.
So, no, I certainly do not model my work after his or the Pointillist movement at all. This is my own, unstudied projection of the technique. If I start studying the rules as it were, then I may just lose my own direction with it. What I mean by the rules is that to this point in my life, I have never studied colour theory. I simply just do what I do with colour. I guess that I get lucky sometimes in having an innate understanding of which colour works with another. My lack of training used to really bug me when I first started using colour. I figured people would laugh or scoff at what I did and just blow it off as a series of randomly placed points of colour on a sheet of paper. I smile when I say that because in part it is true, but hey, you try and do it and see what you end up with. There is some method behind the madness I assure you all. Today I don't cringe or hide away from critics or critique of my work. That is because I am confident in what I do and that would be the difference from way back when during the days that I'd have to choke out the answer "yes" to the question, "Are you an Artist!"
A&CNET:
I know that you lead a very busy life… Are you fulltime at your art? How do you balance "working for a living" with doing your art? And how do you balance your art with "spending time with your family" and any other interests?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I am full time at living these days where I think that "I was just existing" for a very long time.
However, yes, I am doing my artwork on a full time basis right now. I spent a large part of my working life not being a very happy person. Today I am my own guy as it were and march to my own drummer. No one tells me how I should draw or how often or what style. It's great!
Today there seems to be a very bright light at the end of the tunnel for me. I am happier, working harder and poorer financially than I have been in years. But I love what I do today! I have lots of time to draw most days. I fit it in between looking after the household, the cats and cooking dinners for my partner and her lovely daughter.
A&CNET:
You work out of your home… What sort of workspace or home studio arrangements have you made?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I have a wonderful studio area here at home. There are still some things to do as far as storage of materials go, but it is a very bright space. I have everything that I need close at hand. My drafting table, pens, light table and framing table are all right there for me to use easily. It's finally all together in one place which is a luxury I've never had before now.
A&CNET:
Who or what has been most influential in your work? Any mentors? What has been your inspiration? Tell us about your life journey that has brought you to this point in your life and artistic career. I'm guessing you've had a fascinating journey.
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I've had a few people that I would possibly call mentors or big supporters of my work over the years but none more so than a Stained Glass Artisan I met in Vernon B.C. in 1989. After meeting up with Don Willoughby of Reflections Art Studios, I expressed an interest to him that I would like to learn how to "cut glass". He agreed and undertook to teach me how to do what he did so well. I spent most weekends and holiday time off from my real job with Highways, working at the studio/gallery for the better part of a year. At first I learned how to make simple sun catchers and gradually moved on to very detailed Tiffany lamps. During this time he encouraged and supported all my efforts towards the glass work and my drawing which in turn gave me confidence to draw more and actually start showing it in public venues. When I met Don I was going through a huge lifestyle change or a coming to terms with my past way of living. My confidence level at work and in my personal affairs was at a very low ebb at the time. I was fighting with recovery from substance abuse and getting my life back on track. Having this very creative artisan take an interest in me played a huge part in helping me back into the land of the living. The recovery period has been ongoing, not just from substance abuse but learning to live life on life's terms. I struggle with that sometimes as I'm sure we all do, depending what kind of 'baggage' we're carrying in our lives. The difference for me today is that I am able to accept life differently than I did say even 10 years ago.
A&CNET:
Talking about inspiration…Living on Vancouver Island has got to be very inspiring. Is that reflected in your approach to painting and your art style or subject matter? Do you ever go sit on a mountain top or by a lake to paint, or is it all done in your home studio?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
Geographic influence has always played a big part in the subject matter of my work. When I first started with the Ministry of Highways I moved from Victoria where I grew up, to Vernon B.C. I lived in the Okanagan Valley for about 25 years, and lots of my drawings are influenced by the orchards and arid climate of the valley and the Thompson/Okanagan region in general. My first round of Government downsizing in 1995 took me to Campbell River on Vancouver Island and for most of my 5 years there I was fortunate to live in a home with a fabulous ocean view of Discovery Channel. My drawing titled "West Coast Blues" was born there.
Then it was on to Golden in 2000 for almost two years and the Rocky Mountains became part of my drawing subject matter. In 2002 The Liberal Government announced their "Workforce Adjustment Initiative" and I was transferred back home to Victoria, and my last days as a civil servant. There wasn't a great deal of time spent drawing during that time because my future with the Government was not looking very good. The uncertainty did consume me back then. I suppose that I couldn't accept that change was imminent and that I would have to give up what I was doing even though I wasn't happy there. I guess it's called "fear of change", isn't it? I'll go on to say that "all's well that ends well" and I left Government Service just over a year ago now. I love it!
I can make much more time available for my work these days and I like to get an average of four to five hours a day drawing. Of course that would be in a perfect world with no interruptions, like playing fetch with my two cats! When they get bored, and it seems quite often that they do, I'll feel a tug at my leg or hear a persistent meowing until I acknowledge, get up, grab a ball and throw it for them... the process is repeated many times over some days. All my work is done in the studio and always has been but there were mountain tops that I climbed, beaches that I walked and stunning vistas all over this beautiful province which are etched in my mind and will influence my work forever.
A&CNET:
What challenges did you face in the beginning as a new artist? How did you deal with them?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
One of the biggest challenges that I have found is not having enough money to promote my work properly. By that I mean that there are so many things to spend money on in getting your work "out there".
Marketing is expensive and tiring with many, many pit falls and mistakes made along the way. I don't know that one overcomes these expenses as it doesn't seem to change no matter how high or low the plateau one finds oneself sitting on. This is a business and hey, I'm not whining here, I am being realistic about the whole thing. I do know that business has its costs, its challenges. Each new plateau has it own new costs. An example would be that I first started out reproducing my art cards as photo copies. I needed to know if there was a market for my work and did find, at a reasonable cost, that there is a market for it. Although the cards were well received at craft type venues, photo copying wasn't a very cost effective means of reproduction for a wholesale market. It did show me that there was enough interest to warrant the next step which was offset printing. This is a fairly expensive endeavor for setting it all up. However it brings the unit cost way down and provides for actually making a return on my investment. So, now, all my art cards are printed by using a press and offset printing method. Realistically there is the cost, first of producing the artwork. Then the printer needs to scan the work and make a digital file. Then there is proofing and finally printing. Now, after all that where is my market? Galleries? Art Publishers? Distributors? Book Publishers? Magazines? All of the above and each place seem to have similar but subtle differences for submissions. Packages of artwork mailed out to these places are probably the best way to get your work to them. Again, there is quite a bit of expense involved in this but you keep telling yourself that one good job will more than pay for all your investment of time and cash. That's another whole different world of time and money spent looking for places to have the work on sale or bought outright for publication.
A&CNET:
How has your art changed since you first began?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
My work has been refined by time and experience. I have gone from making mostly black and white line drawings in the late 80's and early 90's to full color pointillism, while sometimes combining dots and line work in them. The pens feel like an extension of my fingers really. I used the pens in my drafting work for so long that they have become very comfortable for me to use.
Again, I am unschooled with this art form but have read a few books on technique using the pen & ink style of drawing. For the most part the books that are out there are showing realism and I am not really very good at doing that style. I can draw though, however I choose not to go that realistic route and leave it up to the Robert Bateman's of the world. They are so good at what they do that the world doesn't need to see my efforts!
I had an art teacher by the name of Michael Hemming in Grade 11 and 12. During one of our classes on realism he said, "If you can take a photograph of this, which will give you a realistic representation, why on earth would you try to draw it realistically? The photo you take is the realistic representation, so use your mind and your eyes to create your own representation." The intent of those words has stayed with me all this time and is truly how my artwork is reflected.
A&CNET:
What do you currently enjoy most about being an artist? And what don't you like?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I enjoy that my time is my time when I am in drawing mode. I work longer hours and for much less money, but I am doing it for me and it is what I like and want to do. I don't have to get up and go to a job that I have no interest in doing.
I really don't like the marketing aspect of doing this because it takes time away from my drawing. When I'm making enough money from all this effort I will have someone do the marketing for me. I mean that I will pay them to do the marketing for me. It's a pain!
A&CNET:
You're not the first artist to say that. So, how do you determine what your next art piece will be? Do you have a theme or purpose beforehand?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I don't predetermine what my next work will be. Sometimes I will stay with an idea or specific landscape theme. As you've seen, all my drawings are landscape and because they are all done in my stylized presentation, they have a similar feeling to them I suppose.
A&CNET:
What, if anything, would you change about being a "creative person". If you had your "druthers" about anything in your artistic journey what would you like to have changed or done differently and why?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
Maybe I would change the journey a little. I made a decision, with my Father's strong urging of course, to get a real job and earn an honest living. Anyone out there relate to parental pressure? No blame, it's just what I did because it really did seem like the best route to go. I took my Ministry of Highways job rather than pursue art school after grade 12 and marched off into life. In my personal life with my family I would certainly like to be able to change some things. My relationship with my now 'x' wife and my boys suffered a great deal because of the choices I made in my life. That remembrance is something that I won't expand on here and now.
My dear old Dad passed away recently after several years of declining health. He was in a care home for the last five years or so and never got out to see my work exhibited anywhere in Victoria. I would have loved it had he really known that I am making a success out of a not so "real job" and that I am very happy today. Keep checking in on me.. will ya Dad, it's gonna get better!
A&CNET:
Being an artist requires not only creativity but it also takes lots of hard work. Do you ever experience "burnout"? How do you handle it?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
Burnout happens on a regular basis. It even happens in stages throughout a drawing for me. Each one has it's own emotional ride of satisfaction to downright frustration and failure. I got so disgusted with a drawing and my talent and skill level recently, that I ripped a drawing in half. I had more than 100 hours into it at that point and it just was not going anywhere. No thought behind it at all when I did that; just picked it up and RIP! I had never done that before and I'm thinking that next time that I feel so burned out about a piece I'll just put it aside and come back to it another day.
A&CNET:
What about "procrastination"? I hear a lot of artists voice this same problem they have… How do you work all this out? Is it a regular challenge or do you only have your 'moments'?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I'll just bet that I am like about 99% of the planet's population regarding procrastination. I'm always putting stuff off so that I can draw or do other art related projects. Need I explain more?
A&CNET:
How did you get started selling your work? And Where?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I met an art dealer of sorts through a friend of mine in Vernon about 1994. She saw one of the first drawings that I had framed, sitting in a frame shop and called me. She asked if I would like it shown in her small gallery. I said sure and then from there she convinced me to enter a juried show in Penticton. I was given some confidence about the acceptance for my drawings with the reviews that I was given there. I still had not sold any work but did get a solo show in a small venue in Vernon after the Penticton show. Again no sales but the work was well received. I was transferred on to Campbell River in 1995. After a short time there with pavement pounding and portfolio in hand I got a show at a local restaurant. Someone from the Campbell River Arts Council saw my work and called me. The next thing I knew I had a TV interview (done by the CRAC) going on and two more shows booked. My first drawing sold around this time for actual cash money and no, it wasn't to a friend or a family member. I've seen the price of an original drawing go from $100.00 in 1995 to over $2000.00 today. Those bigger dollar sales are few and far between but now with so many images in print more people can afford something from me. For those reading this, my work is proving to be a great investment!!!!!!
A&CNET:
Is there a particular kind of art lover who buys your art?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
There is no one demographic of people who like my work that I can see or figure out. That of course would be the answer to the $100,000.00 question wouldn't it? My supporters seem to be of all ages and social-economic groups so far, it would seem. I will add that I can only grab a small percentage of the buying art public as my style of work certainly doesn't appeal to everyone. Those who love it, love it. Those who don't pan it quickly.
A&CNET:
How do you decide which art or craft events to participate in or studios or galleries to exhibit your works in?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
I suppose that you look for a place where the artwork fits in with styles that the gallery is already carrying. I don't like gallery showings particularly though. Most times in searching out a craft venue, at this stage of my art career, the entry fees are a consideration. Will it be worth my two or three days of hard work to pay the high entry and still have it worthwhile to be there. Art Galleries take 50% of the sale price. I have a wee bit of a problem with this as it takes away from the market value I receive when I sell privately. A drawing that I receive $2000.00 for privately would have to have a purchase price of over $4000.00 on it in a gallery. My name does not command that larger price tag, just yet...and I am not willing to take the 50% hit and receive only $1000.00 for it. Galleries are not there for 50% of the production time nor are they paying to have the work framed for presentation. They do not participate in 50% of the production at any stage so why should I pay them 50% of the profit just to display and sell the work. I'll starve first!
A&CNET:
I've heard that echoed before... What about utilizing the internet? Do you have a website or have you taken advantage of any other online or offline advertising, marketing and sales means?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
Yes, I have a website. I did participate with another shared site as well for a few years. Sales from it were dismal, non-existent in fact. From my own site, new in January 2005, possibly $100.00 in sales since it's inception. This electronic marketing also seems a hard sell. I figured that my site was doing alright having over 300 hits on it thus far at about 60 a week. Then when comparing notes with another artist recently, who gets over 10,000 hits a week on his site my puffed up pride caved quickly. His site generates very, very little in sales even though he has the traffic coming there. The work is good and is much more traditional and widely accepted in style than mine is, so one would figure that sales should be popping with those numbers hitting there. I have heard the same story from many artists who are marketing online and that is that sales are not what they thought they would be. In fact, my web designer told me not to expect any sales from having this site (ya, after I paid for the design service); expect to use it as an online business card only.
The web has to be the most important place for an artist to market himself, but how to get people to buy is a mystery. What I will need is some sort of internet marketing course to be able to utilize this medium to it's fullest. I run on the thought that it certainly does not matter how many different images one has in print, sitting in boxes in the basement. They don't sell if no one knows you've got them, so look out world, just wait until I know my way around the World Wide Web!
A&CNET:
Can you offer any creative advice to artists or craftspeople who are aspiring to sell their work?
LAWRIE DIGNAN:
Having a commitment to yourself and the desire to succeed at it are important, I would say. Also having a loving, hard working and supportive partner doesn't hurt any either. My partner is my number one fan and works as hard if not harder at this art thing than I do. Without her help and support things would be a lot harder on me for sure.
Keep working at your art. Don't give up, and believe in yourself. Remember that it is an expensive and consuming journey just as any business is or will be. The investment that you make in this, if coupled by persistence and hard work will eventually pay you back. I fully expect to be eating from and paying my day to day bills from sales of my work in the next two or three years. I've only been doing this full time for about one year now. I would like to tell you that I have come miles and miles marketing and selling my work since making that first photo copied art card back in 1995. I have made a lot of mistakes and experienced many setbacks along the way. I finally found a great print house in Victoria (Digital Direct Printing) and have had lots of help from friends (huge thanks to Greg Snead) already established in sales and marketing of their artwork. Go to craft fairs and art venues to see how to present your work. Talk to the vendors and pick their brains for ways to sell your work. People at these venues will always offer their expertise to new people, and that can be of great help. Seek out others who have gone before you and see what they have done, whether it was successful or if it wasn't. If your work is good, if you have some talent to show, the work will sell itself. You just have to get it out to as many places as you can. Be a pest!!!!!!! |
