Uncertainty Fuels Art
UNCERTAINTY FUELS ART
STUDIO VLOG
BTS with Artist Charles Maring and Maring Visuals
Cameras used in the Vlog
Lumix S1 & Lumix GH5s
Thank goodness for creativity, and our personal motivation / work ethic to push on! We have been using uncertainly to fuel our creativity, and we are learning more about ourselves and our abilities as individual creators. This time has been challenging, but it’s also given us opportunities to evolve so we try to remain thankful in the face of it all.
At the moment our reality is that we are working our way through uncertain times. We know we are not alone, and we lost fellow creators we know to the virus, and have seen many others fall financially as well. Fact is, we make the majority of our living creating portraits or photographing weddings and events, which are on hold into the unforeseeable future. We are artists living and working in the Northeast, which means that our business is very seasonal, and we work smart all year to save up so that we can survive the long cold New England winters and pay our mortgage and bills. We have been smart enough to navigate this lifestyle for 20+ years with both of us working as full time artists. We don’t have a backup plan, and neither my wife nor I have ever worked for a large company. We’ve had jobs working at photo-labs in high school, but our careers in art took off early and we’ve been on this mission ever since. We’ve managed to carve out a pretty remarkable living with quite a bit of notoriety and success surrounding the work we do. But, it’s all based on the freedoms we have enjoyed as a society that has allowed us to prosper even through difficult times throughout our careers.
Artist Charles Maring in his CT Art Studio
We now find ourselves completely blindsided by our own government saying “close your doors, and don’t open until we say so…” We understand there is a pandemic. So, we have done right by our fellow Americans by staying home, wearing masks if we need to go out, and going out of our way to stay healthy. We’ve had no major income for 6 months. Luckily we have some savings, which we struggle to part with. But, we can’t wallow in our fears so we have simply set out to continue our mission of growing in ways that will allow us to be able to serve others better once the crisis is over, and we can get back to doing what we do best. It’s not just us that have taken a hit obviously. The photo-labs, book binders, and other artists we work with to create such amazing products and presentations have all been closed. So, we haven’t been able to get paid to take photographs, and we haven’t been able to get paid to deliver albums, and printed products either. Somehow though, we have remained optimistic and this is really the first time I’ve expressed the challenges we face simply because I know others are hurting, and I don’t want to burden them. I know we will come out of this stronger in many ways.
Check out the studio version of this new single on Spotify and Apple Music.
Fact is, there have been up days, and down days through this all. We have managed to evolve exponentially over the course of the past few months on the creative front, and are starting to get excited about the future again. Over the past several months I’ve produced two large scale oil paintings, and have honed my music and performance skills in numerous ways, and have reached the point that I can improvise thoughtfully, and with greater confidence.
Improvisation is something that we often associate with music. However, if applied to painting, and photography improvisation can be one of the most important and rewarding parts of the visual art forms as well. Songwriting has allowed me to see that in deeper way than ever before. I’d argue now that the ability to improvise gracefully may be the most over the top difference between a master artist and a mere professional. Many can create salable works by learning the classical way, but there is something innately different about those that go beyond education, skill ,or talent, and who can ride the space between with confidence. It’s just different, and it applies equality to each genre.
The past 6 months have been very hard on us, but I feel that we have gained something through it all. Had we not had this time on our hands, and the uncertainty that came with it, I don’t know if I would be as capable as I am today. I now have skills that are enriched with a new way of seeing, hearing, and thinking. I’m thankful for this time. There is a line in the song I sing in the chapter that says “I get better yeah with age”. It’s evident to me that statement is true. As long as we apply ourselves each day, and seek to evolve and learn we have moments of truth in which we can see that we are indeed growing. Uncertainly most definitely fuels art for those who move forward in the direction of their dreams.
