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The Perks of Being an Artist

Category Archives: culture

Weekly Tattoo Wrap-up #7

25 Monday Jun 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, culture, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

civil rights heroes, Emily Page tattoo, Harriet Tubman, Nelson MAndela, portrait tattoo, portraits, raleigh tattoo, Ratatat Tats, Rosa Parks, St. Francis, tattoo portrait

Apparently, it was portrait week for me at the studio. Remember the guy who really likes saints and civil rights heroes? Well, in addition to the St. Joseph, Mother Teresa, Joan of Arc, and St. Cecilia that I’d already done for him, we added St. Francis, Harriet Tubman, Nelson Mandela (with some animals), and Rosa Parks:

Harriet Tubman_compressedNelson Mandela_compressedRosa Parks_compressedSt. Francis_compressed

He has a really hard time sitting still (he likes to play the drums for all of his favorite classic rock songs), but he’s willing to let me experiment and practice portraiture in different styles, which is pretty cool. So far, my favorite is the Rosa Parks one.

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Woman

19 Tuesday Jun 2018

Posted by emilypageart in culture, humor, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

female tattoo artist, kesha, misogony, motherfucking woman, sexism, tattoo shop owner

I had a couple young guys in the tattoo studio the other day, shootin’ the shit with each other and making some really sexist, denigrating remarks about women. I kept my mouth shut and just let them be morons (and maybe drilled that tattoo needle in just a tiny bit deeper, lol). Finally, they turned to me and started asking questions about tattooing. Then one of them asked, “How much of what you charge for a tattoo do you have to give to the owner?”

To which I replied, “I am the owner.” Silence in response. And right at that moment, this song came on in the background:

Yasssssssss.

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In Defense of Facebook

18 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by emilypageart in culture, gratitude, Uncategorized

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

defending Facebook, Facebook, Facebook is awesome, Facebook sucks, I like Facebook, in defense of Facebook, social media

Okay, hold your fire. I just wanted to put in a good word for Facebook for a second. You’re free to go on hating it, but listen for just a second. I love Facebook, and here’s why:

First, I would never have gotten through everything I went through with my dad were it not for Facebook. I got SO damn much support on there from people who would never have known what I was going through because they live far away and I hate talking on the phone to anyone other than my mom. I’m honest about what I’m going through (within reason…I don’t, like, post about every fight I have with my husband or coworkers, etc) in my life, and people respond. They give me words of encouragement, or they say, “Yes, I’m going through the same thing. Thank you for saying what I’m thinking.” And my community is so much larger because of Facebook. My parents’ friends could stay up to date on what was happening with my dad by just watching MY page for updates. And while some people just lurk and “like” posts, other people comment with kindness and love. When he died, I didn’t have to email or call everyone who needed to know, because they saw it on Facebook and responded. That took a big burden off of our shoulders.

When I’m depressed, Facebook becomes a lifeline to the outside world that I’m physically avoiding. People I was never close to have become dear friends thanks to private messaging on Facebook. Some people are better at being honest and open in writing than in person. Sometimes I’m one of those people, so I get it. Facebook helped us find each other, identify a kindred spirit, and open up privately.

I’m in a couple of support groups for chronic illness, and I never would have found these women without Facebook. I have a worldwide community because of social media. Ditto for blogging groups, and art groups, and various other interests. They’ve helped me grow as an artist, a blogger, and a person.

Are there negative people on there? Of course. It’s the internet. Shitheads love being shitheads wherever they can. But I’ve only had to unfriend one person ever, and it was for way more than just what was going on on Facebook. I’ve read blogs saying that Facebook makes people feel bad when they see other people posting about what fabulous lives they have. My friends don’t do that. I mean, they do post when exciting things happen, but they also post when tragedy strikes, or when they have a huge pimple, or when they’re bored or hungry or experiencing any of the wide array of emotions and experiences a human can go through. So I do, too, and then we can all rejoice with each other and take care of each other when needed.

I have friends with a variety of political and religious leanings. It’s good for me to see their posts and have to examine my own beliefs. It’s good for me to be reminded that there are people that I love because they are good, smart people, who believe some stuff that I don’t necessarily agree with. Not everyone who has a different political affiliation is a bad person, and my friends are proof. We come from different places and life stories and cultures, and Facebook reminds me that a) they are different from me and b) they are like me.

As an artist and a small business owner, Facebook has been an unbelievable asset. Unlike taking out an ad in the paper or on TV, which will cost thousands of dollars and rarely get actually viewed and even more rarely viewed by the specific people who would be interested in what I’m offering, with Facebook, I can target exactly who I want to reach and it costs a fraction of what I’d pay for print, TV, or radio advertising. Since I’m a VERY small business owner, I don’t have a big advertising budget, and I’d be screwed if I didn’t have this resource. And being able to post my art somewhere a bunch of my friends congregate has resulted in several sales without me having to do any paid advertising at all. I can avoid groveling to art galleries and watching them take half of the sale price and essentially negate any profit for me.

As a consumer, I like that Facebook isn’t showing me ads for a bunch of shit that I have zero interest in. Why would I want to see ads for guns and toupees when I’m not interested in either? How do they know what ads to show me? Duh, they keep tabs on what I post and react to. This does not surprise or offend me.

Does it suck that the Facebook platform has been used for underhanded political purposes? Fuck, yes. Do I 100% blame Facebook? No. Yes, they do have some culpability, but I don’t blame them for trying to figure out who we are so that companies can market more effectively to us. Hell, it’s a free service for us, so if I have to see a few ads for things I might like, I’m cool with that. And I take responsibility for double checking the factuality of stuff I see posted by my friends. If someone posts that 99.3% of Americans like bologna, I’ll fact check it before reposting it. That’s my responsibility, not Facebook’s.

So, you can delete your account if you’re mad at Facebook. That’s cool. If you’re concerned about your privacy, alright. I don’t judge you for that. But I’ll miss you, because realistically, I’m not likely to call.

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so many kinds of yes

11 Wednesday Apr 2018

Posted by emilypageart in culture, gratitude, health, kindness, mental health, tattooing, Uncategorized, writing

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

coping with depression, depression, ee cummings, ee cummings tattoo, poetry, reminder of the good in life, so many kinds of yes, stanza, sweet spring, tattoo, tattooing

I have a rule for myself: if I get an idea for a tattoo I want, I have to wait a year before I can get it. If I still want it a year later, then it’s not likely that I’ll regret the tattoo later in life. Well, it’s been more than a year since I got the idea for this tattoo, and 6 years since my last tattoo, so I decided it was time. Plus, I’ve never been tattooed by my tattoo mentor Julio, and I own a freakin’ tattoo shop. Julio had a little free time today, so I chained him to his tattoo chair and put him to work, even though today is his birthday (everyone say “Happy Birthday, Julio!!!!”).

My dad kept a magazine picture, of a little girl from a third world country carrying a jug of water on her head, in his music room to remind him that it could always be worse and that he really had it very good. It was one of the ways he dealt with his own depression. It helped him keep his life in perspective. To me, the picture just depressed me more, because not only did her situation not actually make my brain any more functional, but it frustrated me both that the world would allow her to have to live like that and that I couldn’t do anything about it. Reminding myself that I have an easy life just made me angrier that I still wasn’t able to be happy.

So instead, I’m choosing to just keep reminding myself to look for the good that’s all around me. Thank you Mr. Rogers. I have a stanza from an ee cummings poem printed out and taped onto the lightswitch in my art studio so that I see it coming and going. It’s a reminder that spring is always present in a million little ways if I just look hard enough. The color is there. The poem is called Sweet Spring, and the stanza I keep up is

(such a sky and such a sun

i never knew and neither did you

and everybody never breathed

quite so many kinds of yes)

I’m not spending much time in the art studio these days, because I’m busy learning a new way to make a living as an artist and spending all my time at the tattoo studio. I’m working to shape my life into what I want it to be and grabbing every opportunity that comes my way. I’m making all that color mine. When I can. And when I can’t, maybe my tattoo will remind me that there are just

so many kinds of yes.jpg

 

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Marie Catoinette

12 Monday Feb 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, cats, culture, humor, painting, Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

18th century fashion, 18th century hairstyles, acrylic painting, art, cat art, cats, Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, marie antoinette, marie antoinette hair, marie antoinette wig, marie catoinette, painting

I have a friend. She turned 50. I know: quite the accomplishment. In order to help her celebrate said milestone, I promised her a work of original art. She likes cats. And words. And fantasy. And, based on some of the art in her home, 18th century fashion? I don’t know, I could be getting that wrong. But she has a kickass sense of humor, so I decided to combine several of her loves for her very special, one of a kind, original Emily Page painting:

Marie Catoinette.JPG

Marie Catoinette 20″ x 16″ acrylic on canvas

Elle est tres jolie, non? Happy birthday, Laura!

Prints and stuffs available here and here.

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Rouen In the Rain

02 Friday Feb 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, culture, painting, Uncategorized

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

Emily Page, Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, life of an artist, oil on linen, oil painting, painting, rouen, Viking River Cruise

I’m having so much fun, y’all!! As we get closer and closer to opening the tattoo studio, I’ve been getting to make paintings to decorate the lobby. Big paintings. In different styles. Of random stuff. Stuff I don’t normally get to paint. This is soooooooo exciting for an artist.

As I’ve talked about before, I’m a very restless artist. I get bored doing the same style or subject matter for too long. But that’s what gallery owners and critics demand. You have to get known for one thing and just that one thing. And then you can very slowly evolve to get known for one more thing. But you have to do painting after painting in each theme/style. And partly, that’s good, because it means you get really good at that one thing. But, if you’re anything like me, you get bored.

As I’ve also talked about before, I have no more room to store large paintings. So I’ve mostly switched to small canvases. And that can be fun, because painting can go very quickly and you don’t have to wait long for the gratification of a finished painting. But I really like the physicality of working on large canvases. It allows me to get emotion out of myself and onto the canvas, regardless of the subject matter. It just feels good while you’re painting. And when you’re done, you’ve created something substantial. It announces to the world that it needs to exist.

So combining working in a range of styles and subject matter with working on large canvases is making me a very happy camper. I’ve also taken some older paintings that I wasn’t in love with and painted over them, which has the bonus win of freeing up that storage space the old painting was taking up.

So over the next few days, I’m going to post some images of the paintings I’ve been doing. I’ve had a hard time photographing everything because our weather has been so wonky (rainy or too windy or too cloudly or too sunny) and I have to shoot the images outside, but I’ll post them as I’m able. Here’s the first. See below it for an explanation:

Rouen in the Rain

Rouen In the Rain 64″ x 36″ oil on linen

Merchandise and prints here, and here. When I took that Viking River Cruise down the Seine last year, my favorite stop was Rouen. I used some pics I’d taken of one street as inspiration for this painting. Here’s the pic I took, and then a little watercolor I did on the trip of that street.

rouen-14.jpg

Painting - Rouen 2

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Beauty That Moves

31 Wednesday Jan 2018

Posted by emilypageart in art, culture, gratitude, kindness, painting, Uncategorized

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

ani difranco, art, artist, beauty that moves, Emily Page, Emily Page artist, evolve, true definition of beauty, watercolor painting

I have a friend who said to me recently that she’s never felt beautiful. Actually, I’ve had a couple of friends who have said that, and it makes me so incredibly sad. These women are, objectively, lovely. I’m an artist, so I get to pretend to be an expert on these things. And when you get the chance to know the women who have told me this, they become even more beautiful. It’s unbelievable that no one has told them just how lovely they are in a way that convinces them. We all have our doubts about our own beauty. The media preys on that insecurity, and even the most gorgeous among us will obsess over her “flaws.” It claims to know the true definition of beauty and insists that we agree, even if we don’t fit into the current beauty fads.

But even with that knowledge, it’s been seriously bothering me that my one friend, in particular, doesn’t know what a beauty she is. There’s a line in an Ani Difranco song, Evolve, that says,

“it took me too long to realize

that i don’t take good pictures

cuz i have the kind of beauty

that moves”

I think that’s true for so many of us. Ours is a beauty that moves. It is in our laugh, or in our look of love. It’s in the kindness and joy and sadness and vulnerability that shine from our eyes. This beauty is not static, or easy to catch and capture. It flies, it runs, it does somersaults. Our beauty does not sit and wait for a photographer to tell us how to pose.

My friend is actually a photographer herself. It’s her job to make other people see their inherent beauty. She brings out the best in her subjects. And it’s high time someone did that for her. So I took a photo from her Facebook page and created a painting of her as I see her. It’s still not as beautiful as she is, but I feel it captures at least a hint of this beauty of hers that refuses to sit still.

Audrey

“Beauty That Moves” 11″ x 14″ watercolor on paper

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Me, Too

17 Tuesday Oct 2017

Posted by emilypageart in culture, gratitude, kindness, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

#metoo, me too, rape, rape culture, rape survivors, sexual assault, sexual assault survivor, sexual harrassment, silent victims, survivor, women

Watching the #MeToo thread on Facebook and Twitter the last couple days has been heartbreaking. The details of my own sexual harassment and assault aren’t really important. They’re very much like what so many other women and girls have experienced on a regular basis. My own experiences could have been so much worse, and they aren’t what’s heartbreaking here.

What I find really heartbreaking is how many women I know who’ve been assaulted and, many years later, are still too scared or ashamed to simply post two little words, “Me, too.” As bad as the massive trending thread looked, it’s actually worse. And even in the midst of the bravery of so many women standing up and demanding to be counted, our society still hasn’t given all of us enough of a feeling of safety for everyone to do so. It’s not a failing of the women for not feeling safe enough to post the truth, but of the rest of us who haven’t provided that safe place –  a place like, oh, you know, the world.

For all of those women and girls who are grieving silently, I want you to know that you are, in fact, heard. If you never feel okay telling anyone, that’s alright. But I hope you eventually find someone who you can trust to believe you, embrace you, and help you understand that you don’t need to be ashamed and you are not at fault – someone who will help you forgive yourself even though you are not the one who needs forgiveness. I hope you rise, my dear.

Me, too

Prints and other merchandise with this painting on it can be found here and here.

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It’s a Christmas Miracle

12 Thursday Oct 2017

Posted by emilypageart in art, culture, gratitude, karma, mental health, tattooing, Uncategorized

≈ 9 Comments

Tags

areola tattoo, commercial real estate, hazards of being a business owner, high end tattoo, para-medical tattoo, paramedical tattoo, permanent make-up, tattoo, tattoo studio, tattooing

It’s a Christmas miracle! It’s Christmas now, right? Or a Halloween miracle? I’m not really sure. I’m unemployed, so I’ve lost all sense of time. After several months of trying to find a space to open a high-end tattoo studio, we are officially under contract!!!!! It’s been a long, strange trip, and it’s not over yet, but we’re farther along than we’ve been thus far. Let me back up a bit and explain.

We’re opening a tattoo studio. But maybe you figured that out from the first paragraph? I’ll be training to do permanent make-up, scar camouflage, and other para-medical tattooing (like giving women areolae following reconstructive surgery post-mastectomy, and giving people eyebrows after they lose them to chemo), as well as traditional tattooing. While I’ll be doing pretty much any kind of tattoo people ask for, my goal is to focus on transformational tattooing, helping people document life transitions. I’m super excited, because it means learning a new medium, and it’ll hopefully mean that I’ll be doing something meaningful for my customers. We’ll have a couple other artists there, too, that I’ll be learning under, and between all of us, we should be able to handle just about any style requested.

But first, we had to find a space. If you’ll recall, we had to close our paint and sip studio because our new landlord decided to double our rent when we tried to renew our lease. We really didn’t want to go through that again, and we’d already run into an issue with trying to lease a space for the tattoo studio and getting rejected because tattoo studios, are apparently, portals to hell. So we decided to buy a space.

We fell in love with one in Cary, NC, and put in an offer. The seller agreed to the terms, then emailed that he was un-agreeing. Apparently that’s a thing? So that fell through. We licked our wounds and resumed the hunt. We found two spaces in a plaza in Wake Forest, NC, one of which was going to auction. So we decided to bid on that space but given the issues we’d run into regarding plaza’s not wanting a tattoo studio, we sent out a letter explaining our vision so that the other owners would know we weren’t opening something seedy. But the other business owners really didn’t want us in there. Not only are tattoo studios portals to hell, but our clients are actual minions of the devil. Here’s a quote from one of the nastygrams we received:

“As property owners and fellow professionals, we have all worked to maintain the professional atmosphere of our buildings. In our opinion, the placement of a tattoo parlor at this location is wholly inappropriate and will diminish the reputation and image which we have sought to cultivate. In addition, it will bring a clientele into the area that will not enhance our reputation, and in our opinion, damage our  financial investment.

The commingling of the typical tattoo parlor clientele with business professionals, patients of medical providers, individuals and families seeking counseling services, and many others does not create a welcoming or professional atmosphere.
This situation certainly will not attract desirable owners or tenants in the future.
The letter sent by Attorney Herman is manipulative and disingenuous in that it commands those who object to remain silent and only those in agreement with their plan to speak up.

In addition, the letter from you, the proposed owners of the tattoo parlor, seeks to mislead and whitewash the true nature of this type of business. Despite the carefully chosen wording, this is not an upscale spa regardless of the reasoning behind the tattooing.”

oh no they didn't.jpg

I was sorely tempted, after that one, to send a newsletter out to my 10,000 person email list letting them know that, if they have tattoos, their money isn’t wanted by any of the medical providers, counselors, or other businesses in that plaza. But no, I’m taking the higher ground.

While, legally, they couldn’t stop us from moving in, but we decided not to bid because we didn’t want to walk into so much negativity. The same day we made that decision, the owner of the original space we’d wanted in Cary reached out to our real estate agent and said he’d resolved the things he’d gotten stuck on before, and would like to revisit our offer. So we sent over another offer (that’d he’d agreed to on the phone and via email), which he promptly refused to sign again. So we modified and tried again. And again, he turned it down. The whole thing was getting kind of ridiculous, and everyone was getting pretty pissy with each other, but S and I sat down and talked it out and we decided to compromise one last time. And, wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles, the seller finally signed. So now we have to go through inspections and the other due diligence stuff.

Jeez, I feel like such a grownup. Cross your fingers and elbows and toes and knees and eyes that the rest goes smoothly and I can stop feeling like I could vomit any second and maybe not actually become the alcoholic this whole thing has tempted me to be. Thank goodness I had the cats to snuggle away the stress.

 

draped keely
yin yang cats

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Thingsies I Want To Wear

11 Wednesday Oct 2017

Posted by emilypageart in art, culture, humor, painting, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

art, art merchandise, art on clothing, artist, Emily Page Art, Emily Page artist, Fine Art America, merchandise, painter, Raleigh artist, redbubble, swag, VIDA, wearable art

Y’all. There are women who make matching outfits for themselves and their kids. There are kids who make matching outfits for themselves and their dolls. And then there’s me. I want to dress like my paintings all the time. Allsies. For my birthday, I splurged and got one of my paintings printed onto a dress. I’d been coveting this thing for months. I’m a serious coveter. If there was a gold medal in coveting clothes that look like your paintings, I’d win that shit. Here is me, in my painting.

Thousand Goodbyes Dress.jpg

Where’d Emily go? Can’t find her. Oh wait, there she is, blending in with her painting!!

I even wore my art to an art opening that celebrated last year’s grant winners from the United Arts Council. Because I’m cool like that. And then I stood next to one of my paintings holding my book that I won the grant for. And every time someone complimented me on my dress, I opened up my book to this painting and awkwardly showed them how “awesome” I am. Because, again, I’m cool like that. And also because I’m totally terrified in situations like that and forget that I know how to speak English (not the best thing when you supposedly wrote a book in English).

Thousand Goodbyes Dress 2.jpg

Who’s obsessed with elephants? I swear, it’s not me.

Luckily (or unfortunately, depending on your perspective), there are sites for such obsessions as putting your artwork on all sorts of merchandis-y crap (I’ve already shared several examples of my art on swag with you here and here). And probably support groups. And I discovered a new site. And now I want all the thingsies. There’s just one sliiiiiight glitch. I don’t have all the monies. But if I did, holy shit. I’d dress only in my own artwork. Fuck LuLaRoe. This is LuLaEm.

I’m totally addicted to VIDA design now. A few examples of the schtuffs that I want:

VIDA 1.png

Release Sleeveless Top

 

VIDA 2.png

Evening Poppies Sheer Wrap

VIDA 3.png

Swirlie Tree Tank Top

VIDA 4.png

Drippings Pendant

VIDA 5.png

Remember Me Tote

VIDA 6.png

Drippings Wrap

VIDA 8.png

Elementally, He Is Love Scarf

And yes, I’m just getting started. Now that I’ve discovered this site, I can’t stop. I can’t actually buy any of the things I’m making, but a girl can dream. Someday, when I’m rich and hopefully not too famous (a girl does like to be able to run to the grocery store without getting all dolled up for the paparazzi), I will match every painting I’ve ever made. Yaaaaaaaaasssssss, bitchez. You can check in and see what’s included in my collection so far on VIDA here.

Now, quick! Buy all my thingsies and make me jealous (and rich so I can buy them myself)!

 

 

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