Interview with RT Vegas
q) What is your name and what do you do?
a)My name is RT Vegas and I am a mixed media visual artist.
q)When did you really get into art?
a)I have created art, off and on, for many years. I really got into creating and displaying my art about 3 years ago. I discovered artists selling their original art on eBay and I realized I could do the same. Now instead of having a show at a local gallery once or twice a year I can have folks from around the world see and possibly purchase my work year round. I set up my own web site and post new work weekly. I still exhibit in local gallerys but now, through connections that I have made on the Internet with other artists, I can show my work at other venues in other parts of the USA.
q)How did you come to the realization that you should try your luck at art on a more serious level?
a)After I sold my first piece on the eBay to someone who had never met me. In the old days you might sell a work to a friend and/or a person who saw your work live at a gallery opening. That patron talked to you face to face. Selling your art through the Internet and via mail takes a hell of lot of blind trust on both the seller and the buyers end. I think you have to really make a point of good communication with your customers. I know if I buy something on the Internet I want to know when the item has been mailed and when can I expect to receive it.
I give as much information to my customers as possible to make it a good experience. I want and usually get return customers.
q)How did you discover the particular style that you have?
a)I have always liked cartoons and was first motivated to try art as a youngster back in the 1960's after seeing the work of Norman Saunders, a great pulp artist and featured artist of Topps 'Wacky Packs'. I was also influenced by the 'Underground' comic artists, Pop art and later by the Graffiti/Urban artists. In more recent years I have added elements of abstract art to my style.
q)How would you describe your style?
a)Just to simplify matters I call it "Outsider Folk Art"...but who knows (or cares) what it really is.
q)Who or what influences your art?
a)Most of the time I will start a new work without any concrete plan. Sometimes I have fleeting thoughts in my head and decide to make a painting out of that thought. Some of these thoughts are strange, twisted, funny (to me at least) or just plain wrong. That is the fun part of not having to make a certain type of art...I can just make a work without any worry of selling it or not. Of course it is a lot more satisfying when they are purchased...
q)How often do you create a new piece?
a)I usually create 3 or 4 pieces a week...on the average.
Normally I will have 5 or more paintings going at the same time.
It is more fun that way...you do not get bored or frustrated that way.
If you get stuck for direction in one painting, drop it and go to the next one. Come back to the
first painting a few hours or days later...no pressure.
I do not have any formal art training and am not very skilled in any kind of finesse techniques.
I CAN NOT do photo realism. I do not have the patience to work on a piece for hours and days. I have tried it before and I end up hating the work in the end. I want to have fun when I paint and be able to smile with the end results. Most of my smaller pieces only take a couple of hours of combined time to complete.
q)What kind of success have you had with your art?
a)Since I started a 'full time' commitment to my art 3 years ago (listing on my web site, promoting, selling, creating on a regular shedule, gallery shows, etc.) I have sold several hundered pieces to patrons around the globe. That being said the averager selling price is about $50. If I step up my prices my sales slow down. The art does not take me that long
to do so...why should I let it pile up in my home. Get it out and let others enjoy it. Some artists charge far too much for their work. They get emotionaly attached to it. They will end up being burried with it. That is their choice. Mine is to sell it at affordable prices and make more of it the next day.
q)What would be the ultimate goal for you and your art?
a)The ultimate goal would be to have my art on the wrapper of Chinese bubblegum.
q)What do you see as an accomplishment in the way of art?
a)That anyone would want to buy my work and look at it every day...That's huge to me!
In my eyes, THAT is an accomplishment for me and my art.
q)What kind of message, if any, do you try to convey through your art?
a)Although some people have tried to see some hidden meaning, there is none...My art is meant to be interesting to look at and that's about it. It is whatever you want it to be because I am not going to tell you that it isn't.
My art is meant to be
q)Sum up your art in one word.
a)FUNKINDOFWEIRD
q)Any additional comments?
a)Everyone can do art but not everyone has to like it.
q)…your contacts…
a) www.rtvegas.com
arty142@optonline.net
www.myspace.com/rtvegas
posted by Parentela Claudio @ 3:41 PM
1 Comments:
I have 5 (soon to be more)of his pieces hanging in my home.Everyone who looks at them smiles including myself .His work is refreshing and fun.
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