Mark E Shellshear.

If you plant a seed in the ground, then God does the hard stuff and makes it grow. The miracle of growing a tree is by you first planting a seed in dirt. How does this relate to painting? Same as planting a tree. Education. You must know which seed grows which tree. Same with painting, you must know how to paint, what to paint and why you are painting. Activity. I f you don't plant the seed in the ground, it will not grow. Looking at it won't make it grow. Wishing it would grow won't make it grow. Only planting it in the ground will make it grow. So with painting, you have to do it. Not wishing it will happen, not hoping it will happen, you have to pick up the brush and start to paint, for the painting to grow. It does not matter how inspired you are, how motivated you are or how talented you are, if you do not pick up the brush and paint, you are just an inspired, motivated, talented unproductive artist. The key to your mir...

Success is a wonderful experience. You are beginning to sell, people are loving your work and your prices are beginning to climb. Everything is looking good. This is the time when you must be vigilant to protect what you have accomplished. Beware of the little things that can rob you of your success. Every success will be attacked. The attackers come as little things to begin with. A little idleness, because you have earned it? A little apathy, because you know how it is done now? A little comfortable, because now I am a success? A little tv, when you should be painting? A little complaining, because you thought everyone would recognize your talent? A little anger, because more should recognize your accomplishments? A little jealousy, because someone else was complemented when you are the star? Success is not to honored, it is be built upon and protected. Take care of what you have accomplished. Make sure to strive harder, remember your real competition is yourself and...

                                 Galeria de las Islas, Silahis center, Intramuros, Manila, Philippines. Beware of erosion in you Art career and life. Erosion is learning to do a little less than you should. A little less work. A little less effort. A little less thought. A little less trying in any area of your life will bring on failure, slowly. To begin with it will not seem to make a difference, but you only have to move the steering wheel of the car a fraction of an inch so that down the highway you will eventually run off the road and crash. So in life, failure starts with just a little less effort. When you don't feel like painting and you know you deserve some time off, again? Stop and think. I will not get this day ever again in all my life! Even if I paint a bad painting it is better than painting no ...

My thoughts on the Barnett Newman painting. “NEW YORK -- A large 1953 painting by abstract expressionist artist Barnett Newman has sold for $43.8 million at a New York City auction, setting an auction record for his work. Sotheby's said Tuesday the record price for "Onement VI" (WUHN'-mehnt siks) includes the buyer's premium. The painting is the last of six in Newman's Onement series. They're characterized by what's called the zip, a distinctive stripe running down the center of the canvas. Four are in museum collections.” I was reading all the comments today in some Artist group pages on Facebook, about the Barnett Newman painting that was just sold at auction for $43.8million. A very large sum of money for a painting that is blue with a white line through the middle of it, they said. Now so many people, Artists, ridiculed the painting and said lots of cruel things about it and the price that was paid for it and the person who bough...

I deal with Artists who get upset with me because I say that they must be realistic about their prices, especially when they see works by a known Artist not as good as their work, but selling for a high price and they question why are their prices so high? The answer is, they are a known Artists. Unknown Artists always tell me that they get lots of likes on Facebook and their family and friends love their work and they are selling to them at good prices and I usually reply something like this. If you believe that your family and friends and friends of friends will buy your work at these prices for the rest of your Artistic career, then do that, you do not need my help. But if you know that they will not support you for the rest of your Artistic career then you can listen to me and I will help you. Or you can go and complain about how unfair the Art Business is and that I want Artists to starve and give their work away, while you the Artist are doing it for all the ...

Some thoughts in January 2016. I am convinced for an Artist to be successful they must have a good work ethic not just talent. They must approach their Art practice as if they were working for a boss and turn up for work each and every day. Now some might go on about Art is different and it is all about feelings, inspiration and a labor of love and that's all nice but will it pay the bills? One of the most successful Artists I know works his day the same way every day. He starts work every afternoon at 4pm and works through until 3am the next morning. Hard work plus talent = success. Makes their own luck. Laziness plus talent = failure. Wonders why the world does not recognized how talented they are? There are many talented failed Artists and many hard working not so talented successful Artists. In the arts and really in all walks of life, doing your best always, is always best for you. Have a wonderful day. Mark.

 New Years resolution, “Don't blame and criticise the Art market.” Because it is all we have got! No matter where we are in the Art Business, just starting off selling your paintings or you have been in the Art Business for many years, the one thing to really get to grips with is that it is the only market we have. Yes it is a very diverse market, across many economic levels but it is still selling paintings no matter whether they cost $5 or $5 million, it is still the Art market and the market rules. Now we can criticize the market, but that will not change anything. We can blame it for not selling our work, but it will not change anything. We can be upset that it will not pay the prices that we think our art deserves, but it will not change anything. Please remember, it is the only Art market that we have and we need it if we are going to earn a living from our Art, so blaming it and criticizing it does not help. It would be like the farmer blaming th...