Meet Lori Markman | Painting, drawing and Collage

We had the good fortune of connecting with Lori Markman and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lori, do you have any habits that you feel contribute to your effectiveness?
I am an artist so the answer to this questions involves both the creative process of making art and the business and marketing of the art I create. Regarding the creative process, I found several habits to be particularly important. The first is that I go into the studio at least 5 days a week with the intention of just staying there for 20 minutes. 20 minutes in which I don’t even have to accomplish anything. I could just look at what I am working on, or clean the studio or do anything really, as long as I remain in the studio. This takes the pressure off me to force the creative process or to avoid going into the studio. I find that once I am in the studio, I am always able to work on one or more of my pieces for as long as I want. The second important habit regarding creation is to stop working on a piece if I feel tired, bored, confused about the next step or too impatient, I can switch to another piece if necessary, or simply stop working and leave the studio. If you stop working when you get into negative emotion territory on a piece of art, it prevents you from ruining it by forcing the creative process, which almost always makes things worse, not better.

With respect to the business and marketing of art, at first in my career, I pushed myself to try and do everything to put my art out into the world. Posting on social media daily, responding to other people’s art posts, going to galleries weekly, entering my work in group shows, joining art organizations, listening to a multitude of workshops on how to market your art, submitting work to galleries. At first it was exciting, but soon it became laborious, distasteful and non-productive because the marketing took up most of my time and left me exhausted, unfulfilled and unable to create the art. And worse still, it never really got me anywhere. Now, my habit is “less is more”. I only post twice a week. I only respond to other art posts that I really like. I only go to gallery shows when I really want to see the art. I only enter group shows that I feel I stand a good chance of getting in and which will enhance my visibility in the art world. I now focus my attention on getting a solo show with my latest work which I love. I send out a once-a- month art newsletter to the people who follow me, who are collectors of my work and certain curators and galleries. I like doing the newsletter and it has been a vehicle for sales and a way to consistently keep in touch. I simply have changed to only doing the marketing which makes me feel good.

My final habit for the business of art is that I am extremely organized. I keep on-line lists of all the galleries that I submit work to, the response, and when to follow-up. I keep separate on-line folders for all solo or small group shows. The images of my art work are all stored in separate folders for each series or group. I use Artwork Archives, an artwork data base which allows you to list all your work, your income and expenses data, the shows I plan to submit my work to with all necessary data, has an extensive contact database, will create Certificates of Authenticity, invoices, etc. The more organized you can be the better!

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I wanted to be a serious artist since I was 15 and I started making art then. My best friends were all artists. I majored in Fine Art Painting at UCLA. But, I had some major difficulties. From my rather dysfunctional family, I internalized the destructive messages: “if it’s not perfect, you are a failure” and “if it doesn’t work, force it”. These messages are death for creative freedom. Simply put, I started my artistic life extremely self-critical with zero confidence. I would compare myself at 17 to Picasso or Rembrandt! I became depressed every time something went wrong with a piece. I did a lot of crying in the art school hallways at UCLA. Yet, somewhere within me, I knew that I was good, that I did have talent. I just couldn’t let it flow freely. It took me a life-time of work to overcome those messages and to get to the place where I could fully engage in the creative process without despair, depression or self-criticism. But I did it–a fact that I am extremely proud of. I continually worked on my negative outlook in anyway I could: therapy, friends’ advice and encouragement, the Artist’s Way book, and finally the wonderful book on creativity by Elizabeth Gilbert “Big Magic”. That book ended my negativity forever.

I am also proud of the fact that I have always been true to my own creative impulses. I have never created art just because I thought it would sell or be popular. My art is my form of self-expression and the impulse and
inspiration comes from deep inside me. It is completely authentic to me. My art is emotional, often intense and powerful, and I want it to engage people, to cause them to feel emotion in response to the work.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I would take them to a concert at the Walt Disney Hall. The seating is great, the acoustics are wonderful and the music is wonderful.

I would also take them to the Huntington Library and Gardens in Pasadena. You can spend the whole day there. It is magically beautiful with a Japanese Garden, a Chinese Garden, an amazing Cactus Garden, and important documents and art on display in the Huntington Library.

I would take them to the Getty Museum in Brentwood for the fabulous art and the lovely gardens.

I’d take them driving around Beverly Hills to see all the beautiful houses.

I’d take them to Hermosa Beach to walk on the sand, walk on the boardwalk, see the pier, and just people watch.

For food, we would definitely go to The Inn of The Seventh Ray in Topanga Canyon, a magical fairyland outdoor patio with delicious food.

For more casual dining, we go to Mirabelle on Burbank Blvd and share small plates in their lovely French style outdoor patio.

For a great ice-cream treat, we would go to any of Salt and Straw ice cream stores for amazing ice cream in all sorts of unusual flavors, including one with goat cheese and olives–my favorite.

And to just hang out, we’d go to the Tap Room Bar at the Langham hotel for a cocktail in a great, soothing atmosphere.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Artist Ray Beldner: rbeldner@gmail.com

Nina Crowe, Executive Director of Glendale Arts and Ace/121 Gallery: ncrowe@glendalearats.org

Website: https://www.markmanart.com

Instagram: @lori.markman.fine.art

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lori-markman/

Other: To sign up for my once a month art newsletter, please go to my website and subscribe.

Image Credits
Artworks Fine Art Publishing