05 Becoming a Wealthy Traditional Artist - Basic Knowledge in Our Field

Artists or Ceramic Artists should owe Basic Knowledge in their field. The Exploration and elaboration of the basic skill would make the artist special...
I think I have to write about it since in this information era, somebody could get a benefit from a field which he/she didn't master it well. Without strong basic knowledge, I agree that somebody might be able to make profit from certain field. But, just like a building without a strong foundation, it could be collapsed at any time.
As a ceramic artist, we should know the origin of ceramic, basic skill to shape ceramic, philosophy of ceramic, etc. It might take years to learn, but I'm sure that different learning method would create different result. No wasting time in learning.

04 Becoming a Wealthy Traditional Artist - Vision and Action

You might hear before. Vision and Action. Both of those terms should run together. In art, making creation without vision would be messy. In the contrary, vision without any action would be a daydreaming. Nothing happened. So, to be successful ceramic artist, you have to apply both, vision and action. I would give a description about applying both terms.
1. Vision
In making artwork, the most difficult part for me was finding the clear vision about what kind of artwork I would make. Here I considered all aspect, starting from theme, material, and process. When I got idea about making certain artwork, I kept it in my mind, I considered all things related to the idea. Just say I want to make a ceramic statue. I would imagine the philosophy behind the statue, how I express the philosophy into the statue’s form. I imagined how the looks, expression, signs in the statue that could represent the philosophy, etc. Then I tried to build the statue in my imagination. What material it would be formed, how it would be seemed, how the process to make it come true. I imagined it so strong so that I felt that I could touch the artwork, felt it textures, smell it, and watched the color very clear. This is really important process. It’s true that some people said that everything was created twice – once in mind and second in reality. When I found the clear vision about the artwork I would be made, I started to take action.

02 Becoming a Wealthy Traditional Artist - Be Rich in Idea

Be Rich in Idea and You'd be Rich. Almost all pioneers, whether in science, business, or art focused on the importance of idea. It means that we have to be creative. Making something new or making something different could attract people's attention.Idea brought us to the new level of understanding and chance, especially in art, where everything came in mind first before it became an artwork or art performance.But how could we be rich in idea?...

I would take an example from my dimension, Ceramic art. In finding idea, I did these steps, and I hope these steps could also help you in finding new ideas, in any art application.
1. paying attention to the environment around you
The best idea source is the environment around you. If you don't mind to stop for a while, pay attention to the environment around.

01 Becoming a Wealthy Traditional Artist - Basic Capital of Traditional Artist – Heart, Brain, and Skill

To be great successful traditional artist, we should owe certain basic capital. They are mental attitudes that guide us to success. Our basic competences that would support us as traditional artist which made us special, different from the others.

The basic capital of traditional artist are:
1. Heart
Art is close related with heart. Our heart should have sense of art. We feel something beautiful, aesthetic, comfort, and excellent by heart. That’s why heart and sense are important for an artist. We feel our emotion and the art’s emotion into one harmony with heart. Heart made us possible to feel the greatness or luxury of an artwork or art perform.
2. Brain
Brain is the leader of the action. The creator of behavior we need to make an artwork. Brain lead us to make a logic and reasonable actions related with art, so that we could create an art with certain precision, shape, and expression.

00 Becoming a Wealthy Traditional Artist - Preface

One of my biggest desires is to share my knowledge about how to get wealth in traditional art. From what I’ve seen, at least in my own country, Indonesia, traditional artists were a group of people who truly care about Indonesia’s original arts. They were lack of attention and admiration, lived in poor condition, battle to survive, and what they thought only how to maintain the traditional art from the ancient ancestors.

I want to stand and fight the condition!
I want to prove that we don’t have to be poor artist. We could have a better condition. We could be rich in the same time we maintained and developed traditional art. What the benefits we got if we become a wealthy traditional artist?