My Art is Not A Hobby

An Online Group Exhibition

November 9-15, 2022

The Grey Space
331 P. Guevarra Street, Barangay Little Baguio
San Juan City, Philippines

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘐’𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.”

𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐘 is not a defensive statement to prove to anyone that the artists involved in the show want to announce to the world, “𝘏𝘦𝘺! 𝘐’𝘮 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦!” but instead, the statement, My Art is Not a Hobby in this sense is more of a sentiment to one’s self. This a principle to the artist who doubts him or herself, because frankly, that doubt never really goes away.

𝐌𝐘 𝐀𝐑𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐀 𝐇𝐎𝐁𝐁𝐘 is a creed of confidence, a persuasion to the mind to tell one’s self, “𝙄’𝙫𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙄’𝙢 𝙙𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.”

VISIT The Grey Space gallery to view the artworks online
https://www.facebook.com/THEGREYSPACE.PH
stay tuned from 𝙽𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝟿 𝚝𝚘 𝟷𝟻, 𝟸𝟶𝟸𝟸 to see new artworks updated daily by the 9 participating artists 😊

The artists in this online group show are composed of freelancers, full-time artists, call center agents, and the like. A mixture of insider and outsider art. Professors and graphic artists parallel one another. Raw talent or skills refined, the amalgamation of art styles suggests a waltz; every step is like tipping one’s toes to a different world. The only binding factor for all of them is the artists are true to themselves.

Their art is not a pastime, for each one of them stole some time from their work, family time, sleep, and health, just so that they can submit art that speaks out who they are. A little nook in the interwebs just to say, “𝙇𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙜𝙪𝙮𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙢, 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚!”

Participating artists:

Erika Abe
Nikka Arreola
Marius Black
Satan’s Carnival
ΤΗετ ΤΗετ
Pancho Karambola
Joemarie Lachica
Tad Pagaduan
Tissa Pagaduan

Some people when asked, “What do you do in your free time?” they answer, “My favorite hobby is painting.” Now, there are two ways to interpret this: First, the said person just really enjoys painting on a canvas in their spare time. Depicting some flowers on canvas, capturing in watercolors some still life, or spending some time on the paint-by-numbers coloring book which nobody really finishes. Though there’s nothing wrong with this when people take painting as a hobby, it can be therapeutic for some and can improve concentration for others. However, the second interpretation when someone says “I paint as a hobby” is simply because the artist is insecure about his or her work.

Defining one’s art as a hobby is a sign of a lack of confidence in one’s work. They may be a true artist at heart, possessing the right skills and talent when executing their work, but hearing about how fickle the art scene is, or being intimidated by a more talented or skilled and seasoned painter, the promising artist doubts themselves. Worst-case scenario, they think to themselves, “Why bother? No one buys my artwork anyways, and besides, no art gallery has said yes to me ever.” or “I could never beat that guy with how my art looks like.” The fact that they compare themselves with the work of others, rather than accepting their own way of doing their drawing or painting is a trap that has killed more young artist that is ever recorded.

And it is because they see themselves as a person who only can paint in their “free” time is where the problem lies. The fact that they treat their self-expression as a hobby to pass the time seems to be the doom of the blooming virtuoso. They don’t take it seriously, they don’t take the time to improve, and worse of all they give up too easily all because their definition of their gifts is miscategorized. And when they fail in their art career, they will eventually say, “Hey, it was just a hobby.” A ripcord they pull to form a parachute of their own bullshit to save themselves from the further humiliation of ever starting an art career. In the back of their minds, they silently remember hearing their parents saying… “Anak, walang pera sa fine arts.” and they nod in agreement.

The truth? The truth is, you will never find the time, but instead you must make the time to make your art if you are ever to succeed. The truth is, either you retreat or pursue art, it almost always ensues utter humiliation. There are no guarantees in life, but double that equation when it comes to one’s art career. The truth is, even seasoned artists are still bound to humiliate themselves with a painting he thinks is pure genius but no one really gets let alone looks at it in the gallery. The truth is even if you succeed in art, you’d still feel like a phony or a con artist, and even sometimes think to yourself, “THAT?? They bought that??”

With that said, now when you hear someone say, “My art is a hobby.” given the facts stated earlier, you’re inclined to think, “Oh so maybe he’s insecure about his art.” or “Maybe she’s not a real artist.” On the contrary, however, when you hear someone say, “My art is not a hobby.” You might think they are being defensive, and it’s true on most occasions because, on the other side of the spectrum, a lot of artists don’t want their art-making career to be seen as a passing interest, gone after a few failures and fuck ups in about a year or so.

MY ART IS NOT A HOBBY is not a defensive statement to prove to anyone that the artists involved in the show want to announce to the world, “Hey! I’m serious about my paintings, don’t ever tell me my art is a past time!” but instead, the statement, My Art is Not a Hobby in this sense is more of a sentiment to one’s self. This a principle to the artist who doubts him or herself, because frankly, that doubt never really goes away. My Art is Not A Hobby is a creed of confidence, a persuasion to the mind to tell one’s self, “I’ve got this, I’m not doing this to pass the time, I’m doing it because this is my time for myself.”

– Marius Black