From the outside looking in, the life of an artist is easy. How difficult could it possibly be to draw, paint or sculpt for a living? Let Palm Harbor, FL based artist Laura Allen James tell it and you may be surprised to know that being an artist isn’t as laid back as it seems.

“Being a professional artist is so much more than producing work,” James said. “Artists must balance production of work and marketing the work.”

James has been working professionally as an artist for three years. She has been blessed to have her work presented in several galleries and she also works with interior designers on special projects. Though it seems that James has much going for herself, she acknowledges that it was very difficult to establish herself as a serious artist when she first began her career. She advises up and coming artists to “decide if you really want to commit yourself to the business end of the art world.  Get all the information you can about the art scene in your area and study up on marketing techniques.”

Although it is important to have a good understanding of the business side of art, let’s not forget that the main objective of an artist is to create. A typical work day for James includes sketching, painting, updating and maintaining her online presence, and researching galleries. She creates abstract and scenic images using acrylic paints which offer more flexibility than other paints.

“Abstract equals total freedom of expression,” she said. “It is a true creation of something out of nothing-no reference. Scenic pieces are just lovely to me.  I love catching a frozen moment and calling attention to the beauty all around us in our everyday lives.”

The beauty all around us also serves as inspiration. James is in awe of the sea. In addition to its beauty and fluidity, she appreciates its color, sound, power and mystery. Some would likely say the same of her work. As it is often said, there is power in words. Four of James’ pieces feature word art that is unlike any of her other work. The pieces, “Love Mercy”, “Speak Truth”, “Wisdom Speak”, and “Know Truth”delivers a message and features a layering technique that she had not used in her previous art.

Even as a successful artist, James knows the importance of continuously evolving. This can be achieved by seeking more education. Artists should attend local workshops and seminars and, as James recommends, join art associations and obtain a mentor. It is vital to have a mentor in any industry. The wealth of information that these individuals are able to share is invaluable.

Of course, the age old method of acquiring education is through schooling, but going this route may prove to be a little difficult. Schools are cutting fine arts programs daily due to budget cuts. This, despite the fact that it has been proven that fine arts education helps students improve in other subject areas such as math and English.

“I understand our economy is in dire straits and that cuts must be made somewhere but I think that removing the arts programs from school is not the wisest choice,” James said. “Learning about art is so much more than looking at the pictures. It is seeing the world from a new perspective, learning about other points of view and ways to communicate. Broadening your view of the world is a very good thing.”

James is represented by Gallery Woo and will be presenting at the Dunedin Fine Arts Center in St. Petersburg, FL in the near future. For more information on the artist and to view her art, visit ljamesart.com.

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A group of analysts from the three institutions responsible for granting the country with its next package of financial help, known as the troika, has arrived in Greece to inspect the progress in regards to the budget cuts schedule previously proposed.

If the government doesn’t carry out the timeline proposal agreed by both the government and the troika, it is very possible the latter will not give Greece a vital loan to allow the country to continue with its normal activity. Without that loan, the government will go bankrupt and, therefore, neither Greece’s bonds investors, civil servants, pensioners, and the like will not be paid on time.

For those reasons, the troika, a group comprised of experts from the International Monetary Fund, the European Commission, and the European Central Bank, started to examine the national accounts to verify that the schedule was being followed on September 28.

After September 2, they decided to leave Greece because the government was not applying the measures agreed upon by both parts, thereby putting Greek leaders under more pressure. One of the measures agreed upon was reducing the number of civil servants by 30 percent before 2015 with the immediate layoff of 30,000 employees out of 900,000 employees.

Other measures prescribed will reduce civil servants’ wages and salaries up to 25 percent and include compulsory retirements. These cuts will affect all public services from the health system to education and transportation. Those cuts have caused a deep sense of unease among the Greek population who decided to mobilize themselves to preserve whatever they could from public expenditure cuts.

For instance, the group had to change the place and hour for a meeting with the Transports Minister, Yannis Ragoussi, because some civil servants were protesting against mergers and acquisitions of public companies with private ones, which would result in a decrease in the number of employees by about 10 percent and the liberalization of truck and taxi driver licenses.

In Greece, an unusual day is one without demonstrations. A few days ago, a group of 250 retired soldiers took over some offices in the Ministry of Defense until the minister himself, Panos Beglitis, threatened to resort to the use of force to make them flee. Another example is the students’ strikes, which have taken over more than 400 schools and 100 faculties to protest against cuts in the education system.

All these tug of war games are creating a complicated situation in the country. On one side is the troika, always asking for more and more cuts and new measures to reduce public deficit. On the other side are civil servants who feel as if they are on the verge of being fired, and citizens who see more and more cuts day after day that are worsening the public system.

In between is a government with feet of clay, coping with ministers’ resignations every month, social strikes, and the pressure of the troika. The government is playing a dangerous game: promising a high performance to the troika that they know is impossible to carry out in real life and watching the time pass day after day without being able to find solutions to satisfy both sides.

 
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