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Newsletter #1
Greetings friends, family, colleagues, artists, patrons and random associates!
Welcome to Newsletter #1! I’ve got some exciting updates to share and some reflections that may or may not relate to my art practice.
BREAKING NEWS:
I have resigned from my position as Exhibitions Manager at Tauranga Art Gallery.
This is a decision I have thought long and hard about as I have often described this as the best job I’ve ever had. Which is true, although some moments were very difficult. I have had some amazing experiences with the best colleagues and worked with some incredible artists. Although I was never the curator, I was able to suggest and program some great new and local artists who thoroughly deserved a place at the Gallery. It has been a real pleasure to serve artists and help them bring their ideas to life in a nationally respected space. It was the first time I had a job that felt like a career and gave me a huge sense of pride to be an integral part of an art community. November 26 will be my last day.
WHY LEAVE A DREAM JOB?
I saw a video by Elizabeth Gilbert that explained the difference between Hobby, Job, Career and Vocation. I think it was Kalou https://www.instagram.com/rollingaskalou who shared it. Please watch it! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0g7ARarFNnw
This was a liberating revelation as I have often felt foolish for not picking a stable trade, career or business path and building it to a point of flourishing wealth and stability.
My vocation is art, I didn’t go to art school to be a picture hanger…
But bills need to be paid! Food, shelter, utilities, clothing, transport require money. More and more every year. So, painting has been bubbling away in a suppressed capacity in the few scraps of spare time available. I figured maybe if I stayed super healthy I could have 20 years of painting when I retire…
My Father Jack Moyle died on April 17 this year after a brutal battle with cancer. 9 days before his 67th birthday. Although he was able to tick off a good number of bucket list things there was always the sense that he would be dead before he was finished. I was shocked at how his death hit me. The months following his death were some of the darkest I have experienced.
I was overwhelmed by hopeless, worthless despair. Big, heavy questions rattled me: What have I done? Where am I going? It was a mid-life crisis complete with depression and mental distress.
During a difficult period in 2020 I wrote out some goals. Someday, 10 year, 5 year, 1 year, and 6 month goals. It was difficult to face the reality of where I wanted to be and the courage it would need to do it. I realized trying to stay healthy and sane while prioritizing family and working 40 hours was preventing me from doing what I MUST do. Words like destiny, calling, obedience, kept prodding me. Art ideas continued to pile up in my head and despite the ridiculous odds of it not working out, here I go…
Possibilities are easy to talk about, but talk is cheap. I don’t know what I’m doing, and I’ll fail many times, but I’m doing it anyway.
WHAT NEXT?
By the end of November I will not have a permanent job. This is terrifying, exhilarating and a whole new paradigm. I will be a self-employed artist as well as exploring a range of income streams and part-time jobs. I have some ideas for new bodies of work that need developing. I have a nice big commission painting to get stuck into and there are a few more that are bubbling away in the soup of possibility. I’m hoping to help other galleries and museums as a casual installer and do some domestic art installation as well. If you have any part-time work you think I’m suited to, lets talk.
There is also sign painting. This was a teenage dream that became a hobby which has developed into a side-hustle. Commercial signs are great, but I’m developing some ideas for lettering art that could be a better use of those skills. Watch this space…
I’m not sure if I’m open to art commissions. I’m scared people will ask me to do pet portraits or more Mt Maunganui paintings. It’s hard to explain but I’m not an illustrator of other people’s ideas. It needs to have a conceptual link to my practice otherwise it won’t be part of my body of work and won’t have value, and may not be signed… But, if you have seen something in my practice that you like and want something similar, I’m interested. But I might say no.
EXHIBITION ON NOW!
TAG Team group exhibition is on at Gallery Te Puna until 21 November.
https://gallerytepuna.com
TAG team is a group of artists that work at Tauranga Art Gallery. We see, handle, administrate, teach and talk about art every day at work and when we can, we make our own.
Our practices are wide and varied so this group show is as much about random selection as it is about a community of combined effort.
Huge thanks to https://www.lynettefisherart.com for buying one of my works!
NEW WEBSITE COMING SOON!
Chris and the team at https://www.cgdesign.co.nz are building me a fancy new website with integrated ecommerce and CRM. Hopefully Newsletter #2 will come from that platform and you will have the opportunity to share or unsubscribe. The website will have a gallery of my art, lettering, and a shop page for you to directly purchase original works and limited edition prints. In the mean time, keep an eye on my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/duanemoyle/
NEW PHONE NUMBER!
021 268 2316 change it now. Call me sometime!
All living creatures are dependent on topsoil, which comes from compost – decomposing organic matter. Life grows out of death. Strength emerges from suffering.
Future newsletters will be shorter I promise.
Quote for the day:
The sun WILL shine again
Love, Duane
