Author: David de Lara

model: Heather Renaud

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model: Porcelain

Fabulous & Rococo Bed by Fabulous & Baroque

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model: Porcelain

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“Present Tense”
digital photo manipulation
model: Heather Renaud

We come from the dark. One day we’ll fade back into it.

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model: Eva Strangelove

Belle de Fleur French Love Seat by Fabulous & Baroque

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model: Porcelain

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“Shouldn’t the long term goal of any society be complete unemployment?” – Doug Stanhope, American stand-up comedian

I’ve come to realize that I never really wanted to work for anybody. However, the difference between somebody that’s unemployed and myself is that I have talent and a set of skills where I create things I can sell to people.

When I was younger I had dreams of getting involved in industries like comics or videogames. In college I thought I could go into graphic design and the advertising business. Then my tastes changed or things didn’t work out and I fell onto the path I’m on. As I look back at what my options could be, I see that I really wouldn’t be doing what I wanted to. Yes, I would be doing art for a living, but I would be part of a team that’s creating a product.

What I really wanted to do with my life as an independent artist is not a “real job”. It puts me and others like me on the fringes of society (not to mention it makes family members wonder when we’re going to grow up and get real jobs). By fringes I mean we’re not part of the traditional pattern of: attend college, earn a degree, and get a job with a company. We’re the rebels that get to sleep in, stay out late, work when inspiration strikes, and don’t have to answer to anybody but ourselves (except maybe somebody else’s lawyer occasionally).

While being an independent artist offers the freedom of not being a slave to someone, it comes with the frightening possibility of not having steady income.

In an ideal society people would live their lives as they wished. Any skills and talents they possess could be shared with others because it’s what they’re passionate about. A doctor would still help the sick and an engineer would still design machinery. A writer would still write and a dancer would still perform. We don’t live in a utopia though and we have to deal with the reality that we need money to live. To get money we need jobs. I’m sure a doctor and an engineer have very good chances of getting jobs they were trained for. They offer desirable skills that benefit society and are deemed important. I doubt a writer and a dancer are thought of the same way. Their chances of getting a job that pays regularly and also uses their talents aren’t as good.

Anyway, enough of that tangent. Let’s get back to me… (aren’t I vain?)

I might make sound like I’ve never had a job. That’s not true. After college I worked in non-profit arts administration for over seven years and did some freelancing on the side. Freelancing was often frustrating due to clients and arts administration is a different kind of animal than being an artist. Neither was as satisfying as doing the work I wanted to do. However, I didn’t go into this “job” without the security of having money saved up. The cliché of the starving artist is true and there isn’t a lot of money in art. Anybody who is crazy enough to be an artist without a day job knows this. Still, we are passionate about our work and want to play an enriching role in society. Sometimes the best way to do that is without any restraints.

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I recently watched a documentary that follows 80-year-old New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham. It’s called Bill Cunningham New York. He photographs major fashion shows and many social events around the city, but he also takes pictures of people on the streets of Manhattan. He’s not like paparazzi that’s looking for celebrities though. He only wants to photograph people he thinks look interesting and fashionable. A few of the people he’s photographed walking around the city can almost be seen as larger than life characters going about their daily lives. They’re usually artists – people involved in creative fields like fashion.

This got me thinking about the artist as a character. I’m sure people other than myself like to think of any kind of creative person who lives and breathes their work as someone that isn’t like the rest of us. They follow their own rules and do what they want. It sets them apart and makes them unique and special. A few of the people in the documentary are almost a little too over the top, but they’re real and don’t give a second thought about how they present themselves. It’s who they are and they don’t need to apologize for it.

I don’t want to make it a secret that David de Lara isn’t my real name. De Lara used to be part of my family’s surname and I revived it for my professional name. I originally wanted to use it since it sounds good and also people can say it and spell it correctly (most of the time anyway. It’s a lowercase d and two words people). In a strange way it helped create an identity for myself as an artist that’s separate from my personal life. I’ve also been at it long enough that people see my name and think of my work, or they see something I created and they know it’s one of David de Lara’s. So it’s also become a brand name of sorts.

I know there are a few people who think they have an idea about how I live. By day I’m locked away in my studio creating lots of art or I have models over for wild photo shoots. By night I’m a decadent mad man who goes out on the town surrounded by many beautiful women and always has a rocks glass of whiskey in hand. I won’t deny that there have been more than a few days like that. Although, it’s fun how this characterization of myself happened based on the kind work I do and comments I post online. I’m not playing up a gimmick that hides behind the name David de Lara. I’m simply being myself and living life the way I want to.

Arts and entertainment are usually in the same section of the newspaper. I like to think artists, even those who aren’t performers, are entertainers. People see our work and enjoy what we do. Over the years, especially with the advent of things like Twitter, people can follow artists and not only see their latest work but get a sense of their personality. That helps create a character in people’s minds.

If anybody enjoys my art and also thinks I’m entertaining, it just means I’m doing my job well.

“Serialized Psychosis – Sonrisa”
oil, graphite & colored pencil on 16″x20″ gesso board

I teased people a little bit by posting the work in progress on my Facebook page and Twitter over the past couple of weeks. Now here is the finished artwork. This is the second piece in my Serialized Psychosis series. I’m not sure how many there will be, but I have at least two more planned.

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