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Sunday, March 15, 2015

On the grit you need to be an artist


"You may not know this, but in terms of artistic endeavors or craftsmanship, people don't really think all that highly of shirt-makers. Not everybody, but when you're out there selling shit, people kinda talk down to you like "oh shirts, how cute" and sort of talk about how screen printing is this thing they could do some afternoon if they felt like bothering.

"And it's like, sure; screenprinting isn't heart surgery, and there are a million easier ways to get a shirt made these days than opening up shop; so when people ask me about getting into making shirts it's like, Do you really want to make shirts? Do you believe in your clever idea enough to see it through to fruition, to tear up half your place and buy a bunch of nasty chemicals and expensive equipment, to research technique and learn through practice, trial and error; is your shirt design good enough to work all night printing them out, in every size and shape and color, just in case! And after ALL of that, can you handle folding up your heart and soul and laying it bare on a sheet-covered table, and stand there and smile while people saunter by, sometimes for hours with only a scattering of pauses, points, and maybe a polite chuckle? CAN you swallow back all of your pride and fury in place of a resolve; that against all odds, your own thoughts and ideas, the ones you loved so much as to create them from nothing, will resonate with another person, enough they want to pay you for the privilege of wearing it on their body?

"Motherfucker do you really want to make t-shirts??"

~Nick Min D'Jacquette

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