Why It’s Important To Rotate Your Art

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When I was 19 years old I applied for a position as an art handler on a private yacht owned by a wealthy CEO of an insurance company.  Seriously, what could be more sweeter than traveling the world by sea and being in charge of when and where to hang the Picasso or the Warhol?

Ok, so I never got the job, but what I did gain was this idea that art can (and in my opinion) should be rotated.

Museums do it.  Galleries do it too.

So why not the Solera household as well?

As I shared with you on Friday, we just moved into a brand new apartment that is making me happier then a Popsicle.

We have fresh new paint on the walls, brand new carpeting, a gorgeous view, a bit more space, and an amazing studio that I’m still unpacking.  All this newness is just beckoning for new art on the walls as well.

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Though, I gotta be honest, the work isn’t that new.

These pieces I pulled out of the archives are old, trusty friends of mine, and boy is it wonderful to have their energy back in the open again.

And that’s what feels like is happening:  An opening.

When I say an opening what I really mean is my heart has become a lotus blossom, gently unfolding each day. (That’s ok.  You can call me cheesy.)

Though after I actually typed those two words: an opening, memories of so many great art openings came flooding back to me.  I even leaned back into my red chaise for awhile and reminisced.

Sure, I may never have gotten that art handling job on the yacht — but I did work for years as a gallery assistant at Spaces gallery in Cleveland and on-and-off again as an art handler at the Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland as well.

Because of those two jobs I was no stranger to art openings and I actually gained a very unique perspective on art because of them.  I had the honor of handling the work.  I got to slip on a pair of pristine cotton white gloves and hold the pieces up close.  Many times I got to work side-by-side with the artists and peek into their thought process behind each piece and even their total break-downs as their insecurities started to take over.

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Those art handling jobs paid no more then $6 or $7 an hour back then, but it was the education I was gaining on the creative process and the art world in general that I was most hungry for.

Still am actually.

Well, I no longer get wound up in who’s showing where and what sold for how much and to who. Those politics never resonated with me in the first place and so eventually I started looking for new ways of showing up as an artist.

But you see, that’s why it’s so important to rotate your art.  Those pieces sitting under your bed, in the back of your closet, or stuffed in some dusty old box signify a part of your journey.  They’re measurements of your creative process and are visual slices from your own precious life story.

Old art brings us a new perspective on who we are today and reminds us how far we’ve come.  As artists sometimes we can lose ourselves in the trenches of our own creative process that we begin to lose perspective.

I say lean on an old friend.  See what those old paintings might invoke in you.  Do they stir the energy of your heart again — then bring those babies out to breathe!!  Are there things you still refuse to look at?  Or maybe it’s time to simply let them go — they’ve run their course, and if so, check out what Hali Karla has been doing with some of her old paintings — brilliant!

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