Amazing how Tracey Emin has no talent and skill but Old Wendy has to come onto the net to blow her own trumpet eh. Me thinks that if you were actually half as good as you think you are you wouldnt have time to spend posting so much crap about artists who have actually forged out a succssesful career for themselves.

Im no longer on TAW as ive gone elsewhere where artists are actually critical and honest about my work which helps me improve you see. Thats not the case if people are saying your work is good when its utter tripe. You had some negative criticism from another poster and you didnt like it at all, if thats the case then i doubt your portraights will improve at all because you will be deluded into thinking that what you are doing is correct when what you should be doing is putting the paint brush down and getting a pad and pencil and draw draw draw draw draw...... but weve been there havent we. no offence intended wendy, im sure your a lovely person.

Am i a great artist? No I am not, but i am honest enough to realise when something i do is crap.

I rather admire Tracy Emin

I don't know why you are so hung up on my portraits?You at least should spell it properly.I do them for pleasure and practice.
I don't think I am so great,but I am not going to put myself down all the time.

I am happy with what I do and so are my buyers,you though are rude and offensive and a Bully toboot.

Just because I don't agree with you you turn nasty,I now know for definite it was you that sent me those emails.You are one sad individual and only rear your ugly head to cause trouble.

Emails?????? What on earth are you on about? I was responding to someone who said your portraits were bad. I never sent you any emails and besides, cant you see who sent an email to you?????? I really havent the time to be sending you abusive emails and you accusing me of doing so is a bit sad.

As for me being a bully, if you have the stupidity to slag Tracey Emini off and say she has no talent or skill whilst producing portraits that wouldnt look out of place in a primary school im afraid you leave yourself wide open to criticism.

No They are not that great but they are not that awful either.

What I do object to is your rudeness noone brought up those bloody portraits but you.

When I see a piece of sheet with words daubed on it any old how and it is called art, I like many others just see red.That is my crib with emins work.

I don't profess to be someone I am not, as you seem to.

We are entitled to our opinions if you don't like my work don't look at it.

So just get off my case

To Tracey Emin her work IS art.Where is the rule that art has to be a painting??????? can it not just be thought provoking? Do you know anything about her life? her upbringing? Just because you dont get it or like it doesnt mean she has no talent or no skill. Im afraid youve made a rod for your own back. You are such a hypocrite Wendy.

and as for your portraits, someone else first mentioned about them ages ago and i agreed with him. I was not the first nor only one to mention them.

"I don't profess to be someone I am not, as you seem to." And who exactly do i profess to be????

The fact is Wendy that you can dish out crticism but you cant take it.

Stones and glass houses..........

I have taken on board your crit about my portraits,I had never claimed they were anthing other than what they are.If you continue to carry on like this people will be frightened to post their work on the forum so give it some thought?
I will not be put off by someone like you,I have come accross your type before, you have not joined in any other topic other than this and one ages ago, again when you were out to cause trouble,
I only know what I have read about Tracy Emins life,What the heck difference does it make one way or the other.

This is the last posting I am going to make on this subject as it is becoming childish and tedious.

So do i. shes not had an easy life at all and for me her expression of her past is art.

blaa blaaa blaaa....

Ye Gods! Talk about pot and Kettle!!I have just googled your work and your selfportrait is definitely out of nursery class,and you have the gaul to dish out such crit on mine,I thought I was seeing things.So Now I will definitely take absolutely no notice of what you have said.
it's no wonder you slinked off the Artist web.I would have had I been in your shoes.

This is actually pathetic

"When I see a piece of sheet with words daubed on it any old how and it is called art, I like many others just see red."
I take it you won't be going to the Cy Twombley show at Tata Modern Wendy?

Yes it is. I apologise,I shoud not have taken the bait.

Hmmm, my first ever 'half finished' portrait eh. You may notice that its not even remotley finished which is because i stopped and decided i needed to be able to learn to draw my face better first as i need to understand the structure, composition and shading much better. And i certainly wouldnt inflict them upon someone as a present!
But yet again wendy, you are taking crticism all to personally, The other poster and myself werent suggesting you do anything that we havent done ourselves.(learn to draw the face properly before painting)
Unfortunatley i suspect your aggressive defensive attitude to criticism and branding of other artists as talentless and having no skill is more to do with your own lack of success and recognition than it is to do with people 'having a go at you'.
You think my half finished portait sucks? great, good for you. After i learn to draw myself better im sure ill be satisfied with how i can portray it in paint.
love and kisses. Earl xx

Yow. I have returned to scan these latest posts and my heart is beating fast. The research links I posted were rapidly sourced as an invitation to look and be able to speak from a more informed perspective. The latter research string is not particularly well chosen but a taster of the art establishment's power through representation and language.
Emin's work/installations reveal real life on the streets for disadvantaged young women through self-disclosure. I am still working with young people who face these issues daily. In this sense, Emin's work very relevent. Others have done it before and some have done it better. Often it does not get beyond a graduate show. The point is that the issues Emin highlights, and herself as working class and female, has finally been embraced by the elite, male dominated intellectual community. Though my guess is they are not strangers to such issues/experiences but have the support systems and certain other advantages to aid recovery and opportunity.

As to whether I like Emin's work, in relation to content and context, the jury's still out. And commodification of the self is hotly contested by many anti-Eminists. The future will tell as to whether it makes a difference outside the art world. The difference it makes within it got us all buzzing as intended. I feel this debate is all the more contentious because most of us are prefer the experience of making forms rather than statements. Emin's work is a staged collection of disturbing insights backed up by a powerful community of language.
I came accross this by Louise Bourgeois
. "....I am suspicious of words. They do not interest me they do not satisfy me...I am a very concrete woman. The forms are everything" (quoted in an article discussing potential benefits of attaching words to tactile art practice by Babette Martini, BANNA July, 2008 Newsletter)
I have enjoyed the debate (but not the personal comments - ouch) it made me pick up the threads of research again. So thanks for that Dennis!