“Yes, this is the biggest problem. Boss Lady, I know a few students who studied under teachers of art associations or art colleges. I can reach out to them. As for the compensation, would you like to provide me with an idea of what you have in mind?”
Gu Shishi paused a little. “Art associations?”
She quietly pulled out her Ink Painting Guru cellphone from the drawer and glanced over at the top group in her WeChat with 99+ unread messages – Ink Painting Association.
She casually scrolled down a little and saw that the 30 or so old comrades were hedging their bets again.
All of them have to do with their gathering a week from now.
A few more stubborn ones almost got into a spat.
Gu Shishi blinked.
“Wait.
“Have you heard of Ink Painting Association?”
Xie Dingyi paused immediately. “Yes, I have heard of it. The president of Ink Painting Association in our city, also double as the vice president of the General Association of Fine Art, is also the Head of the Chinese Painting Department at Fine Art College of City Shen.”
He was very familiar with the fine art circle. He would not otherwise had been picked by Huo Sishen into the second round of interview.
Hearing what he had said, Gu Shishi couldn’t help but glanced over at her WeChat group again.
She poked at it and sent out a message.
[Ink Painting Guru: If I won at the gathering next week, can I ask for a good luck token gesture in return from you?]
A group with 99+ unread at all times always had someone lurking there.
Not to mention that most people there were retired elderlies who didn’t need to go to work.
Even if they have grandchildren to entertain them, their grandkids would be going to school on a weekend and this was the time that they were home alone with nobody to talk to.
Immediately a few of the surfaced and let out a cry.
[Lei: This is a ballsy newcomer alright.]
[Taishan: If you can crush our president, never mind about one token gesture, we can scrounge up ten for you!]
[Juntian: We have ourselves a ballsy one. @President]
[Grandpa Di: @Ink Painting Guru. What kind of token gesture are you looking for? Just say it.]
Everybody was open and cheerful.
There was never “the best” in literature.
And that was definitely the case with fine art.
Nobody in this group believed that others were better than them. The only purpose was to see who had better muses or ideas or were in better condition during these gatherings.
None of them would truly dare claim the title of being the best one of them all!
Even the competition was more something that they said for fun. They had, after all, knew each other for years and very well each other’s level and their schools they were from.
Now when a newcomer was being braggy, these old folks couldn’t sit still anymore!
All of a sudden, all of the starting rubbing their fists and hands together, they had all been stoked!
[Huang Chuan: What is it that you are looking for? We are open for discussion.]
Even the head of the organization had spoken up.
Gu Shishi’s eyes beamed. [Oh, no rush. I will share when I win.]
[Grandpa Di: Wow, she is teasing us now!]
[Juntian: Make sense. If s/he can’t win, it’s all moot. Show us your best, newbie. Let me see what you got!]
Gu Shishi posted an exploding_little_universe.JPG immediately and quickly closed out of the chat window.
“Manager Xie, you can reach out to your friends first and see how that goes. As for compensation, I don’t have previous experience in this area. Do you have any suggestions?”
She truly had no idea.
A true guru could not be hired no matter how much one offered. And if the amount was set too high, the art studio might never break even and ended up hurting its bottom line.
“Depends on the individual. If they are master-level disciples and had already debuted and were well-known on their own, then each session should at least be in the 1,000 yuan range.
“If they are just nominal and don’t actually teach any classes, then 300,000 to 800,000 yuan a year should be sufficient.”
Xie Dingyi couldn’t say for sure either.
When Gu Shishi heard that, she felt that they were just burning through money!
She might as well become a guru herself, have herself a few disciples, so they could be the nominal artists of the art studio.
Why let the income go to outsiders!
