|
What is an Artist?
Anyone who spends time pushing paint around with a
brush, is bound to hear some variant of the question, "Are you an artist?"
Call me a black-or-white thinker, but I truly believe that there are only two ways to respond:
Maybe it's all in my definition of the term. You see, I believe that an "artist" (in reference
to visual artists)is someone who practices his or her craft regularly. An artist is someone who feels compelled to make art.
Much to the concern and frustration of parents, spouses, children - artists will
invest time painting whether they get paid to do it, or not. They will create even when there is no one to appreciate the creation,
and quite often even when people around them are actively discouraging them from this unprofitable, impractical,
incomprehensible activity.
An artist knows that making art is like breathing, sleeping... hiccoughs. Inevitable. Uncontrollable. Sometimes even a trifle irritating.
The artists I know all seem to suffer a period of ... well, creative disgust. In some manner, they throw their
palette in the trash and stuff the tubes of paint, brushes and various paraphenalia of their work into storage,
and (usually loudly and frequently) tell friends, family, agents and clients that they're giving up.
When someone tells me this, I chuckle and tell them heartily, "Good!"
Yes, I am sometimes accused of being mean.
In this case, there's no reason for sentimental assurances that just a little more effort will pay off (in whatever
terms this particular person wants and needs). There is no way for the truly disgusted artist to lose by walking away
from the easel. The way I figure it, anyone who really can walk away from painting, is better off. Now they
can get down to the business of learning how to do something that really makes them happy. On the other hand, they might also
discover that they cannot walk away. Days - Weeks - Years later, the supplies are excavated and work proceeds... like
breathing, or hiccoughs.
... and what the artist has learned is that painting is an end in itself. They begin to paint for the joy of it.
The anguish over the unsold canvases and unflattering reviews diminishes. The general sense of being unappreciated vanishes.
The hunger for fame, fortune, and possessions slips into perspective. Painting settles into the place it has
always held for the artist, a passion - one real enough to survive disappointments, hard work, and criticism from
others. This is the place of commitment. It is from here that an artist can respond with a quiet affirmative - without reserve
or artificial humility.
So give up. Throw it all away. Be disgusted. How else will you ever discover whether this is a fling, or the real thing?
Lifelong passion can survive a few spats and disruptions.
-Lindley-
 
|
