I have been an artist for the last twenty years. Although, it’s not what pays my bills, it’s what feeds my soul. Over the years I have been challenged by many people’s concepts of what an artist is and the value of the creative process. Unfortunately, a bright yellow post-it is often stuck on as a personal judgment.
Is this really a constructive use of an individual’s time and energy?
Is there merit in what I do as an artist?
I think for the average individual, art is often seen as a “thing” you do after you get home from work or when there’s nothing else to do because they’re bored. His understanding is that art is play and not really work and therefore is perceived as not that important. I am always asked why I value my artwork the way I do. Most don’t understand that a painting can take months to finish. How much do you get paid for a month of work? Should I ask less for my work?
People don’t understand that the work of art is often more difficult to conceive than what is expected in the common workplace. This is because art is often an immediate extension of the creator. It has the ability to build one and the potential to tear you into little pieces. As one begins to explore the creative process of art and how they relate to it, the art has the potential to become greater than the artist.
In the workplace, one is often content to do the bare minimum to get the instant gratification of a goal achieved and then quickly move on to the next project. The artist often has different expectations of her work than the average 9 to 5 employee. The process is different and the stakes are higher.
Art asks you to explore deeper, look within yourself and experience how it makes you feel. Does it make you happy, sad, angry, vulnerable, maybe even a little bit of all of these? Making art for me is a modality to express the thoughts and ideas that are going around in my mind that I have no words to express. Words seem to have limits to me where color and shape are limitless. This is the only way I know of to free them from my mind.
Art is magical to me because it’s a different process each time and each little step brings you closer to the completion of the finished piece. Without all these little leaps of faith, art could not exist. The final product is unknown to the artist until the very end and woven within that is the magic of the creative process. It is this artistic process that everything is formed, without the creative life force there would be nothing.
Be true to yourself and remember that no matter what categorization we adopt, artists or not, we are all creative beings and possess value.