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Are You a 'True' Artist?
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What is a 'True' Artist?
I like to think that artists are allowed to get a little wild and creative; introspective and melancholy. Wonderfully moody and crazy. Bizarre and romantic. Temperamental and rare...the kind that walk into a room and every man and woman cannot take there eyes off because there is the raw and powerful aura about us that makes them want to sweep us off our feet and take us away with them. (well, we actually are all of that, but we quite normal, too.) The reality is probably that we're probably just as neurotic as anyone else (oh horror! Such a thing to say!) or maybe worse....just as ordinary, except we have this desperate need to create, create and create and we just can't get away from it. It overpowers us and we must, must, must, MUST, create at all costs or we'll go nuts. We do this in secret, we do this at the expense of a clean house, we sacrifice balancing our checkbooks, we skip washing the dishes and forget the laundry and let the lawn mowing become such a chore (that even a John Deere and a Power Rake would say no to our lawn) for the sake of taking up a paint brush; yup, that's us :) |
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So how do you know if YOU'RE an artist? Contrary to what you've probably read, in my opinion, it's not what your thinking. It's not based on whether you've been published and are in print, whether you've been in shows, or even whether you've made an astonishing amount of money...although that would be rather nice, wouldn't it! But it's actually a matter of the heart. If you have a passion for something, a desire to create something, then you're an artist.
Maybe you've a yen to create your masterpiece from a lump of clay, a Pygmalion yearning to create his Galatea. Maybe you are just like my sister, taking bits and pieces of material, sewing them together and creating wonderful and complex pieces of color. I hate to sew but she amazes me with her dedication, determination and patience when she puts them together and she surprises me with how she loves to sew. She has a wonderful sense of design and color and can put combinations together that are quite creative. She sews delicate and time consuming Victorian dresses, as well, that would have me pulling my hair out. And they are lovely! That make her an artist.
My dad can take a photograph, look at it, cock his head, take mental measurements (this alone is amazing to me as I nearly flunked math in both high school and college!) and on that basis alone, create something that looks almost exactly like the photograph if not better. As a child in Germany, he was taught early that he was to have a trade, rather than here in America where we are geared toward careers and college. From very early on, he worked with his brain....and his hands. He created. He's been told by many people he's not really a craftsman, but ...and artist!
I bet you've been to a restaurant and have eaten some truly heavenly creations that have melted in your mouth. Bet you've gone home, tried to duplicate the same thing only to have Betty Crocker at your door to arrest you for bad taste and to require taste bud removal. And you were thinking that you were planning on becoming a chef, weren't you? Guess cooking wasn't you thing? Cooking might not be your thing, but the chef you owned the restaurant is, you guessed it....an artist! He knows what he's doing, he does is well and loves it with a passion.
All it takes is for you to find your passion in life, for you to follow it to the ends of the earth, for you to do it well, to love it well, do it to the best of your ability and to make your corner of your world the best it can be. Paint your world the rosiest color you can find. You ARE an artist :) Never let anyone tell you different.
Don't
ever tell yourself anything less.
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