Many *artists are affected with a whirling vortex of an idea or ideas cramming their cranium – an idea or ideas so intense they spend hours finding ways of creating new techniques to bring that whirl to a manageable hum and create their vision. During trial and error…….mistakes and do-overs…….sleepless nights and long days they put their very heart and soul in to bringing it all to life. Bringing that image, that seed that grew to a large tangled root in to the light with a sense of self satisfaction, pride and yes, euphoria. What can happen with this idea is that it can take on a life beyond the artist’s original whirl… a life with more stories to be told, more scenarios to unfold, more moods, more colors. The artist begins to show their work and people who see it respond to it because not only are the techniques they devised so completely original but the work speaks to an array of people on various levels of emotion. People want to own a piece,…..it soon becomes an identifiable signature for this artist that is easily recognized as such no matter where it’s viewed. In the blogging world this artist may not even sell the art they show but since it’s a vast open medium many people eventually find it and react….or the artist is VERY prolific not only in selling their work but in publications, teaching classes, offering tutorials or workshops outside of their blog. Whatever the circumstances are, they and their work are visible.
As artists we strive to have our own individual and authentic voice. We strive to be unique unto ourselves and those around us, to create things in such a way that puts a mark on our work making it our own identifiable signature. Every artist is inspired by something.....we search, we see, we absorb, we jot down a note, we marinate in it, we look up, we look down, we look all around. It can come from a movie, a piece of music, a lyric, a poem, a feeling….an emotion……a look back at childhood, architecture, nature….on and on. Inspiration can come from so many sources.
Sometimes inspiration comes from another artist or artists. Someone may be inspired by the work they saw on a blog, in a gallery, in a magazine and so on. One artist may take another artists workshop, class or tutorial…..they may see them describe a certain technique in a publication or on line that inspires them. One definition for inspiration is: “stimulation for the human mind to creative thought or to the making of art”. We all find ourselves at one time or another inspired by anothers work but inspirtaion does not give anyone license to immitate.
Art should be created with your own authentic voice, artistic passion and original thought that comes together to form a piece of art. It could be "inspired by"what they've seen others do BUT.... the end result should be from their own innate ability to bring together various elements to form a finished piece of their own. Even learned technique should have a completely new spin put on it to make it solely their own.
Then there is the artist who may have the ability to be original but they don't know how to use it. Because they so love what someone else has done it's all they see in their minds eye. They may look around for inspiration, yes, but it is at the expense of another’s work. If available they may even take classes, workshops, tutorials with this admired artist. SADLY over time they begin to cross the line between inspiration and immitation adopting not only the technique but the artist’s entire style. It may be consciously or unconsciously done but the result is a reasonable facsimile of that artists original work. To wit, they copy! Oh it may have a change of color in some places or some new material BUT the overall.....full on......composed and devised work...is clearly anothers. When this artist begins to showcase their unoriginal work and further begins to sell it this, to me, becomes a complete breach of artisitic ethics.
This is why it is essential, imperative, important and crucial that everyone digs deep within themselves for that authentic artistic voice - that we all pay attention to what is inspiring us - is it our own voice we hear or someone elses? It's not the subject matter I am speaking of or even the elements used to create a piece of art....it's making sure that in the final analysis our work is the true and original OVERALL vision that came from inside. Don't worry about the person next to you (so to speak) and what they are doing.....don't contrast and compare yourself to anyone.....don't measure your success or wanting of success by anothers. It's inside you.....it's inside all of us. Everyone wants to learn.....we continue to learn all our lives....but you wouldn't take a poetry class and then completely rewrite a poem used as example and call it yours. Would you?
Pay close attention to that line my friends because in an instant that line between inspiration and immitation can be blurred and when it is there is no such thing as "original" thought anymore. Don't let your zealous quest in seeking authenticity find you lip syncing to anothers original voice.
I know I am on my soapbox here but this all correlates to what I thought about when forming next years event Our World Our Art. I don't profess to be an expert or some know-it-all mouthpiece...I just believe in keeping it real and from the heart.
Love,
Lisa
XOXO
*P. S. Please don't get hung up on the word "artist".....it's a label that covers a broad spectrum of skills that allows one to create in many different fields and with many different mediums.
