Last week I posted about not letting blogging comments define your self worth. I am not done with blogging subject …..in a manner of speaking. I’ve thought about this for awhile now…… being an artist blogger. By simple definition an artist is a person who creates art but certainly there are various more complicated or at least more meanings than that depending on the dictionary or person who is defining it.
Some may argue that unless you are a painter and paint like the masters you aren’t really an artist. Some may argue that any creative endeavor, regardless of medium, makes a person an artist. Some may argue unless you’re “exposure is vast” you can’t call yourself an artist.
Have you ever met someone and they ask that inevitable question? (You know, the one ALL Americans feel necessary to ask) “So, what do you do?” Hmm. What do I do? For me it took a really long time to answer with conviction, “I am an artist”. This is usually followed by a barrage of questions “So what kind of art do you do? Are you in any galleries? Do you sell your work? Do you have a website? And so on.
I would admittedly stand stupefied for a moment………in my head I’m thinking I don’t have any work in a gallery…….at that time I didn’t have an online shop and early on no blog, thus no website of any kind. It would give me pause and a bit of trepidation to continue the conversation because clearly WHY was I saying I was an artist?
WHY was I allowing this stranger to give me a nanosecond pause? I truly don’t care because my lot in life is not to convince other people what my passion is. I KNOW what my hearts delight is and so should you!
The thing is we(humans) tend to get our self esteem through the mirror of another persons eyes. We sometimes wait for a certain reaction that will either put a bounce in our step or cause us to recoil in defeat. And that brings me to blogging………. we blog hop now…….we see another blogger mentioned on a site, we click………we look…….we compare. We look at artists people list on their blog rolls as artists…..we click, we look, we compare. Now admit it………you’ve done this haven’t you? Maybe not all the time but you find yourself thinking “dang, that person is amazing” and you go back to something you were working on and wonder “eeww, this doesn’t come close to what that person did”. AND oftentimes the comparison is made more acute because that person has been in magazines and/or wrote a book and/or taught a workshop or class. So of course since you haven’t done any of those things you make yourself feel inferior. Why?
Do you know how many undiscovered artists are out there? Some who could easily knock the socks off anyone who sees their work……yet they are obscure, hidden almost and no one sees their beauty. THIS can come from someone comparing their work to others and immediately feeling ye old inferiority show its ugly head so they stay in the shadows. Not all of course, but you get what I’m saying.
This contrast and compare thing is not healthy in any aspect of our lives. There are times it may make a person work harder, it may spur them on to achieve more and get out there…..but that is actually what we all should be doing. Don’t let yourself look at another’s work and STOP what you’re doing because YOU don’t think you will ever be good enough to achieve something. Again, WHO SAYS? Ok, maybe it doesn’t happen for everyone. Not everyone gets notoriety and exposure….not everyone’s work will be that of awe and wonder. But to let it stop you from doing something you TRULY love is a crime. Art has so many forms….and MANY people are out there doing it and further they are doing it because oh how they love it. The bonus comes in the form of someone actually wanting to buy that work or showcase that work.
When you are working in your art space….be it an entire
studio or a corner of the kitchen and you are in bliss as your hands create
whatever your medium is…….do you sit and think to yourself “I am so loving this”
or “I am so proud of this”? OR do you wonder “will this sell?” You know history is littered with great
artists who never sold a thing until either much later in their lives or after
they left this earth. Of course I am not
advocating that what you do won’t have worth until you’re gone……certainly not.
What I am saying here is DO IT BECAUSE YOU LOVE IT first and foremost. Don’t
let yourself create to the masses….don’t do what you think others may want….it’s
imperative your voice is loud and clear in whatever it is you’re doing. Work
with and through your authentic artistic voice and vision.
It’s sad to think how many truly talented people there are in the blog world who don’t even realize it. And they don’t because they are too busy looking over the shoulders of other bloggers thinking “I’ll never be that good”.
WHO SAYS?
Don’t worry what the other person is doing……keep your eyes on your own paper if it's going to make you feel anything but inspired! Inspiration is a good thing.........envy, the green eyed monster, self doubt is not.
The basis for this discourse today is again, all about self worth and self esteem as an artist blogger. I know there are plenty of self help books out there where people have written about this I’m sure. It’s not a new subject. BUT again, with the advent of blogging……….more prolific art publications…….more and more workshop venues…………and other means of exposure…. it’s hard not to know what others are doing and accomplishing and not want it for yourself. Want it but don't base your entire artistic life on it either. Don't sabotage yourself my wonderful, artistic, talented and beloved friends....let your creative light shine....bright!
There is one more thing…..I know this is long and if you’re hanging in there with me I am so grateful. OFTEN times you may be in your work space with ideas swirling in your head…….you may make prelim sketches and work out the details. Perhaps the subject is a circus act you’re either going to paint or maybe do an art doll.
THEN you see it…..on another’s blog someone is showing a circus act! You think to yourself “well there goes that, they already did it?” and you scrap what you felt was going to be fantastic. WHY???????? Do you know how many subject matters there are in this world of imagination? And further do you know how many people may be interested or fascinated by the same subject? That person doesn’t OWN the circus act theme, right? YOU can put your own spin, your own vision, your own style on it and at the end of the day you both may have used the subject but the outcomes are entirely different. (think birds, nests, crowns, pointed hats, vintage photos, castles, gypsies) I hear about this all the time. The list is endless of how many people gravitate to the same theme. So what?
Subject matter is one thing.........trying to recreate another's vision is something else. Go for whatever you want my friends..........just be YOU at the end of the day!
In conclusion my message is to let you know not to talk down your own visions...... create from the heart, the passion of it and do not compare yourself or your work to anyone!!! Make your artistic statements genuine to YOU. Don’t take a class off line or on line and think you have to produce the exact same thing. Actually it’s better that you don’t. Learn new technique, learn working with other mediums but in the end make it YOU! Don’t fear that your subject matter has been done before…….it hasn’t been done by YOU before so it’s different right there. And ABOVE ALL ELSE…….don’t let what others do or show on their blogs inhibit your creative expression……please, please, please. Individual creative expression is essential to being an artist………who wants to be a clone?. Nurture yourself, let yourself grow as you let the seeds in your artistic heart flourish in to something fantastic!
I am no philosopher, psychologist or know-it-all.......I merely am thinking out loud here and hopefully in doing so maybe one person will feel better or different.
Now go out and create something supercalifragilisticexpialidocious – something that is uniquely…..YOU!
Much Love,
Lisa
XOXOXOXO
Have a spectacular weekend!!!
P.S. If YOU have something on your mind....if you agree or disagree....I'd love to hear it! We all have the right to free thinking!
