On Being an Artist

Mar 29, 2021

OK, I am an artist. There, I said it. A lot of people don’t like to come out and say they are an artist. This is often because they hold the status of artist in high regard and don’t believe themselves worthy of that designation or feel they can’t reach those lofty heights of artistic genius. Maybe they can’t. Maybe they are something else and they are just being honest, who knows? But being an artist is not necessarily some ideal that you must live up to and who can say what ideals one must match up to in order to be an artist?

I don’t believe in that way of thinking. Virtually everyone has the potential to be an artist or develop an artistic skill and you don’t have to be a professional artist to practice art. I would suggest that if you are interested in art, if you love to make stuff or paint or write poetry or write songs or play an instrument, etc. and so on, then you are in the neighborhood of being an artist.

The thing about being an artist is really about developing a relationship with self expression and getting comfortable with using whatever materials or tools you need to express yourself. Art is a relationship with your inner feelings and developing your intuitive thinking. You don’t have to draw like the Old Masters, you don’t have to paint the Mona Lisa, Leonardo already did it. You don’t have to be a concert pianist, you don’t have to be a poet laureate. Mostly you just have to be having fun and love doing it. You really just need to be willing to follow your interests and see where things go. Being comfortable at doing something is really just a matter of spending the time doing it.

Once you get comfortable making things and accept that it is OK for you to spend some of your time on a regular basis to pursue you curiosity and creativity, soon you will realize that: ‘Yes! I like this, I like seeing what’s going to happen! I like some of the results I am getting from my time spent.’ Then you will be inclined to dedicate more time and attention to your artistic pursuits. And that’s OK! That’s a good thing. Let your artistic interests be a part of your daily life.

Some of my collages at Sears Peyton Gallery in New York

Art seems really complicated and mysterious. It is! That’s what makes it engaging. But really if you break it down, art is made from one simple thing connected to another simple thing and then to another until something amazing might happen.

It is all one step at a time. Learning is one step at a time, clarifying your interests is one step at a time. Making art is one step at a time. You can only get to the end from the beginning. At each step you are making little decisions, coming to small conclusions, noticing certain things that feel right and other things that don’t quite satisfy.

If you keep going you will work through certain failures and successes and each of these inform your forward movement and define a possible path. And then, all of the sudden, you are an artist or something close to it. And all along you are developing your own unique sensibility and appreciation of life and that is a valuable reward for your efforts even if you never feel the need to work at it full time.

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