The answer to this question, for me, has never been entirely clear. I made art as a child because I loved getting lost in my imagination. As I grew older, as fewer and fewer of my friends continued with art, I know I liked the attention. It made me feel different from everyone else. I felt valued which, when you are growing up, is especially important.
But as one matures and grows older these reasons become less sustaining. If you happen to find yourself still making art some 15-25 years later, eventually one does have to ask and ponder the simple question why?
The answer to this question seems to become more nuanced over time I still am not entirely sure why I love to make art, however it is becoming clearer the more art I make. So maybe this question is answered by the progression of one’s art making. Maybe, if we understood the “why” from the very beginning it would not be such a seductive inquiry.
It is difficult to always know our “why”. However, there are clues. Practically every decision in your art making is made by a simple yes or no. Often these are intuitive. A choice between a color, a shape or a direction in your art that can be made just on the basis perhaps of what feels right to you.
The sum total of all these yes’s, in the end, culminates with your finished artwork. It is also the reason that your artwork becomes more and more unique. The somewhat repeating pattern of yes’s and no’s is what gives artists that much sought after “style” or individual distinction.
As the work becomes more clarified, I believe the answer, the “why,” becomes clarified too. We just have to trust that even though the answer is not evident now, in time, by the making of our art, it will be.
What is your Why?
73 Comments
Hi! I’m
Nicholas Wilton
the founder of Art2Life.
With over 20 years experience as a working artist and educator, I’ve developed a systematic approach that brings authenticity, spontaneity and joy back into the creative process.
Join me and artists from all over the world in our Free Art2Life Artists Facebook Group or learn more here about Art2Life.
I’m still at the first stage you mentioned. I live getting lost in my own imagination. Later it’s nice when others like and buy it. But the best part us the Zen.
When I began to make art daily.. I had a world of my own making.I could be in love with color and form, to play and express whatever. It seems to me that if we have something that gives us joy and play, we are able to withstand so many parts of life we have no control over. I teach kids now that even with only a pencil scraps of paper, they are free.. to be themselves and to have joy or whatever emotions they have and be separate from whatever else may be happening. I guess the why for me is to have a world that is mine and what I do in that world changes but the joy is always there.
For me being creative is not a choice, it’s like breathing. If I go more than a few days without being creative I feel deprived, almost like I am gasping for air. Not much else equals it for me, apart from maybe visiting the sea.. there is something special about that.
I am certain of nothing but the holiness of the Heart’s affections and the truth of the imagination. John Keats
Why do I make art? It is because art makes ME:)
LOVED every word you wrote.
Great Answer Traci. Best yet.
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/4ffa9166e8a1b74e6a50ed51e6758657220a3ec0de06d2843bac1c72fa5cb7f7.jpg As I sit here reviewing a new licensing art deal your email arrived. A welcome distraction-thank you. I’ve been asking myself this question in trying to figure out why I’ve chosen to paint about the things that I do. It’s not a simple answer. But why paint? Why the continuous interest in putting images down on paper or canvas? I am very curious about how I have held on to certain shapes and lines among the vast options I could have selected I chose these simple few. I imbue some with sentimental values, others with a spiritual sense, and others a more surface idea of just because I just like it. I used to feel people around me thought my glass half full view of life was silly, unrealistic, and immature. Now it seems my use of symbols and iconic-like shapes cut through the clutter of complex imagery we find everywhere especially on the web. And people are responding with purchases and with comments like ‘I feel the joy’ or ‘it makes me happy’. At this time I’m confident to go with my gut and continue on this enjoyable path of making ‘my’ art.
I am in gratitude also for what you wrote. I think for me Art is Simply my LIFE in various aspects…..I am like others…I cannot go without it…and when I do….I find myself giving up other things just to get back to my studio. I cannot go far without art supplies…and find myself taking pad and pencil to offices while I wait. Art is my total sense of being….my eyes, my ears, my heart, my imagination and soul.
I look at the process of making art from the perspective of Nonduality, popularized these days by teachers such as Eckhart Tolle. The mind (ego) questions my decision to make art and is quick to pass negative judgement when it isn’t going well. When I’m in a creative flow, the art is driven by a nonjudgmental loving ‘awareness’. The same awareness we had as a child. Nature can be experienced this way too, from a position of separation (which makes it ok to destroy) or experienced in oneness/non-separation.
There is a freedom in expressing myself on the canvas that I’ve never experienced in my life.
I think my mum tidied away my toys too soon , so I always love to play. That is about as far as i have got. Also it doesn’t hurt anyone , and words and deeds can .I have a funny hunger when I see art I like….and gradually I listened to a special friend who convinced me that its for all comers.
As a child drawing birds, art was a way to show people what I saw and marveled at, it was a substitute for a language I hadn’t yet acquired. As I became a teenager, art became a way to reimagine a world that was often scary and confusing. And now, art is still all of those things, but overlayed with a sense of wonder and possibility that I find fascinating.
My breath caught as I read your headline! Yes! exactly! WHY? Well I could hardly wait to read more and find out your “why”. I think my why has many facets. Nature, and ability was the first. I think I was born observing and noticing on a level that people in my family did not. Then I learned that my father had this ability which was packed away during fighting two wars. As I joined college drawing class I met others, but realized our why was different. The older I get, the more I realize the other facets. Nurture- encouragement and education, and also recognition which was hard won in my family. There is no greater high for me than exhibition of the work, and no greater disorientation as the day after take down, or the fallow time, the doldrums between ideas. The older I get I also realize how lucky we are to have our vocation, our hobby, our talent, our interest with us at all times and we only need a stick and sand or a pencil and paper. We SEE the world around us and connections and colors and contrasts which other do not. I believe this is a genetic collection of abilities that has evolved as a survival tool for the group. We are the tool makers.
my teacher in kndergarten when I was 4 recognised the artist in me! I was the only one to draw a hand with five fingers – albeit stick fingers!
Hi Nicholas, this is my first visit to your blog. Thank you for the opportunity to share my experience with you and your admirers, among which I have been counting since this week.
I am a painter from Europe. Art is my way of truly being myself, to be impeccable and authentic.
When I paint I am the real, immaculate. When I paint https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/95f2da004690d3c206eef17851b12f55e9a9e69d935befb23866ae2f24d91616.jpg I feel myself, I feel my freedom in my whole being. Freedom, love and joy, the most special values of my life can live by painting. To paint is my freedom as a divine spirit in this world. I feel deep and obvious in connection with the Universe. I very clearly realize how divinity works through me, and I am a tool, a brush that plays childish and innocent with the colors on canvas or paper. I tell everyone that I encourage them to paint as canvas supports anything; She does not upset you, she does not hurt you, she accepts you and she loves you just as you are. So how do not you paint?
I have been asking this question for several months now — why keep doing it? It has finally come down to this: I can’t help it.
me neither – I’m compelled! Even before I finish a painting I’m already thinking of the next. I love walking in the countryside and I cannot help but get inspiration! I’m sort of retired so can do what I want – and sometimes I sell one or run a workshop – helps with the materials etc and adds a little to my pension – so why not make the most of it!
My ‘why’ when I think of it consciously always messes me up. I stress out because I can’t put words to it. I paint because I love to work with colors and make something I think it beautiful. And, I love the state of mind painting puts me in. 😉
I need the outlet for self expression. Why I need that would take a psychologist. But I can’t remove the aspect of making a living. If my paintings didn’t sell, I doubt I would have continued making them. There is a tremendous kick out of someone spending their hard earned money on something you alone have created. Awards or praise don’t come close. I make art because I can. Who wouldn’t?
For me, making are is just a natural response to being alive. Making art, and making all kinds of other things. I have never depended on my art to pay my bills, and even though I sell my work, the reason I keep at it is because on some level it is just a sublime endeavor. The older I get, the more important that component becomes. Challenging and exhilarating.
So true Rachel, i love that i engage in such a sublime endeavor.
Love these blog posts!!! Thanks Nick for stirring the questions. I love reading the interesting comments. I’ve always lived in a “dream world” and got into trouble for staring out the window in school. The landscape always brought the serenity and beauty that my soul longs for which is why I am a landscape painter. The painting process has become my metaphor for life and I try to impart this as a teacher.
I make art because it is my passion, heart, soul and gift for which I am responsible. If I’m away from painting for too long I become a different person..scary!
Wonderful discussion and article – yes indeed, why? is a good question. When I am painting, or creating art in any form, I feel transformed from this world to a higher plain. Time and space become one with my inner being and I’m drawn into the canvas as everything takes shape. I may have a vision of how I want the painting to look when its complete, but the control I have over that is limited. The painting takes on a life of its own! For me, to be that instrument of creating a work of art that others can appreciate, or not, brings a feeling of contentment. Sometimes it brings frustration because its not how “I” planned it to be. But in either case it leaves me feeling that the work was well worth the time and love and effort I invested.
Thanks for posing the question and allowing us to share out thought on this big subject ~ “why?”
Because it satisfies my soul! Being creative and having a variety of ways of expressing myself is at the core of my being. Deciding on what medium best expresses my ideas is an altogether different thing that can cause much brain ache, experimentation, disappointment and delight. Knowing that I have found exactly the right way to convey my ideas and emotions is immensely satisfying. In a way it is almost like a mental and physical challenge, and when I succeed to the best of my abilities, there is no other feeling like it.
Thank you, Nicholas and everyone who responded here. I am thinking alot about this question currently as I prepare and create work for a show in October. In my story, part of the ‘why’ turns out to be that I started making art as a deeply unconscious way to gain my Mother’s attention & love. Shocking to me when this realization happened, truly. My Mom passed away at age 87 last April so now, I have the challenge & pleasure of re-scripting the ‘why’. In reality, my quest for approval & love went unrequited as my Mother wasn’t actually able to embrace my creative path. She had so suppressed her own creativity that she was somehow jealous & ungiving as my cheerleader as opposed to playing ‘stage Mom’ as some do.
Making art opens me to a particular state-of-being. I love living in the flow where intuition has such a strong voice. I enjoy the physical aspects of working with matetials almost as much as the sense of timelessness being in studio practice
activates.
I have worked as a teaching- artist for over 30 years so a big part of my ‘why’ has also been about service to
Creative Spirit through community, too.
Thank you for this question and for your committment to this path, Nicholas!
Thanks Nick. This is the question that I tackled in my first blog post.
https://www.marignygoodyearart.com/blogs/art-personal-growth/first-post
I do art as self validation. The only art I did as a child, a teen, and young adult was embroidery – not really considered “art” by me or anybody. Then I was in a verbally abusive marriage for 30 years. He did his best to destroy any sense of self worth I had. My husband was an art director for an advertising firm, with an art degree from a prestigious art school, and was therefore the family art expert. He denigrated every activity I did, especially art. “Nevertheless, she persisted.” My embroidery evolved, with the help of friends who approved, into art quilting, where I discovered I have a gift for color. My husband did his best to destroy my art impulse. But I found that when I was doing art, I was confident, happy, productive – all feelings my husband tried to deny me. Whenever I succumbed to his bullying and quit making art, I became suicidal. I came very close to ending my life on several occasions. I printed out a reminder to myself which I tacked on my inspiration wall, hidden behind a picture. It said “Art: do it, or die”. I finally escaped my marriage in 2004. Now free and happy, I still know that I must do art or die, because it is in that doing that I am my best self, and without that validation of my worth, I sink again into doubt and depression. I don’t sell my work. It is just for me. It literally saved my life, and continues to do so. https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/19bdb86bbb59ebd89022f17b4b79353278f4bb5826f02703e8dc854b9f2901a9.jpg
Charlene – you literally wrote my story! How cool to discover someone with similar experiences. You can likely relate to Paul Klee’s quote: “I paint in order not to cry”.
Oh, so true, Gaelle! Lets hope the world is trending away from needing art simply to survive, and toward doing it entirely for the joy.
I cry when I paint…😢
My 13 yr old Grandson passed after a freak accident and we used to have such fun in my studio. Now all I do in there is cry… I’m trying to paint the darkness away so that he can shine with me in this place he loved so much. I’m slowly getting some joy back as I play with paint and remember how blessed we were to have had him in our lives. Charlene you are so brave, everything is art to me… Thank you for sharing your beautiful art with us all x
What a powerful story you shared! Parts of it strike a place in me that says “yes, I feel that, too”. Not from an abusive relationship, thankfully. But my art was always regarded as unnecessary. Not practical. Why can’t you be like everyone else? Square peg in the round hole. I felt disregarded, hushed, less valuable to spend time, even as a young child, wanting to just create something from nothing. Recently I think I found my why. Art gives me a voice. It is the one area in my life that is just ME. Not someone’s wife, mother, head-in-the-clouds daughter. Art is where my truth lies. Like you. It is our mark on the world that we made ourselves heard even when it was discouraged. Thank you for sharing your story. It reminded me of coming into the realizations I am discovering, as well. Stay safe, happy, and always keep making your beautiful art!
I love it that you found a way to be YOU, just you, not a role you fulfilled for others. Women especially have been silenced, and need a voice. And so do the poor, the “different”, the outsiders.
wow! You Go Girl!
Thanks, Kevan. It’s encouragement like this that kept me going through the darkest hours, and is much appreciated now in happier times.
Beautiful story, amazing art. Keep at it always.
Thanks, Chris, for your encouragement!
Hi Charlene, thanks for sharing your story! Let me tell you embroidery IS ART !!! If you paint with needles and thread, there you are !!!
Especially if it is a question of life and death, you should be looking at your SELF with softness and LOVE ! Take care ! Beautiful !
Thanks, Emma. I now know you are right about embroidery being art – as are all the “crafts”. Some people like to restrict the term to predefined “fine” arts, but I’m also a lecturer in the history of England in Tudor and Stuart times, and I know that they considered painting to be a craft. Court painters would do portraits of the king, and then go out and paint his wagon wheels. I’ll continue with the broader definition. And be sure I get enough of its healing power as possible!
Charlene, look at Louise Bourgeois’s art and you will see a spectacular universe !
She is a mentor for me. As a visual artist using threads, I feel grounded and lifted by expressing through needlework in general, and has never met anyone separating my work from art or craft or non art and so… Keep partnership with yourself and share the best of your universe with us !
Gorgeous!
Kudos to you, Charlene, on staying with what sustains you…art2life…so true!
Thanks Nick, for offering these glimpses into your artmaking process and asking these importanat questions. Part of what makes this class so powerful is this kind of exploration into “why” we create. It’s is all connected.
When I remember drawing as a child, i realize now that I was unconsciously manifesting what I wanted in my life. As soon as I could pick up a crayon, I was drawing horses. This was almost an obsession with me. By the time I was nine, I was taking riding lessons and when our family moved to the country I was in heaven. I was finally able to have horses of my own. I kept drawing and painting throughout my childhood as an escape to an inner world, mostly of animals, insects and landscapes. This kind of became my identity in my family….I was “the artist”. I probably would have been just as happy as a wildlife biologist or veterinarian, but this felt like my path. Throughout my adult life, I continued to paint fantastical forests, animals, horses, etc. but wasn’t able to afford horses of my own. My painting became my profession and I strived to become marketable which messed with my mind at times. Every time I came back to my true self with my work, people could see it and feel it. As I approached 50, I knew I wanted to get back to having a horse in my life. As I was painting a large piece (of a horse) for my gallery in Telluride, I told myself, if this sold, I would use the money to buy a horse. It sold to a family in Australia and I bought a beautiful gray gelding. I literally manifested my horse into my life once again. Strangely, my horse looks just like the one in the piece. He as been a great joy in my life and I have learned so much from him. He has taught me how to trust my gut and live more in the present.
To sum it up, as I paint, I feel as if I am in relationship to source, so to speak. What I believe comes through time and time again is a spiritual connection to the natural world. Magic, mystery, conjuring, manifesting, prayer, it comes in many forms. Remaining open to receiving and trusting my inspiration is what moves me.
I always have been doing some kind of art as long I can think back. There have been many up and downs in the life I live and some seemed to be so devastating that even my feeling for art was getting lost in all the hardship.The years of a marriage which never really worked, didn’t contribute either to any better. But the little wick just popped always up like out of nowhere, ignited from above, the One who sustained me through out this all with His constant love and the flame of passion for art never diminished in my very being. I could always tie onto where I once left and get back into my own flow, something you can not produce from yourself, it is given into you and you never will loose it no matter how long time you haven’t played with it, It’s always there; the One who gave me the gift doesn’t take it back it is mine and it will stay with me all life into eternity. That’s why I paint. I can’t better. I understand very well what Charlene was telling us, for much of that part of her ‘bad’ story is also mine, but the good in the bad always was and is and always will be this gift of love from above and nobody and nothing can destroy it as much they might try.
I make art because it helps me enter a very enjoyable state of mind. When I look up after two or three hours of making art, I wonder where all the time has gone. Art is like a religion for me.
Because it makes me happy. Because it is allllllll mine! Because I need it. Because it is my refuge and solace and in my soul. Because I love the challenge.
First I think I do art because I love the way I feel while doing art. This state of creativity can be as relaxing as a meditation for me. Not always ha ha!!! But I love this feeling of “being in my bubble” where nothing else counts, and where time is no longer a dimension of my life!
It opens doors within me that makes me come closer to whoom I am!
I then feel happy real and satisfied.
Similar in story to Charlene also (there really is far too many unfortunetely), so long story short, after creating a life for my two children and myself I met a wonderful man whom was more than happy for me to stop working. This gave me the oportunity to finally fullfill my need to unleash a body full of creativity. Simply put, if I didn’t make art, I WOULD EXPLODE! As a child being brought up in a very small town on the West Coast of New Zealand, 8 siblings, we didn’t have bought toys. Everything was made or created from our imaginations and we used what was laying around or in the bush.This is still the very core of what drives me and is very evident in my work today. Simple marks and decay left behind by nature excite me probably more than colour, so my Yes would be Texture. I would copy drawings from comics in my early teens every day of the school holidays. My mum taught us to sew at an early age and I still sew today but for my grandchildren, so in one way or another I have always worked with my hands , it is only now that my artwork is made for me, if it sells it is an added bonus…
Just saw this after being on the CVP call, with the requirement to be thoughtful, subtle and control the process. Tears as I realised how bold and unsubtle I want to be – just energetically create bold, colourful, intense paintings as self expression in a world where I have few resources and little power. I have never owned a room of my own where I could paint a wall. I would love to paint a whole room. I buy used canvasses from op shops to transform with second hand paint. I struggle with the limitations of my materials and the self consciousness of my intellect which knows a lot about art. But I long to paint, though I don’t know what I want to say – just make marks, feel engaged, create something. Like building a tangible world that is more real than all the thoughts running in my head. Maybe I want more from it than it could ever be. But I am trying. I want to create beauty and say how marvellous life is – reveal a passionate existence.
“Few resources and little power”. Like Jil Cowan’s story too. Whether it’s from lack of money, or lack of approval, we are silenced. Yet the art-making impulse will not be denied. We HAVE to make our mark. Even if no one else sees it. Stay passionate!
This is all so interesting to me. I have been asking myself this question for at least a year now. I have read some of the other comments and don’t relate. I don’t need self validation because I have been there, done that; I don’t feel the joy of making art anymore; Over the decades I have been an artist, I have always felt compelled until now. In fact until recently, it was never an issue. It was just a part of my life. I think I am burnt out. I don’t know why this has happened. Like many here, I know I was born to be an artist. I have made art since childhood. I have had a very successful career spanning decades. However for some reason, I just stopped. I don’t really know why. Ever since the 70’s, I have always been productive. I would have too many ideas and visualizations about what to create next. Now, all this has stopped. I am living in a strange land now. All I have known my entire life has changed and morphed into what Lena Horne called her “dead years”. I guess I shouldn’t feel so defeated. I came here. I must be searching for an answer. 🙂
“Artistically I am still a child with a whole life ahead of me to discover and create. I want something, but I won’t know what it is until I succeed in doing it.” (Alberto Giacometti)
Posted in todays Painterkeys
I love the process of creating something that speaks without words to some unexplainable mystery and as a form of self/no self exploration. It can also be fun (not always) and full of surprises!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/5a855afe6bc3f2199b4cf23d440d3f8df8253dab6bad4da7978c535b2cc643da.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/35 https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/3578d620349dc536f819a78a86f275e54fe275e1d947cf61bf2ffbcbbb317498.jpg
Ah…
I make art to fly.
To experience silence.
To know what is unknown and remains unknown.
To slay demons. To meet demons.
To meet angels.
To laugh..
and cry.
To give and to take.
To delve and to play.
I make art to make love.
I make art to take love.
I make art because it’s the only sense I can make without making sense.
To walk into the mystery.
…and make it home again
This is why I make art.
Love this. Very good
Jacqui, thank you!
Eva Rose, beautiful statement!
Thank you Susan!
Wonderful reading everything people have shared about their life and art-making. For myself, I am trying NOT to ask or figure out why I create since that seems to get in my way of picking up the brush or trowel or whatever and just making marks and shapes. I know I need that physical “doing” and for now, that is the main thing I need to remind myself.
Making art , for me, is like meeting with a beloved friend. We talk, discuss and sometimes laugh and feel really good together. It can help me to relax, to show my anger, my happiness… we enjoy being together and even congratulate ourselves (sometimes). I have not seen this good friend for some months now, but I feel that we will meet soon.
As always, thank you for sharing your thoughts.
Oh gosh! Why indeed! I tell myself the world doesn’t need any more ‘things’, any more pretty pictures, any more stuff. Then I see a piece of fabric printed with mouth-watering pink petals with lost and found sharp and soft edges, darks and lights….. and I know why I have to go and paint. It’s not for the object, the end result…. although sometimes it is very gratifying. No, it’s about the doing, the experience of diving in, the challenge to commit, the invitation to trust and to let go, to see what comes, to journey onwards and upwards…. or downwards, it doesn’t matter. It’s about engaging with a mystery. !t’s about the journey. It’s about the agony and the ecstacy! And when I don’t do it for a period of time due to the pressures of life, I find a creeping melancholy overtakes me. That’s where I am at the moment and even though I am thankful for all life’s blessings and responsibilities, I simply must make room for it again, and soon. Thank you, Nicholas, for bringing me back to myself, my Self!
I love the materials gathering, the thinking and musing, and then the diving in and the doing. I go to another dimension when I paint.
Thanks so much Nicholas for another terrific and thoughtful post.
I always appreciate you sharing your ideas about creating art because I find them truly just as relevant to life in general and this post was especially poignant for me as yesterday was my birthday and… I started a new painting! Yay!
Contemplating what you had written helped me to get a fresh perspective on how I might approach creating a new phase of my life as well.
As I was painting, I was also enjoying listening to the music on my iPod and it occurred to me that this idea of saying “yes” relates to other ways of creating as well.
My music collection was made up of songs I had saved over the years by saying “yes” to them and now I have what is for me, a wonderful and eclectic mix of grooves and tunes that I totally love – purely because they vibe with me.
In addition to really enjoying just the overall process of painting, I have also actually been liking what is getting created from it and I’ve been kind of wondering about this because may art doesn’t have any true or particular artistic merit to it, I just really enjoy the magic, mystery and adventure of creating something totally new – something that is uniquely manifested through all the choices that I have made “based on what feels right for me in the moment.”
Maybe it’s because I have “vibed” with it moment to moment (even when I need to course correct around choices I made that I didn’t end up “vibing” with – LOL!), that I also “vibe” with it when it’s finished(?).
Another thing that I’m finding interesting is that I don’t seem to really care if anyone else happnens to like what I have created and at yet the same time, I’m being more open to sharing my art with others – just because I’m excited by it.
Anyway, coming back to the question of why I make art and how it relates to life…
It seems that by making the moment to moment conscious (and sometimes courageous) choice to say “yes” to the things that I truly “vibe” with, is one possible route I could take to help guide me to the life that will feel the most authentic and joyful.
And perhaps making art is sort of a safe test run for that(?).
I also really appreciate that you so openly shared on your website the challenges you’ve experienced on your journey as it has taken me a fairly rigorous and rambling road trip through life to finally be willing to trust this fabulous style secret for traveling.
Perhaps that’s one of the reasons why I like your paintings(?) – they seem to be symbolic of the unlinear exploration and adventure that is life.
How nice it is to get tips for the open road from a map of a fellow traveler!
With gratitude and best wishes,
Tamara
P.S.
I started the first layer of my new painting with the same light green-yellow color that you didn’t particularly like in your painting that you shared in your recent video post “Opposites Attract”.
I didn’t pick that color to be contrary (LOL!), but because I had been attracted to it all week the new spring growth that I had been seeing all around me in nature.
I think it’s so very interesting what inspires us to choose what we say “yes” to.
I would love to know why I make art especially when I am in some truffle with what Iam doing.My whole life I have had to fight to carry on with it as the people that surrounded me were never that keen on me doing it. I still fight a lot of guilt about being self indulgent or selfish in doing it as it doesn’t (or isn’t at present) make the money that my husband feels is the main purpose. I can live quite ok without art, and sometimes, on a bad day, think I should, but when I am not doing any I feel like I am just existing instead of living.
We can’t turn off who we are. If you have a gift which gives you solace, embrace it. There are only so many hours in the day, its true! but you can decorate the table for dinner, arrange flowers, furniture and food on a plate, to scratch the itch. I wish you time to create!
Nicholas made a point in an earlier post that we should not limit our notions as to what can be labeled art. The book “Homo Aestheticus” postulates that out of all the hominids in Africa millions of years ago, it was the humans that survived, and they did so because they did art, which she defined as “making special” – special meals, special dances, special body markings. And this shared expression cemented groups together, which gave them a survival advantage. All those activities you list, Kevan, are expressions of this art impulse, and deserve to be honored. Thank you for reminding us.
I like what you say about “making special”, it’s one I will take with me. I hadn’t thought of that as being creative before. Thanks Charlene and Kevan
Ah, yes, the money question. Is making art justifiable if it doesn’t make money? If it costs money – in materials, or time that could be spent making money some other way? My husband chose to be an art director in advertising because it paid, whereas the “fine art” he made didn’t. And that judgment call he pushed onto me, for whom money was irrelevant to the activity, labeling my decision to do art “selfish”. We each have to answer that money question for ourselves, and not let others answer it for us.
I paint and teach art because it is the thing I do best and is my greatest passion. My training is Art in Healthcare because art has resolved some major life issues that I ‘ve had so I used that background to make a professional art practice and teach it. I come from a family of artists and art teachers ( many generations). It has never been easy but it always has been rich and an abundant life for me.
Nicholas, Thank you. For far too many years I felt my reasons “why” had to be of importance to others. it was a major downer trying to explain. I did not think intuition is enough, but it is “my why”. It is my driving force. When I get out of the way, intuition chooses colors, mixtures, tools, strokes and forms and takes me to a space of timeless freedom and movement. Now if that sounds crazy I’m okay with that because it is why I paint. Thank you again!
https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/c8a71391c34426b18cb91e705714257b119d8ebaaedb169c40b2274be37119b7.jpg https://uploads.disquscdn.com/images/00cc60993fcdb366e1d0ec55df6a0f36abc31bbbdaafbed7d3b39e0e34ef9974.jpg Hello everyone, I really really enjoyed reading you all, and bravo to Nicholas to open a platform for sharing.
Art is the only SPACE where I feel HOME.
Sorry to be unable to send pictures right now as I tried over 5 times with different selection, and JPEG format….but….no, it won’t take it ! Pictures on demand.
Looking for a rep, a curator too as I am French living in Venice, CA and know nobody.
Thank you
When I was a child, I would fill a cigar box with crayons and take it with me to draw when my family did our yearly summer road trip north. I could escape into my own world and avoid the typical sibling squabbles until we stopped at the end of a day at some motel with a pool, where we’d burn off all that pent up energy from being stuck in a car for hours.
After that, i didn’t make any art to speak of until I was an adult. For me now, art is an exploration/adventure with media and expression, which sometimes is easier for me than verbalizing something. It’s solace and a vacation from all the other stuff of life, and it energizes and regenerates me. It’s something I can do wherever I happen to be that also takes me to another inner place, like meditation, and with the same calming influence. It feels real and empowering (and generates optimism and hope) in a world that often (and especially lately) seems unreal and out of control.
Why I make certain marks remains in large part still a mystery to me, except that It seems the looser and more expressive I make marks the more I respond to them.
I love losing myself in the process. It’s an escape where nothing truly matters but the play of marks against each other, the adrenaline of creating something that previously only lived inside me, and the sheer delight of building and sending joy into the world. Like you said, I guess originally I fell in love with losing myself in my own imagination.
The ‘why’ will continue to change as you as a person evolve, and as your art evolves. Currently feeling myself in the midst of a ‘why’ moment right now, and frankly loving it!