Every line starts as a dot.
Every artist starts as a student.
Every adult starts as a baby.
With no beginning there is no result.
How you draw the line is what defines you.
To finish an artwork, you gotta start from dots to lines.
Creativity is a relative process and is defined by you. Whether painter, drawer, photographer, musician, writer, singer, chef, craftsman, weaver, glass blower, potterer, sculptor, designer, sewer, (you get my point), we are artists and aspire to create using the significant senses we were given.
It’s hard to put a limit or definition on creativity or art, especially in the diverse age we live in. But what is most important is how we share that creativity with others and blessing the people around us. If we keep our thoughts and ideas hidden away, either in our minds or in our closets, than they’ll never impact others.
There’s a lot I know and experienced, yet one thing that is definite is that I am still learning. But what I learn and have to share along the way might be new approaches, techniques, and concepts to you no matter what kind of innovative person you are.
What I hope you learn from this Blog:
1. The only person that is going to make your art happen is you.
No matter how many ideas, variety of tools, wishes, wants, hopes, that you have won’t matter unless you are able to apply all of your creative juices and make your art. May this blog be a tool you use to inspire you, but also help you make that final step to turning your artistic ideas into an artwork reality.
2. You don’t always have to “Pay” to learn.
Not all of us have the ability, means, or lifestyle to advance our art knowledge and skills through activities like college courses, workshops, group classes, or even private lessons. Let’s face it, not all of us will decide to be artists around the time we’re going to college or after having kids. Your calling could even be starting right now, but who’s to say that you have the funds for art classes after you’re done gathering the supplies and materials to start your artistic endeavors. While I won’t be able to provide direct information for every medium of the arts, tips and artistic practices that can be applied to my mainstream mediums can also transfer over to your specific medium of art.
3. Learning never ends.
While I haven’t attended college, art in itself is never changing and always advancing. Being a college student for ten years, but twenty years ago, won’t give you the advantage and edge you need in the art of NOW. The same applies from the present art world to the future. Also, something to chew on is that art is and always will be relative to the people who make the art and to those who appreciate it. Not everyone is going to have the same taste or expectations of what art should be, where, and how you learn it.
Art Teachers at a college may like one’s work and not the other’s. One may pass his art class while the other is shunned. Not everyone has that negative college experience, but I have heard the voices of those who did. Their teachers were biassed and close minded on one hand, while from others I hear of wonderful news of college experiences with great and understanding teachers. Not one person will have the same experience as another. We won’t generalize that art college is for everyone, because it won’t be. It just can’t be. The law school graduate who is in debt up to his ears but wants to learn how to wield a camera; the mother of two who has constant bills but finds she can make magic with a paintbrush. These people won’t always have the ability or time to return to school for art. Life isn’t that simple, easy, or fair.
However, I must say that if you know you want to be an artist, than do whatever it is to get you there, college or none, classes or workshops, reading or blogging. Do whatever it takes and don’t stop running.
I want to end this note with a little reminder that calls out to us from Vincent van Gogh himself. A struggling artist who was always borrowing money from his brother, and instead of using it for food would use it to buy paints. He spent his early years painting with earth tones that were dull compared to the styles of the Impressionists; this made his work unwanted and unsellable. But he had a meager beginning and it wasn’t until after his death until his work started becoming infamously desirable. He was called a madman then and is called a master now. Don’t ever underestimate anyone or anyone’s art for it’s potential, something only time can tell.
4. The essential need to become a self-taught artist.
The wonderful thing about this day and age is that we are given the Internet, reading sources, and art friends whom we can learn and grow with, but no matter where you decide to learn or gain your inspiration, you will be the one that can limit or surmount your growth. If you’re not experimenting with styles, mediums, or subject matter, you’ll put yourself in a box that is untouchable and undesirable by the world.
Be open to new things. If you haven’t tried it, paint it. If you haven’t seen it, go photograph it. Don’t be afraid of trying something new. This will even help your most comfortable art style and medium become more polished and professional. Every technique you practice can only advance your skills, don’t worry about digressing them. The only way your work will digress if you don’t paint, photograph, draw, sculpt, sew, create, etc. The only thing to fear is never picking up your paintbrush again.
Here you will be trained to think like the self-taught artist who looks for, lives for, and breathes the opportunities to be creative with everything in your life.
Join me as we talk about art and artists, materials and methods. And while I’m sharing my endeavors with you, it is my hope that you will share yours with me.
To learn more about me you can visit this PAGE. Thank you.
