Have you ever been called or called yourself an artist? I recall my shock the first time I was in a store that sells my designs and the owner told a customer that the “artist” for the particular piece of jewelry was in the store today. I turned to look for her and found “the artist” in the mirror. I didn’t look like “the artist”, but who else could the store owner mean?
In my masters and PhD work, I studied many artists, particularly investigating their creative thinking. At that time, I don’t recall seeing any bios that resembled my own. For example, Julia Cameron discusses artists in her book, Walking in this World: The Practical Art of Creativity. “Artists have stared out of windows and into their souls for a very long time. It is something in the staring-out that enables us to do the looking-in.” I don’t recall ever really taking the time to stare out and then look in. I could say that LIFE got in the way of this, but I believe the true artist carves out time for this introspective endeavor.
Wikipedia defines artists stating “the definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art.” Webster further explains that an artist is (1) a person who works in, or is skilled in the techniques of, any of the fine arts, . . . (2) a person who does anything very well, with imagination and a feeling for form, effect, etc. . . . “ Both these descriptions make an artist more common than I suspected.
Unfortunately, only the second Webster definition, included imagination (creativity) which I believe is essential to the artist. Are artists those who perfectly replicate what they have seen created by others, found in nature, etc. or is an artist that person who imagines something unique or creates a true variation on something that already exists? I choose to believe that creative thinking is an essential component to artistry. I remember using the Torrance Visual Creativity Test to in the evaluation of several adults. One young woman was a painting major at a reputable college, but her creativity test indicated little visual imagination. I didn’t discuss her score, but learned later that she had changed majors to business. (quite a big switch). At that time, I wondered if we might save some art majors a good deal of unhappy college hours if they investigated their own creativity at an early stage or if the colleges, at the least, provided training in creative thinking.
You do not need to find fame to be an artist. That’s certainly apparent by those who commit to their art by doing as the artist for my books used to do. For many years, he slept on a pallet in his cold warehouse studio, earned money by baking bread for a bakery at night, and painted during the day. Luckily, he has now found sufficient success for a more comfortable life.
If you don’t need fame, do you need recognition to be an artist? Again, I would say no. I think a true artist solely requires appreciation from within. If so, the old “believe in yourself” statement holds true. Many of us, however, do require the appreciation of others to continue our art work. I would certainly have ceased to create new designs if my early pieces had not been appreciated. I feel it is very difficult to create in an arena of naysayers.
What elements might it take to be a true artist? On the practical side, skill and technique developed through patient practice would certainly head the list. The less tangible elements of creativity, vision and fortitude weight strongly among those other needed qualities. If I chose these elements and wanted to work toward being more of an artist, I find that I need to go back to skill and technique. My creativity and drive have pushed me into production and now I notice minimal flaws in construction. If I want to “be” an artist under my definition, I need more skill practice. (If this was music, I’d be saying I need to practice more scales and arpeggios!) This skill practice also requires a critical eye, the kind that doesn’t accept “almost perfect”.
The difficulty will be in conducting skill practice while wanting to forge ahead with production. I need a healthy balance between the two and will try to keep from tipping the scale. Perhaps this will allow the “artist within” to emerge.
Karen: Your work sure looks like art to me!
Where, in your opinion, does passion come into play for the artist? Is art an expression of passion, is passion required for art (or at least great art) or is passion something that must be tempered so as to not get in the way of art?
Does an artist create their best art at the height of their emotions, or when they are most aligned with the goodness of the universe in which they live?
Karen, excellent food for thought, as always! I too strive for that balance between trying new things, and the peaceful execution that happens when my skills and vision align. I sometimes wish I were one of those people who master one technique or stitch before beginning work in the next one. But then I wouldn’t be me, would I?
KipperCat
Welll, my airbrush teacher had a long diatribe on whether we wanted to be artists or arteeeeests. One making money and the other having attitude and being broke. hehehe
I think my personal definition of artist is someone who Must Make Things!
Doesn’t matter if any one else in the whole world acknowledges them as artist. It’s in the soul.
And further such esoteric blather…
Karen, I do so admire your thoughtful insight to the deep places of learning! I, myself, just blunder on without looking around or stopping to examine anything…
Sometimes it works, sometimes, it’s work! hehehe
Luv you much, sweetie and so very glad to count you as friend, even better that we get to share air once a month!
huggiez!!!!!
Addendum – You, my dear, are definitely an Artist!!
I adore your way with wire and other metal!
You spur me on to ever greater heights!
Thank you, from the bottom of my grateful heart!!!!
Passion and the artist could be a long discussion. Suffice it to say that passion is part of the art process whether negative or positive. Reading about bipolar disorder among poets, I know that artists often believe the very best work comes at the heighth of the mania which is so powerfully filled with passion. Some refuse to take their meds for fear of losing “the gift”. I believe that passion either drives an artist to try to say something with the piece especially in music and visual work or the art process itself becomes the passion of the artist and he/she creates through emotion without trying to share any statement with others. Their are so many connotations to passion that its really hard to nail down. We all should be welcome to our own opinions.
Liz, I imagine you do the right thing by not waiting to master one thing before initiating another. I believe that each new technique we learn has a chance to add more depth to our knowledge of others even if for nothing more than comparative purposes. That freshness of learning something new which stimulates our dendrites to branch can’t be bad for what we already know.
Sherry,
You have the key word . . . MUST. When someone would ask my creativity mentor why she did this or that, she often replied “because I must!” At times there seemed to be no other reason for some of the unwise things she did. When I would say something to her about my creative daughter, she would reply “let her be . . . ” We might follow the same advise for an artist. Let the artist be.
Hi Karen,
Love your philosophy which is mixed up with your creativity. I, too, must create. It is something that must occur EVERY day! Hand painted needlepoint has been my desire and luckily my business, but lately jewelry making is PASSION personified ! Yes, we are ARTISTS ! I have come to believe that through friends who appreciate my work, and oh, I owe so much to them. I am critical of my work, both positive and negative, and that only adds to the making of an artist. I build on it, learn from it and get excited in imagining and creating the “next piece.”
Betty,
Thanks for adding your great comments to this post. Everything you said makes perfect sense. I especially like your thought that being critical of your work gives you something to “build on” and “learn from”. I’d never thought about it in quite that manner. As I work, the words others have shared run through my head. I’ll remember these!