Living the Life of an Artist

            The excerpt from Heron Dance this morning was about courage and faith of artists. He talked about believing in the value of our work and he went on to say ”People pay lots of money for the creations of van Gogh, Picasso, Pollock, because, in part, they are monuments to courage, to belief in oneself. These artists transcended the realities of their lives, they kept at their work, stayed faithful to their vision, despite rejection, despite disappointment. Their works are seen as celebrations of faith in oneself. What makes great artists great in part is that their belief in themselves, in their vision, is great.”

It is all about continuing the work and the belief that what we do IS worth it, that our work has meaning, that others will like it. And there are those times when we can't afford new supplies, so we make do with what we have or we find other ways to be creative. Artists are not always ordinary... Oh, maybe we can seem to be for a little while, but then we fall off the grid of what most people think is a good use of time and how we should be "making money." 

I never considered that the "world looks to artists for courage." It's true, though. We have a lot of courage! Look at what we go through, yes the ridicule, the comments that we can't make a living being an artist, and all that other stuff. Yet, we persevere, we keep creating, even knowing that we seldom ever make the money back that we put into the effort. We don't give up. We find ways to do what makes us satisfied. 

"...Celebrations of faith in oneself..." Wow, even on days when I crash and am discouraged, there is still that faith in myself. I know that I can do this. I KNOW that I am an artist. Maybe that's one of the reasons I leave my work all over the house. When I look up and see those pictures and cards and scarves, I feel good knowing that this is all my work. Even if it's not sold at the moment, I know that at any time it COULD sell. Someone might walk in today and just have to have a drawing or picture. Doing the work IS worth it, even if it's just making me feel happy.