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Henri Matisse, Crockery on a Table, 1900
Recently I met with Jerry Biuso, a life coach on a mission to help people achieve success. He challenged me to research creative jobs, my clientele, and the lives of other artists. The latter assignment lead me to a significant discovery-most of the artists I admire lead complete lives as artists. They never stopped making art. Even when money was tight, or their art was unacceptable to the public. Some of them started out as something else, but their desire to make art pulled at them, and they rejected any other options. I looked for comfort from their early history, thinking maybe one or two of them worked in a restaurant like me, but after finding little information about their beginnings, I realized I was missing the point. Their art overshadowed whatever else they did for money. They weren't meant to lead interesting lives, they were meant to make beautiful art. And for that, they sacrificed everything.
I remember Rivers saying, "You don't make art because of life, you make art IN SPITE OF life!" He always said it with so much vigor and passion and I had no idea what he meant. Now that there is life and responsibilities I totally get it. Just keep making your art, even if it's only a half hour a day. Those little moments will add up, and you will be making art. The art you make might not be the art you imagined for yourself, but it'll be the art you're meant to make at that moment! For me I struggle with being outside of my comfort zone and I get in my own way a lot of the times. Once I'm able to step aside, I make work that is fulfilling. Keep it up, Julia!
ReplyDeleteThe Matisse in this post reminded me that I can't wait to see your summer still life completed...and glad you are doing the thinking work of art, like "why do i do this???"...because you have a special capacity for it, and because no one else will do it exactly like you!!
ReplyDeleteThank you for the encouragement Cat and Mary. Its helpful when others understand how I'm feeling at the moment. The "on the verge of a breakthrough" feeling is good, I want to keep it up.
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