"Am I a Real
Artist?" This question is slightly different from last week's
question, in which nuclear physicists and non-nuclear physicists ask if they
are artists--the addition of the word "real" adds new dimension, along the
lines of the Velveteen Rabbit.
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There are toy horses
and real horses, and the difference between the two
is that real horses move,
breathe, feel, and live. It's the same with artists.
In the
Hollow by Steve Henderson. |
Have you read that children's story by Margery Williams?
It's a great one--a sawdust-stuffed rabbit toy is literally loved to pieces by
his little-boy owner, but agonizes because he's not really
real--he's just a stuffed toy, until one day, after the family has
thrown him out because he was contaminated during the little boy's bout with
scarlet fever, the Nursery Magic Fairy turns him into a real bunny--one with
workable legs and warm skin and the ability to breathe.
So what is it going to take to turn you into a real artist? Will it be selling a painting for a certain price,
or just selling a piece, period, to someone other than a friend or relative?
Will it be when you've been accepted into a painting artist gallery in Scottsdale, AZ
or Savannah, GA? How about winning a prize at a major exhibition, or being
accepted into an exhibition in the first place?
You know what it took for the Velveteen Rabbit? Being loved
enough, and manhandled enough, and played with enough, and needed and wanted
enough to be real. Actually, even when he was still filled with sawdust and
didn't look like a real bunny, he was--deep inside, where it matters.
If you love your art, manhandle your painting brush, play with
color, and need and want to create and get better and deeper into what you
create then you, my friend, are a real
artist. Whether or not there's still sawdust spilling out of you.
--Carolyn