Artistic Phobia

Art is an investment of time

Recently a friend said they wanted to plug a flash drive into my brain and download my creative process. But I think they would get a lot of corrupted files and actually be disappointed. And if it was that simple, I've got a few people I want to do the same thing to. But, life just isn't that way. Art is an investment of time.

I get a little sad when students say "I'm not creative" or "I'm not artistic". Well sure you are, otherwise you would be out buying shoes! The mere fact you walked through the door at And Bear Makes 3 says there is a starving artist inside you wanting to be fed. The issue is you don't feel confident enough in your artistic abilities, so you don't feed that artist. Let me say that again, you don't feed the artist.

Years ago there was a discussion on a web site that asked "do you consider yourself an artist". I thought to myself "well I'm creative...I'm crafty.... I'm adept at designing". All those statements are true, but said apologetically. Like the “Art Police” was going to knock on my studio door and arrest me for such a slanderous statement. The poster of that question maintained that we are artists. Some are natural artists, some are well schooled and trained artists. Most of us work on art when we can fit it into our busy lives. That made an impression on me.

For the first time in my life, I called myself an artist. Yea it felt funny the first time and I even looked around for the Artist Police. But you know what? They didn't show. The more I said I was an artist, the more it became true and the more I believed in myself. Sure it was work to learn and grow in my art, but it was the work I wanted more than anything!

So the next time, you pull out that hidden twenty dollar bill for a stylish new stamp, tell yourself “I'm an artist!" And then stand up a little straighter!