Just Do It!

 There are some car designer shows that I love to watch. One of several reasons I love to watch them is because they are self-taught, and that fascinates me because I think it is FABULOUS! While some artists are drawn to the academics of art, design, theory, and all the rest that goes with it, there are some that would absolutely suffocate under those learning parameters and therefore it would do more harm than good to them. These are the artists that just need to "Do It". They feel the art, the pull of the materials, the lure of the colors, and can't help but get busy with their vision. They can't explain why this thing went with that piece, but they can tell you how exciting it was to put them together, because they felt in their soul that it was supposed to go that way. They don't mind the immense amount of exploration with certain materials in order to get a good feel for what they do and how they do it, they revel in the just doing of it.

Now please don't get me wrong, I believe that an academic component is critical for the survival of art, and those artists that pursue the education before the doing are certainly on their preferred path. I applaud them and their efforts every bit as the untrained artist. However, I also believe that there are those of us that know with the first touch of a needle or thread, or a blow torch and hammer, or colors of encaustic wax, that this is ours and we have to own it. The skill comes to us from the doing, the hours and days and months and years of doing it and experimenting and learning what works and what doesn't. We use books to reference techniques and YouTube to see examples of them, we visit places that carry supplies we love in search of tried and true and the next great thing, we are always moving forward to understand, to try, to succeed and sometimes to fail too. The important thing is that we recognize that inner fire to do it and give it license to burn.

So while I believe that academically trained art is wonderful, I want to give a special shout out and show of appreciation for those that cannot wait to get their hands dirty, their workspace a blast of chaos, and that piece of fabric or canvas a going over of fiber color, because these are the pioneers of today and the masters of tomorrow, every bit as those that learn in the classroom.