Hello all my wonderful creatives out there! I hope you have all been busy creating on something! I am hoping to reveal my secret project soon, so that is still in the pipeline. I am also working on the stitch sampler and Ladybug Lake and hope to have an update for you on Monday.
What I really want to discuss today is YOU! Yes, you, all my amazing creatives out there whether you are young or old, male or female, this post is dedicated to you and here is why. I often think about people and the creative process, how they fit together and how they started in the first place. Whenever I see someone create, no matter the medium, training or experience, I just want to jump up and down for joy. You know why? Because it is hard to be creative, especially in this day and age.
Here in the U.S., art is not looked upon as work, it is pretty much relegated to a hobby or some other frivolous activity by most of the population. I still feel guilty when I work on my art despite a lifetime of working outside the home and now being retired. If you ask any artist that has worked laboriously on getting just the right photo or getting the same image on canvas as the one in their head if what they do is work, there would be a resounding, "You can bet your life it is!". Just because you love it doesn't mean it isn't work, you are simply putting your passion to work. As a matter of fact, there is usually a physicality with art. Look at the physical effort that goes into a sculpture, a woven tapestry or mixed media collage. I can't tell you the number of times my fingers have gone numb from them holding onto a little needle for extended hours. I can also attest to how bleary eyed you can get from redoing a pattern for the fifth time!
Science has pretty much thrown the arts under the bus. You are made to feel that if you are not a rootin-tootin computer whiz or have a PhD in a biomedical field, you pretty much are relegated to the jobs of fast food employee or grocery sacker. Okay, so I exaggerated a little bit. It doesn't matter if you hate math or you get nauseous just thinking about science and the Periodic Table, you better learn to love them or risk living out your days in an empty refrigerator box (okay another exaggeration, sorry, but you get the idea). As a country, we should be ashamed by the lack of coursework available in the arts and the lack of diversity in those it does offer. There are more pizza places in a five mile radius of my home than there are art supply stores in the whole of Oklahoma! No wonder we are becoming a nation of fat couch potatoes. Enough said.
So what does this mean for you my awesome creatives? It means pursue your passion of art and be proud about it. If you are a receptionist by day but passionate paper cutting artist the rest of the time, let people know that when they ask about what you do. Tell them, "I am a paper cutting artist when not at my day job as a receptionist." That gives your passion the priority by being mentioned first and let's people know that importance in doing so. Practice in front of a mirror if you want to feel more comfortable about it, because let's face it, we are taught that humility is good, bragging is bad. But all you are doing is letting people know about your art, which isn't bragging. If they ask about it, have a succinct description ready. "I make contemporary/traditional cut paper art for sale on Etsy, at Gallery So-and-So, Such-and-Such Boutique, my website, etc., etc., etc.. You fill in the blank. Be proud of what you do and don't hesitate to let others know. Open the door and if others are interested they will follow up with questions about price, how long you have been doing it, and many others.
The message here is to be proud of what your passion is and don't hide your light under a basket. What you do is real WORK! Own what you do and you will discover others will enjoy owning your work.
Keep Creating!
