Annette Messager said it best when she stated, "Being an artist means forever healing your own wounds and at the same time endlessly exposing them." A life in the arts is a grueling and unforgiving one. On one hand, you never feel like you're taken seriously; self-doubt is crippling and you spend many a sleepless night preoccupying yourself with the "what ifs' and "maybes." But on other nights you feel so inspired and alive, and that is the reason that so many of us vehemently pursue this path. Herein is some sage advice for all you emerging artists and those curious about pursuing the arts, whatever the medium.
1. Don't let anyone tell you how to live your life
A life in the arts is not an easy one. No matter the path, artists must accept this vicious cycle which is fraught with obstacles, both internally and externally. We live in a world with a hive mind mentality that tells us if we don't have a 9 to 5 job that we are unsuccessful, lazy or torpid. When in reality, success is subjective, timeless, it is personal, not to be engineered by anyone less than ourselves. This is the fundamental truth of all art.
When one has accepted this, they can source their energy around creating beautiful paintings, composing beautiful arias, and even performing the most heart-breaking scenes of the theatre.
2. If you can't be an artist, be an artisan
So many people are bogged down and judged by the word "talent." I have seen many a capable artist be shut down by the weight of the word. In my personal opinion, talent does not define you as an artist or a person. If you aren't a naturally gifted painter, or wordsmith, but still have an insatiable thirst to feed your soul (a term I'll reference multiple times in this article) then welcome to 99.9 percent of people in the creative professions. These people are the artisans; those who have that burning passion that pushes them to learn their craft, to hone it over the course of years and decades, and put literally their blood, sweat, and tears into their work. They learn to stain the canvas, pen their hearts, and sing their melodies only after countless times of failure and despair, and this leads me to the next point.
3. Failure is the best teacher
Salvador Dalí said, "Have no fear of perfection -- you'll never reach it." When you succeed, in essence, you gain nothing from it but a good pat on the back and a temporary feeling of gratification. When you fail, however, you gain the chance to learn from your mistakes, to pull your face out of the proverbial mud and say, "so that didn't work, let's try this." Some of the best artists in the world have claimed that the best of their art was sourced from the catalyst of their failures, and that if you face your failures with humility and understanding, they can ultimately be turned into bits of brilliance and feed your art that much more.
Some incredible words that were once told to me by a person very near and dear to me in a time of my own personal conflicts and troubles were, "Trust yourself. Bend and you will not break." Basically, it means to dare to be outlandish, try something new, believe in yourself and your own fortitude in hard times and you will prosper, not fail.
4. Never fear your originality or the art within yourself
A major contributor to stagnation in art is the belief that nothing you make is "original" along with the fear of "not having what it takes." The truth is: no human being can ever recreate your art, because it is a physical embodiment of your soul through your medium. No two human beings are created exactly the same, this is also true of art. What matters is that you throw yourself in with reckless abandon, expose your heart and soul and produce a beautiful product of your own machinations while at the same time feeding your soul, that is, living with a sense of feeling that you have made yourself more whole by doing so, or by giving the world something in which it can be improved. If you don't believe me, take it from one of the best authors to ever live:
“If you want to really hurt you parents, and you don't have the nerve to be gay, the least you can do is go into the arts. I'm not kidding. The arts are not a way to make a living. They are a very human way of making life more bearable. Practicing an art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow, for heaven's sake. Sing in the shower. Dance to the radio. Tell stories. Write a poem to a friend, even a lousy poem. Do it as well as you possibly can. You will get an enormous reward. You will have created something.” -- Kurt Vonnegut
Art is a calling, and only those who answer its call to arms are brave souls indeed. But when all is said and done, what really matters is your happiness; if you have no real passion for your medium, there are far easier ways to make a living. It's OK to want to be comfortable; some people crave it. But if you've ever had that primal feeling in yourself to create something, to truly paint your soul, write the voices in your head, or dance under the moonlight with the passions of love and fire, then art is the life for you.
Here's to the future, brick by brick.
