I am an artist. I’m finally comfortable claiming the label. For most of my life, I did not consider myself to be artistic and, judging by my marks in art class, my primary school teachers agreed. Even after I took up painting in retirement, I failed to d
efine myself as an artist. How wrong I was. How wrong my teachers were. I wish I had heeded the words of Vincent van Gogh who said, “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint’, then by all means paint and that voice will be silenced.”
Part of the issue was that my teachers and I defined art too narrowly. Because I was no good at drawing and couldn’t replicate an image in paint, results precipitated by a lack of helpful instruction or encouragement in those skills, I was characterized as having very limited artistic potential. The fact that I had a good singing voice, achieved some success at piano playing and occasionally wrote poetry was not recognized as artistic ability. The end result was I did not consider myself an artist. But I am. And so are you.
Pablo Picasso said, “Every child is an artist; the problem is staying an artist when you grow up”. You only need to hear a child sing while they’re playing or watch them pick up a crayon and draw to understand that we are born to be creative beings. Do you remember being that child? Inherently we all want to express ourselves but often, as we grow older, our self-expression is quashed by self-doubt and fear of criticism. Nevertheless, the capacity and talent to be an artist remains inside us.
Art is simply the act of expressing yourself creatively through whatever means you choose. If you enjoy photography, your choice of subject matter and composition is an expression of your inner feelings. You are, therefore, an artist. If you are a musician, your choice of instrument, genre, song and delivery all add up to express who you are – an artist. If you are an author or poet, the subject matter you choose and the words and phrases you craft to express what’s in your imagination define you as an artist. All the choices you make, including what medium or field of endeavour you select, combine to produce art that is uniquely you, as personal as your signature and as individual as a snowflake. You are creating something that is, in some way, different than anything else that has ever been produced. Something you can take pleasure in and something that can be shared so others can too.
Is technical proficiency a necessary component? Does your output have to rise to a certain level of competency? No. It is your personal expression, not proficiency, that qualifies you as an artist. However, once you ignore those voices in your head that tell you you’re not good enough, the artist in you will begin to emerge to seek self-expression and you will be motivated to hone your skills and grow your self-confidence. Even Michelangelo said, “I am still learning. If people knew how hard I worked to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful at all.”
More recently, Kurt Vonnegut commented, “Practising 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.”
Concentrate on expressing yourself rather than making art to please others. The great jazz musician Charles Mingus said, “I’m too busy playing. When I’m playing, I don’t pay attention to who’s listening.” Who among us is qualified to say your art is good enough or not? Who, other than you, can judge whether you have adequately expressed what is inside you? Your art may resonate with one person and will leave others unaffected.
