I have finished another piece for my shop The Painted Cottage Home. I find my logical brain is always running in the background solving, working out past and present problems but for the most part on. I am never quite aware of this happening but when I have finished my work these thoughts come to the surface. Today I found this one thought interesting because it may be what you are wrestling with yourself. I was thinking about intention and why is working as an artist such a driving force in my life? I have certainly tried the gambit of jobs ranging from sales to a wrangler on a dude ranch but nothing comes close to how I feel working as a creative artist. I say creative because I do not focus strictly on one type of creating discipline. It was never my intention to be a creative artist yet here I am working creating and happier than I have ever been.
It is a solitude life with the occasional conversation with a customer or friend, which suits me very nicely. I find people sometimes exhausting and prefer the company of my dogs over most people I have met. It takes great discipline running a working studio or shop. You have to master not only what it is you do but the many other business functions. You have to stay focused and above all organized. Then it hit me that all those mundane jobs I had may have been stepping stones to what I am doing now. All the different experiences were simply preparing me for this moment. Maybe I thought I never intended to be a creative artist but somewhere deep down in my very being I was nurturing and creating this life I absolutely love.
I have discovered not to try to control the events in my life but to move with them. I allow things to unfold and I try very hard to keep an open mind to all that enters in my life. Maybe you are sitting there now thinking my life isn’t going where I want it to go. I can assure you if you step away from trying to control it the way you think it should, you will find a far greater life waiting for you to live.
I look back to the beginning to the years after college when I had the choice to follow my heart or my head. I wish I had someone in my life then who could have guided me better. I took too many detours yet today I feel necessary ones. If being an artist is what you want to work at in life than be a creative, well-rounded, life experiencing, try anything type of artist. Don’t get stuck in the belief that to be a real artist you need to have galleries and collectors flocking to see your creations. You will probably be very disappointed in the outcome. Be inquisitive and inventive in experiencing other jobs giving you a valuable education in life. The business of being an artist is hard and not for a person who is not committed 100%. As in all business ventures if you don’t love what it is you do move on. If you think being an artist means years of college training and a list of shows you participated in than again you are incorrect, because it is possible to be taught using other means. Today it is hard to pay for a college education and to major in Fine Arts even more costly. If you stay open to other avenues of learning you can find a creative career.
The 'true artist' explores all mediums mastering some and being knowledgeable in many. Try to find someone who would mentor you or work for an artist as an apprentice learning as you go. You are creative so get creative with your life. When artist belittle other artist because they do not have the supposed credentials they extinguish the dreams of what would have been some amazing creative people. If you focus only one way of creating a life you want, you will never become a wonderful creative ever-growing and creating artist. There are dozens of artists painting and sculpting who have made it but there are thousands of artist who are also painting and sculpting who have not.
Find what you want to create, find your niche, and dare to be different. Maybe you thought you had to be a painter of urban landscapes and discovered you really were to be an architect of urban designs. That is the great thing about being open to life’s possibilities. Now go create your life.
