Discovering the True Artist within
Introduction
Revealing the true version of you as an artist can be a long journey and embracing the title of artist for many is a step to far.
Having a creative soul and an imagination can be both a curse and blessing, the need to create is a powerful pull for many, and I speak for myself here, the fear of getting it wrong is a huge barrier.
Main Topic
All of us want to be unique, offering the world our visions of beauty in whichever guise we perceive it, but the journey to discovering the true artist within is full of self doubt, emotions and bruised achievements.
I feel it’s important to note here that you will never reach a final style, your art is constantly evolving as are you. Everywhere you look you will see inspiration as we are all sponges for sensory input.
I encourage you to always visit museums, galleries, arts and crafts fairs, read books, listen to music or sounds, you are be creating a library from which your creativity draws upon.
Many of us are reluctant to embrace the title of Artist instead we feel more comfortable with the title of crafter, I’ve got news for you, crafters are artists.
I personally feel if you are purposefully creating anything in any medium then you are an artist, accept the title which in turn will encourage self-respect and lead to a more fulfilling, mindful and rewarding creative experience.
Discovering the True Artist within is a life long journey.
Suggestions
Give yourself time to grow, discover, fail and grow again, if I was to offer some help along the way I would suggest these following 10 steps:
Soak up as much art in all its guises from as many different sources as you can.
Be inspired by art and artists in many forms.
Duplicating another artists work on your journey of self-discovery is never wrong, but always acknowledge the source. You will never perfectly duplicate their art as it’s one of a kind, but you will learn new techniques.
Becoming an artist is a repeated process of creating, failing, analysing and a series alternative options.
You create to learn your chosen mediums and their boundaries so that you can challenge them.
We all have failures or as I call them opportunities for changing our trajectory.
See your art through to its completion and then analyse it, question what pleases you and what does not.
Embrace what pleases you in your own art and then start it again, on completion really look at your art once again.
By cycling through the process of creating and analysing you will distill your own emerging style from the point of inspiration.
Importantly for me it was trusting the process of creativity and not giving up before my piece was completed. A friend of mine Patricia is often heard to say “Be prepared to modify your plan”, this is such an important mantra for any artist.
Summary
If you’ve read this far then thank you. Who am I and what gives me the right to have created this bold post? Nothing.
I’m just a guy on my own artistic journey of discovery. I struggle with perfectionism, self doubt, anxiety and sometimes depression, but I’m learning to embrace the process.
I do call myself an artist, I constantly push myself in different directions, the majority of the time I get it wrong, but the journey for me is far more import than the final result for its a journey of options and variants.
I’m excited by my own art, the art of others, the art of nature and inspiration of history, never give up, trust the process and one day you’ll face the true artist you are when you look in the mirror.
