Okay, it’s a pun. Get it?
Today’s mail brought one of the most delightful words a writer/artist can get.
Let me backtrack a bit. When you find a way to make the art that comes from your heart, it affects people—in good ways and bad.
The very worst thing that can happen is it intimidates and angers people who can’t or won’t do what you do. They will respond with sarcasm, indignation, even feigned indifference. My bumper sticker says, “People who have abandoned their dreams will discourage yours.” Believe it.
Next come the people who definitely love what you’re doing, but get the wrong message. After seeing my work or hearing me talk about it, they approach with stars in their eyes. “I’d like to work in ancient images, too!” they exclaim happily. “I’d like to make Lascaux horses, too” and “Is it okay if I combine fiber with polymer, too?” Can you hear it? “Me, too! Me, too!”
I try to keep my exasperation to myself, though more and more I’ll actually say, “I’m moved by your offer, but I can make plenty of Lascaux Horses myself—I don’t need your help. What the world needs is YOUR art; it needs the work that's unique to YOU.” Then I can only hope and pray that, while they may begin by copying my work, perhaps it will eventually lead them down their own path.
(As an aside, this is the main reason I don't teach my art techniques. Not because they are a closely-guarded secret--they're not--but because I don't want to give implied permission for people to copy my work.)
The very best is when someone sees what you’re doing and truly “gets it”… The person realizes that this fabulous art I make comes from me listening to myself, to what is in my heart. It’s the PROCESS I went through to bring this story to light, not the story itself, that makes the story so powerful. And if they want their work to have the same kind of power, they have to go through a similar PROCESS—not just append my story, my techniques, my images to their work.
The process takes determination, belief in yourself, TIME, and discipline. You must understand what delights you, what moves you to tears, what makes you get out of bed in the morning. Part of why I'm here is to show you what this looked like for me.
So here is a paragraph from the e-mail I received today:
“….So...as my story comes to an end, I just want to let you know that I shared all of this with you because I wanted to thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing what you know and what your experiences have been as an artist. Not only because they are wonderfully well-written, well-thought-out, moving, inspiring, and motivational - which they are! But because I thought you would like to hear the story of how your inspiration led me to DO something concrete. Just as creating a work of art - that truly flows from somewhere deep within - can create ripples that move and change and influence humanity... so have your writings influenced me. I hope that sharing my story with you will encourage you and assure you that your work is INDEED doing something concrete as well.”
There it is. That is the best a writer/artist can hope for. That the words of my mouth and the works of my hands have done their job.
Concrete steps. Not the ones that give entrance to your house, but the ones that give entrance to your life as a fully-realized, truly unique artist.
