ART & FEAR: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards) of ARTMAKING by David Bales and Ted Orland
For those of you who have followed for a few blog entries now, this next paragraph (taken from the book ART & FEAR) will set off a genuine “aha!” moment. The pretext is that art is made by ordinary people with varying degrees of talent and work ethic, but all sharing the same fears about their work and their work’s reception by others.
….“It’s easy to imagine that REAL artists know what they are doing, and that they—unlike you—are entitled to feel good about themselves and their art. Fear that you are not a real artist causes you to undervalue your work. The chasm widens even further when your work isn’t going well, when happy accidents aren't happening or hunches aren’t paying off. If you buy into the premise that art can be made only by people who are extra-ordinary, such down periods only serve to confirm that you AREN’T…..”
And from another section further on:
“….To the artist, all problems of art appear uniquely personal. Well that’s understandable enough, given that not many other activities routinely call one’s basic self-worth into question. But those really personal problems all relate to the making of the art….”
I know this, you know this, we all know this. But when things aren’t clicking, spinning along, what’s the first thing we doubt?
Ourselves.
I’ve gone through this process so many times I almost feel I’m protected. But I’m not. The head says, “It’s not about you, focus on the work and keep your marketing tied into your vision.” But the heart wails, “What am I doing WRONG??”
Years ago, before I met my husband, I searched for love, as the old song goes, in all the wrong places. Many sad and funny stories later, I was happily engaged to my dear, sweet man and exclaimed brightly to an old friend, “What did I DO before I met Jon?”
To which she carefully replied through grit teeth, “You slowly drove your best friends crazy…”
See any interesting parallels my thoughts on the last show I did?
What did I do wrong? Nothing.
What could I do better? A lot. Some changes are afoot!
But what should I do now?
Make more art.
