I recently went through a change in my life which allowed me the opportunity to evaluate myself and my choices. I realized that I needed to “take stock“ if I wanted to move forward in life. I realized that, in certain aspects of my life, I had been stagnant for far too long. I looked back over the last several years and could see that I had not lived in the moment. I had simply been alive but not living.
I decided to rededicate myself to what brought me joy, to what I was passionate about. I am sure you guessed it by now, my Art. I could plainly see that the times in my life that I was most happy involved my creating Art. I have worked at many “real” jobs in my life. And for whatever reason I have never really stuck with anything. I have done everything from being a software programmer to working as an automotive painter. Yet none of them have held any sustained interest for me.
I had always resisted the title “Artist” for reasons unknown to me. I had owned my own business for years doing production style art, yet I adamantly denied being an Artist. Can I draw? Yes. Can I paint? Yes. Do I enjoy creating? Yes. But I’m not an Artist. (wait… Am I?)
So what does the title, “Artist”, mean anyway? In writing this I had a hard time accurately defining what the term Artist meant to me. A simple search of the internet will return thousands of quotes from thousands of individuals on their definition of what an artist is. But none of them seemed to capture the essence of what it means to me.
I believe as an Artist you are constantly adapting and changing. You may learn new techniques or you may have an epiphany on anything from your personal views to your thought process. You are constantly evolving. Being an Artist brings with it the joy of being a child again. The sudden stomach lurch of excitement with every new discovery. The awe in seeing again. Being an Artist brings with it the pain of failure and the determination to press on. It brings with it the responsibility to evoke emotion which, you hope in turn, creates change. It brings with it the fear of rejection and the joy of acceptance.
After days of looking inside myself I came to the realization that, in fact, I am an Artist and always have been. But I did not allow myself the joy of knowing this.
So what does being an Artist mean to me? Being undefined. Yes, that simple.
To be an artist is to believe in life.
Henry Moore – English Sculptor and Artist
( 7/30/1898 – 8/31/1986 )
Sharing is Caring -
Adrian Selnekovic was born in New Egypt, New Jersey in 1973. He is a self taught artist who strives to live a simple, purposeful life. He lists his early art influences as pop culture and comic books with more recent influences being the current homesteading movement across the country. He holds the belief that Art and Life is one and the same.
my heARTbeat 
[…] have been a working artist before. Although a lot of the time I didn’t look at myself as an “artist”. I was always told I was. Being fired brought me to the realization that it was time to accept that […]
LikeLike