I've been pondering the cultural image that has been passed down through the centuries, that "artists are a bit peculiar"---moody, temperamental, mentally unbalanced, fragile, "not of this world", etc.
Did you ever buy into any of this? Sheepishly, guiltily, I admit that I have been moody (read, "prone to bouts of clinical depression"), and at times, mentally fragile since earliest childhood. Whether I also fit the category of artist may still yet be determined. What actually is an "artist" anyway?
One thing I do know is that an artist cannot afford to be a prima-donna. You cannot afford to "wait for the muse" and only paint when "inspired". You must work even when you're in the crappiest of moods, must take care of the business end of things, even though it's an uncomfortably "left-brained" activity requiring an alarming amount of time.
Discipline, perseverance, faith---all qualities with which to wrestle daily. And I've said nothing of the ego required to hang out a shingle, proclaiming oneself, "Artist" (such an amorphous term!). Ok, I'm being somewhat confessional here: Every day, I must tell myself a quote by Peggy Baumgaertner, "Fake it until you make it". Often, I feel like the biggest faker around!
But I'm the only one around here who will admit to such thoughts, right...
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Threaded Mode
