Chicken Soup For The Artist's Soul

[Anthony Emmolo]

Hello friends,

Some of us will go through some very difficult years as we pursue our careers as artists. There may be moments that feels as if we can not succeed. I know that I have just gotten out of a two year period of career struggle. During that time, I read many stories of people who just didn't quit. They achieved a high level of success, simply because they knew they could, and then they did everything they possibly could to not give up on themselves. If any of you are going through a period like this right now, I hope some of the more inspirational success stories could help give strength when all seems impossible.

Maybe some of you would like to add some inspirational stories here to help others. Here is one that has gotten me through some hard times. It is the story of the Olympian Ruben Gonzales. It talks about the tool of looking objectively at oneself, and being honest about our strengths and weaknesses. Then using the strengths:

At the age of 20 Ruben realized that he wanted to be an Olympic athlete. However, he wasn't young, (for that world) and he had to be honest with himself. He wasn't a great athlete, but a good one. What was his Ace in the hole? It was his ability to never give up. That is what would get him in the Olympics. His next job then was to choose a sport. He looked for the most grueling sport in the Olympics, knowing that he'd have to rely on the probability of his teammates quitting in order to get into the Olympics. After studying, he realized the sport for him would be the luge.

After locating the US Olympic training headquarters, I believe it was in Lake Placid but I'm not sure, he was told he was too old. One way or another the voice on the other side of the phone found out that Ruben was born in Argentina. Due to the nature of the sport, there weren't enough athletes from enough countries to keep the sport safely on the Olympic schedule. So, the training camp told Ruben that if he'd train for Argentina, they train him. This would give the sport another representative country, and help to save the sport. He was warned that most athletes begin training for the luge at 10 years of age, that 9 out of 10 people quit before training is over, and that he could expect broken bones. That was all he wanted to hear. He knew he had found his sport.

At the end of training, 9 out of 10 of his teammates had indeed quit. He may have received his share of broken bones, I don't know that part f the story, but he did make it to the Olympics in Calgary 1988, Albertville 1992, Salt Lake City 2002 and he's currently training for the 2006 Olympics and he'll be 43 years old when he gets in.

Let us not believe the thoughts that say we cannot have the career in the arts that we want.
Anthony

Please add to the thread. I think it could be valuable. Some of you may even have some inspirational stories from your own lives.

[Allan Rahbek]

Anthony,
I know that you are a fighter and you are an inspiration for all of us.
This story you have told contains the basics for getting the success that many of us think that we want.
Personally I am serious about my art. I want to take it as far as I can. But when it comes to success I often find it a strange bird................ maybe not sure if I want to be one.

But I could be wrong, Allan

[Janet Kimantas]

Oh, yeah. Success. You know you want it. Because, of course, each of us defines for ourselves what success is. And for the most creative persons, that definition keeps changing in order to last a lifetime.

On a less serious note, if you ever get a chance to see a movie called Cool Runnings, do so. It's about 15 years old and a tiny perfect gem of a movie. Maybe hard to find. It's about a group of Jamaican young men who want to be Olympic bobsledders. They have to come to Canada (snow) and hilarity ensues. Hey, becoming the best you can be allows for some laughs!

[Anthony Emmolo]

Yes Janet,

I saw the movie. It was a very good one. Funny as well as inspiring. The last scene of the athletes carrying their bobsled across the finish line was touching. I would have liked to see it in reality at the Olympics, as it was a true story.

Allan, I see I am going through a period in my life where I am trying to hold on to a past period of very good gallery sales. After a divorce, my sales dipped drastically. So learning how others have gone beyond expectations has become like a candle for me in the distance at which I can aim.

The days of traveling to my galleries, staying in hotels (modest one's but hotels none the less,) good restaurants with my wife while on these gallery trips, being able to afford nice antiques with the confidence that as artwork sells, they'll pay for themselves as all of my antiques go into my paintings, and lastly the feeling that I was connecting to people's emotions through my artwork felt so good. We all go through periods in our lives. maybe this will be short lived. But I would love to be back there, not having to teach English part time to make ends meet. And something in me enjoys the challenge of rebuilding a career that was once doing well. It keeps me going emotionally to be in the studio. It is a world of sensitivity and creativity. What can be healthier?

Good luck to you both.
Anthony

[John Crowther]

Thanks for sharing interesting insights and experiences, Anthony. It all brought to mind the words of Richard Bach ("Jonathan Livingston Seagull"), apropos of writers but equally applicable to artists: "An professional is just an amateur who didn't give up."

John C.

[Janet Kimantas]

Hi Anthony,

Yes, of course, the most important part of that movie is that it's true.

I can share my story, although the chicken in the soup is mostly bones. It may help you to see a silver lining. I have always made my living as some kind of visual artist, stained glass for many years and graphic design/illustration for the last twelve or so. It's a good living and since I raised two kids on my own, I'm grateful. It's only ever been a job and I knew that when the time was right I would leave it to be a painter. Fixed firmly in my mind was the notion that at the very least, as an elderly lady all alone, I would happily be painting little watercolours of the birds and squirrels that I would feed in my backyard.

Over the last 4 years or so I have had a steady worsening of work-related injuries in my shoulders and arms. The first compensation claim was for my right arm and after that I taught myself to become ambidextrous to take the strain off. You guessed it! There is extensive nerve damage in both shoulders and arms as well as my neck and back. This has all triggered some impressive chronic pain conditions. I am back at work at maybe 70% capacity, but my back seems to be further degenerating. The worker's compensation people here recognize that my impairment is permanent and will be paying me out a lump sum for pain and suffering. If it tops 10 grand, I'll be amazed. Meanwhile my employer is only required to accommodate my limitations for 2 years (1 and a half at this point). At that point my career will be effectively over. No biggie, it was only a job...except my arms are wrecked. I can still paint for now as the movement and body position are quite different from what caused the injuries, but for how long is anybody's guess.

This is not a pity party for Janet! Not at all. But challenges lurk around every corner. You will undoubtedly experience a rebirth of your artistic career, and really, things like the end of a marriage are supposed to change your life, at least temporarily. I myself will learn to paint with my feet. NOT.

Good luck. This too shall pass.

Janet

[Anthony Emmolo]

Thank you for your personal story Janet,

It is always nice to see the human being behind the words. To me, it is the struggle that creates the person. When one accepts the odds, ad doesn't fold up, one grows. Today I had an interesting experience. I am a part-time English teacher in Shanghai China. About two weeks ago the main owner of the school ran away with the months salaries for every one from the floor sweepers and school bus drivers to the teachers and management. There were parts of me that just didn't want to be in the studio, or anywhere for that matter as I couldn't concentrate without feeling negative. Still, I went into the studio for for a few hours each, and with extra attention was able to do what I felt was very sensitive work.

What is my connection between this topic and portraiture? Our artwork is a meditative process. When we are at our highest moments spiritually in the studio, we have the possibility to transform the pains of life into beautiful images. I cannot help believing Michelangelo must have been a different person spiritually after completing the Sistine Chapel than he was before he began. It is easy enough to look at the later areas of the painting to see his growth artistically, but I am thinking more of the inner man. How much did he grow through the transformation of the many pains of being up there on the scaffold over the years. (Especially when the air conditioner wasn't working.)

Janet, your story is special. You are living your pains and not letting them stop you. You will become a new person through the process. It is my opinion that that is the greatest place to grow in this field. Good luck.

Anthony
(Sometimes Rocky is a good movie for motivation.)

[Janet Kimantas]

Anthony,

Thanks for your kind words and insights. You write very well. Interestingly when I realized what I had going on with me, I did a lot of reading on actual people with chronic pain conditions. One I remember was an artist of some sort, an actor I believe, who said that she felt that she was better able to cope as an artist than other people might be. Because she spent so much time in introspection, brushing up against melancholy and outright depression, she felt she had the tools she needed.I think she made a pretty good point, depressing but good.

Also, I'm not sure if I put what we do, making art, on such a lofty plane as you. We have a supreme court judge here who retired earlier this year. She has been appointed to the the UN High Commission on Human Rights. This woman's accomplishments utterly humble me as do those of the medical doctors and nurses who go into wars zones to alleviate suffering - without prejudice. Or investigative journalists who go to the blackest places on earth to bring the stories of the people there to the rest of the world.

A number of years back I painted a portrait of a boy in full hockey regalia, more of an illustration, if truth be told. The mother was picking the art up at the framing store/gallery that represented me at the time and that was also in the shopping mall where I was doing some grocery shopping. The staff pointed me out to this lady and she chased me down and gave me this big hug with tears in her eyes. I was very touched, and we certainly made more of a connection than two strangers in a shopping mall might usually do. But afterwards what I really felt was "I didn't do enough, I should have done more. I should have done better."

Anyway, those are my thoughts, probably about seven more that you wanted to hear! Inspirational movie: March of the Penguins. Go see it!

Janet