The Artist, The Ego, And The Insanity
To become a artist one must first go out and invest in a new skin, I would say perhaps one of the rare rinogater. (You may find one at WalMart ) You will need this because when you paint, and put this painting out for everyone to see, you are then fair game for any one with at least one good eye. The only ones you are safe from are the blind. Everyone that has a look at your painting will have a feeling about it. Some will be good and some will be bad.
The good ones are easy. Not so easy when someone wants to tell you how you should have painted it or how you have no sense of color or form or a thousand other of the evil things the may say.
To be an artist you must understand that from the first day that you begin to paint you will be of two minds. The one mind will be the first to tell you, that you will never be able to paint anything that is good enough. Now what of mind number two. Number two mind will tell you that every thing you paint is outstanding and that every painter wishes they had painted this one.
Then you go out and enter an art show . Now you’ve done it!! We will now talk about the insanity. You take you painting that is not good enough, and that will win best of show
( remember this is the same painting) down and enter it in the show. Please do not stand to close to your painting at this art show, or you will hear things. Some things you will like, but there will be others you will not. ( Remember these people have one good eye.)
Then there is the judge. Let me first say this, the judge has a job I would wish on no one.
Judging a show is a hard job with very little thanks, and I say thank God that someone will do it. Now with that said I will say this THEY ARE ALL NUTS. I find the more education they have the more nuts they are. I have been to shows where I have no doubt that the Judge was blind or had no sense of what made a painting. Sorry I just can not see what they saw. Judges need a little rinogater too.
Let me try to put this all together for you in one little story. Back before I understood all of the above. I was doing an art show and sale, we were set up with booths along a river walk park in Farmington, NM. The people would walk along the walkway and stop at the booths and buy the things they wanted. We had painters, potters, artesian of all type. The judge would then go from booth to booth and judge the paintings. I guess they did the same with the other arts.
I was there with my western paintings. The judging done, I did not win anything, not so bad there were some fine artist there. I was just happy to be among them. Well the judge came by to talk the each artist and when she came to me. She said “I sure enjoyed the humor in your work.” I was better then I thought, I had made funny painting and didn’t even know it. I would have really loved a true and honest word about my paintings even if it was bad.
Later that day a little boy and his sister came by my booth, the boy was about seven or eight his sister maybe a few years younger. The little girl said “Oh look paintings, lets buy one for Mom“. The little boy replied “No!!” The little girl unhappy with this said “Why not.” The reply came “Because they’re ugly and Mon wouldn’t like them, and if she wants one I’ll paint one myself.” I left that day knowing that “I painted funny paintings that were ugly and Moms the world over wouldn’t like them.”
I say this to you fold up your ego in the rinogater skin, brave the insanity and paint on.
And for God sake give yourself a break and have some fun along the way every painting does not have to be a masterpiece.
T C Wester