What really is the point of all this? - a little encouragement for the artists in my midst.

{What really is the point of all this....}
​Have you ever asked yourself this question? Perhaps you work in isolation and wonder what's the point? Maybe you keep reaching the same roadblock in your art and career. Maybe you even get caught in the vortex of "Well, if I can't make a living from my art, then what's the point."

I met with a group of artists locally this morning and the sentiment was largely the same, we benefit from relationships with other artists. Receiving encouragement and support from others who are tackling the same big questions is reassuring.

David Bayles and Ted Orland in their book Art & Fear point out "The only work really worth doing - the only work you can do convincingly - is the work that focuses on the things you care about." pg 116.

They go on to say that "Art work is ordinary work, but it takes courage to embrace that work, and wisdom to mediate the interplay of art & fear." pg 117 Also "What veteran artists share in common is that they have learned how to get on with their work. Simply put, artists learn how to proceed, or they don't. The individual recipe any artist finds for proceeding belongs to that artist alone - it's non-transferable and of little use to others."

Pg 118. "Artists become veteran artists only by making peace not just with themselves, but with a huge range of issues.....In the end, it all comes down to this: you have a choice between giving your work your best shot and risking that it will not make you happy, or not giving it your best shot - and thereby guaranteeing that it will not make you happy. It becomes a choice between certainty and uncertainty. And curiously enough, uncertainty is the comforting choice."

Pg 9. "Basically, those who continue to make art are those who have learned how to continue - or more precisely, have learned how to not quit."

So why I am sharing all this today? Because I feel strongly that you matter and your art matters. Do you have any idea how many people are dreaming of a life where they can and do make art? So many. And here we are with these creative gifts, letting uncertainty stop us in our tracks.

An example from my career. One of my paintings received 7500 reactions, likes, comments, and shares on social media. 7500!!! To have someone pause for a moment and gain some pleasure from my work is such a humbling gift, to me, to them, and to the people, they interact with. This is the legacy that I want to be a part of.

What we/I create matters. People benefit from the things we create. You matter and your work matters.

Yes, fears come up. The bills keep rolling in. You wonder what's the point.

Tip your focus over to what is it going to take for me to keep going? What do I need to do to trust myself and continue anyway?

You will figure out the bills, you always do. Please don't throw your art on the funeral pyre for the sake of a bill, or the sake of self-doubt, or criticism, or whatever.

It's totally okay if this is really not what you want to do with your life. Make a new decision and go do something else. It's totally okay.

And if you find art is the best way for you to make a statement about the things that you care about, then please keep going. It matters what you create.

​With love and respect, onward, my fellow artists. ​