Quite a few of you have been sending questions to me, which I absolutely love (keep ’em coming, please). Recently, one started nibbling away at me and I’ve been going back and forth with it ever since. The question: Is being an artist worth it?
I have to say that the last 16 years of pursuing art professionally has definitely been a challenge, both financially and emotionally. You all can understand the financial part of that equation I’m sure. But the emotional component is not as obvious. It takes some real strength to go deep enough to find one’s art, and then to keep going there, year after year. Art is demanding. We must keep moving with it or it dies. Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, has said (and I paraphrase here) that artists are like sharks. We have to keep moving or we sink and drown. I believe there is absolute truth in that statement. There really is no rest for artists.
It is also a test of our emotional courage to live, constantly, within the unknown. Not having a regular paycheck, not knowing when the next painting will sell, or what economic situation the world will be in next year and how that might affect art sales, requires a steadfast kind of belief—even when we aren’t sure that it’s so wise to believe.
But I am finally able, without qualification, to answer that question in the affirmative. YES! For me, being an artist is definitely worth any challenge or sacrifice I have to make. It is my life and it is a very good one. I know this without hesitation.
Recently, two readers of the blog came to Truchas to visit with Anna and me in our Anna Karin Gallery. Sylvia Montesinos and Paula Manning Lewis spent a quiet afternoon with us. Listening to their stories made me think more about this question from their perspectives.
Sylvia is a physician on sabbatical, endeavoring to learn “… more about the body, mind and soul…” over the course of the next year or so. She is doing this, in part, by pursuing painting and pottery, two loves she cast aside while studying and then practicing medicine. You really should check out her wonderful website: http://livingheartandsoul.com/ and blog: http://sylviamontesinos.blogspot.com/. She is a stunningly bright woman on a remarkable path of discovery. If we walk alongside her, I believe we may just learn something about ourselves.
Paula has been making art for most of her life. See her website http://www.paulamanninglewis.com. She and her husband, Aaron, own Chroma Studios in Albuquerque—rental studios for visual and performing artists. Learn more about what they have to offer on their website: http://chromastudios.wordpress.com/.
Here is Paula talking about making art:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8O-3zj7hOXs
And I couldn’t resist putting in one of Aaron’s songs. He’s an amazing musician:
The two of them have come together in ways that support each other making their art.
Here are three individuals who are living examples of an affirmative answer to our question. Sylvia left a lucrative medical practice to answer something deep in her soul. Paula and Aaron have come together to support themselves while supporting others’ art through their rental studios.
Why do we each work so hard to be artists, in one form or another? Certainly a “regular” job with a regular paycheck would be easier… or would it?
Yes, for me, and I believe for Sylvia, Paula and Aaron, being an artist is most certainly worth it. Now for the real question: Is being an artist worth it to you?
P.S. Sylvia baked some wonderful scones for Anna and me and made me a gift of a lovely plate she’d created, because it reminded her of my gray and white paintings (it really is similar). I wanted to share them with you here:
Love to you all,
Jeane
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Thanks for putting your thoughts into words, this in particular strikes a chord:
“We have to keep moving or we sink and drown”
Yes, that really struck me when I read it in The Artist’s Way. It’s almost painfully true.
thank you for this reflective narrative. here is one reaction from an irascible artist- what would your physician friend say if you showed up at her clinic and wanted to get in touch with the mind and body and soul by taking temperatures, reading blood pressure and dabbling with diagnosing orthopedic irregularities of her patients? take a year off from being a full time artist to try out the medical field…it makes me laugh how many professionals turn to art in their 50’s and 60’s as if you just decide one day to be an artist because you always liked pretty things. i find it a little disrespectful and demeaning to the arts. of course these late blooming quasi-artists mean no harm but it is an important part of your conversation here Jeane.
Well, it’s a bit different than that. Sylvia studied art before she became a doctor. She left it behind to pursue a more traditional path. She’s found, over the years, that that may not be what’s best for her on many levels. You may remember that I did something similar. After college/art school I didn’t paint for 26 years, following a more traditional path. It took a health crisis for me to see I had chosen the wrong path. I’ve been making art ever since. Sylvia made this decision before she faced a crisis. More power to her, I say. Maybe, like me, she’ll decide that her sabbatical is actually her life’s true path. Many of us don’t know who we are and what we want before we’ve put a lot of years into living–and it’s not often a straight line.
i get that, jeane. just like you are creating sort of a flat image of life of an artist on this blog, so am i in my response. there is always more to the story and one can never know, really. touching against surfaces- socially, economically, literarily- is a trap we fall into just to get by without fighting wars, i guess. i think you are asking a deep and meaningful question that deserves a greater dialogue. scones and wine and the idea of ‘living the dream’ (see this month’s santa fean magazine which for some reason is mailed to us) is so often attached to the idea of being an artist as if it is some escape into the ideal. i reject that model. creating economic opportunity for oneself is a necessity- artist or not. helping to create opportunity for self-fulfillment seems also to be the responsibility of the strong for the weak. personally i have grown weary of the artist-as-retired-dream-seeker or the artist-as-seeker-of-all-things-refined-and-wonderful. santa fe and truchas bring challenges of resolution to bear for me.
I do hear you and I’m glad for the deeper dialogue you offer here. I have been endeavoring to show several sides of the artist’s life in this blog–the seeming ideal as I express those times when my heart is full, as well as the many challenges most of us face in living this life. But, bottom line, until more people communicate, as you are here, the blog remains one voice–mine, one individual’s experience. When I came to Truchas I was almost unbearably the Pollyanna. Much of that has been kicked out of me, but I am still me. I have a tendency to see the world through rose-colored glasses and to, perhaps, simplify beyond the reasonable. Honestly, you and William deBuys have a way of making me see my limitations.
I just had an idea Terry: Why don’t you write a post for the blog that is the deeper conversation about this question that you would like to see. Take it beyond touching the surface. I, personally, would love to read that.
oh YES! Being an artist is most definitely worth every second! 🙂 Thanks for sharing my links! My personal art website is http://www.paulamanninglewis.com
It was such a wonderful afternoon we spent with you and Anna in your beautiful gallery. It is always nice to connect with like minded people/artists. I look forward to visiting again! 🙂
I’m sorry I accidentally left out your site. I’ve added it now and Adam will activate it as a link as soon as he gets my email.
It WAS a wonderful afternoon–inspirational and fun.
no problem at all! 🙂 I’m just pleased to be mentioned/featured on your blog! 🙂
🙂
interesting , my girlfriend kind of struggles with this concept of being a artist , she is from germany, has a studio in saarbrucken , saarland , we recently went to monte carlo to grimaldi forum to particapate in the Art Monaco 12 international art faire, it cost a lot, we had some sponsers, but need to break even with the expence of this event, it was exciting to be there, n she now has a good reference, but it is so hard for her sometimes, but she dos’nt want to give up, i support her totally in every way possible , cause this is her life , i know she will never give up, she would never be comfortable doing anything else !!
Those people who know from the beginning that they absolutely must make art are the most fortunate. Many of us get lost along the way and lose years of art making to other ventures. I applaud your girlfriend’s resolve. It rarely is easy being an artist but, I believe, it is always worth it.
thank you n that is exactly how she feels ! 🙂
Well, yes, this is your response to what I wrote. But I would love to see an in depth piece delving into your thoughts about being an artist–what is challenging–what are your struggles? You tell us what model you reject. What do you embrace? You say it’s a deep and meaningful question. I’d like to hear your answer: Is being an artist worth it to you?
Food is always right up front in your day, and yet you are so nicely skinny.
You make a good point about food being front and center in my life. I do love good food and the ceremony and celebration it often brings with it. And thank you for the nice compliment about my “skinny-ness.” All in the eye of the beholder I’m sure (cameras hide many sins). There was a long period in my life when I denied myself food in a fairly punishing way. It’s been a long journey to find self love and some real self care. Food was perhaps my first path there.