A Stumbling Block To Creativity - Me?Well, I came upon a wonderful new blogsite called Pikaland through, of course, Twitter. (my newest form of distraction). Pikaland has a wonderful project called the Good to Know Project I really identified with this project because I do actually have my own stumbling blocks to creativity, and one in particular has reared it's ugly head lately. I still feel a bit squeamish even talking about this, but since blogging has become a form of therapy for me (thank you), I am going to just press on, and divulge it here, all over this page. Ready, here goes...
"By All Means, Be An Artist… Just Don’t Make Purses" -an actual quote heard during dinner party conversation. ....Okay, there it is. That is my major stumbling block.
We have people in our lives who touch us in ways we may or may not like. I don't really know why I let certain people affect me the way they do, as when I overhear this type of dinner party conversation. I know they weren't directing this comment towards me. In fact, the comment was directed towards someone studying art, who wasn't even present. And, I did take it personally.
My rational is that I do struggle with this very issue deep inside myself; can purses actually be an art form? I studied Fine Art in order to be a fine artist, and paint fantastic paintings. But why can't fantastic paintings be created from fiber instead of paint? And why can't one's canvas be recycled wool, instead of muslin? My stumbling block here is of my being misunderstood by the greater artistic community, inadvertently subjecting myself to a lesser artistic level by not being a purist and keeping my paintings on canvas. Society seems to dictate what is acceptable, marketable, "real art". I suppose my compulsion to stand my ground, and fight for acceptance of the art form I choose to create may backfire. But, for today (and tomorrow), this is my path. It's the path that makes me happy, makes my heart sing, the path that people support by buying my work. I may get back to canvas one day, when I am ready. Then, those people can decide whether or not they deem my art "acceptable". In the meantime, I am quite happy to forge my own path, thank you very much!
