Confession: I still find it hard to call myself an artist. It just feels — wrong. It’s one of those things.
The ironic part is that I studied art all through high school and even did a three year Bachelor’s degree in Visual Art. But calling myself an artist still feels silly, like I don’t really belong in that category.
And anyway, can you really call yourself an artist if you just pull out your paints randomly, whenever inspiration decides to strike? Because that’s me, that’s what I do.
What about when you spend months not picking up a paintbrush, then in one week produce 9 mini watercolour paintings? And then proceed to stash all the supplies away for another month. (Also me.)
The funny thing is that I never formally studied creative writing, but I will jump in and call myself a writer 100 times more often than using the term ‘artist.’
It’s still a bit of a mystery, even to me.
I once heard someone talking about their passion for baking. How it’s so satisfying to see something come from nothing. You start with raw ingredients — sugar, flour, cocoa — and then an hour later you have a steaming cake coming out of the oven.
That story has stuck because it’s exactly the way I feel about creating art. Or creating anything, really. At first all you have is a blank slate, an empty canvas. The beauty lies in the possibility of what it can become.
That second before you start is filled with so much potential. Looking out at your palette, there are a thousand opportunities, a million ways things can go.
Even with the clearest visions, things don’t always turn out as expected, so there’s always an element of surprise when making art.
But there’s more.
There’s something about starting with bare ingredients that hold little meaning on their own, and ending with a finished piece of work in just a few short minutes or hours.
It’s that process of taking that paint, the canvas, the brushes and pulling it all together in a new way, leaving you with something that you didn’t have before. And watching it come to life before you. Yes, it’s satisfying.
I don’t think I could get tired of that feeling easily. It’s gratifying at the least, addictive at the most. And I’m totally ok with that.
So, no I’m not going to stop creating — art, or anything else.
