Does an artist have to be passionate about art? Is one an artist if they don't have that passion? What is an "artist" anyway?
By no means do I call myself an artist, nor am I sure that I ever will be. Even more, I'm not yet sure that I really want to be. For the most part, I have enjoyed the few things that I have done. A few sketches, a few paintings (they'll be up soon, I promise), but at times, I wonder if I'm only doing this because my wife is or just to do something new. Is the passion supposed to be there in the very beggining or does it come with time?
I'd be interested to hear your thoughts both on what "being an artist" means to you and your views on the passion (or lack thereof) of artistic creation...
I think if you want to be an artist you have to be passionate about it or you wouldn't stick with it. A bit like being a writer. But what I do (and probably what you do) is different. I just want to 'do art' for the fun of it and in order to improve, but in no way do I have the passion to want to be an artist.
ReplyDeleteAnd then there's the question of whether the fact that I can post my attempts on my blog and join a group such as EDM, many of whom I would certainly classify as artists, gives me the incentive to do something I wouldn't otherwise do. It's difficult to keep something up without either passion, or support and encouragement of some kind.
That's my take on it anyway :-)
This is always the tough question! Some people think you can't call yourself an artist unless you've sold something. But, I disagree. Even though I haven't done art continually in my life, I have always defined myself as artist, if only to myself. I think it is a mindset. I didn't always know that I knew, but I have always been. No matter how good or how bad, I just AM. You can put a different uniform on me, but it would only hide who I really am.
ReplyDeleteThe passion ebbs and flows, but it is always welcomed.
I think its more a need to create - not really always feeling passionate, but more that when you stop creating for a while that one day you just feel the need to make something. anything.
ReplyDeleteA really good book that looks at some of these questions is Art & Fear.
And while I don't really consider myself and artist either... I recognize that without art, creating, and creativity, I would not be myself. So perhaps I am an artist and that the term "artist" has too much baggage from the days of the Academie and the Salon.
Sometimes I am extremely passionate about art, and at other times... not so much.
ReplyDeleteThat does not mean that because i am passionate sometimes, and not passionate at others, i am or am not an artist, in my opinion.
Honestly i don't really like to refer to myself as an artist as i feel more like a tool than the iconic "artist" figure. People really like to put tags on things though, to help keep things organized and neat.
All I know is that I know very little when it comes down to it... and am constantly amazed by what happens when we allows things to be as they are... this goes for everything including the creation of art.