I have just started trying to set up my own website....... am only on the first page so far and the first thing which strikes me is there are so many decisions to be made and decisions and I don't go together, can always see too many options then am doomed!!! So I can see this will be a long process if I have to deliberate over every aspect!!!!! Will need to pursue this as I can't afford to actually have one built so may take a while but will keep at it.
As I was writing the "About" bit it seemed relevant to mention desire which I know is absolutely key to improving as an artist. Desire will drive everything you need to do. I believe we are all born with our designated, genetic amount of talent, intelligence, personality etc etc, but the key is how do we use that? Very much a nature versus nurture discussion.
This is how I think about it.
Imagine our talent is like an elastic band and we are all born with our own unique band... that band might be thick, thin, long or short but that is where we start. The crucial bit is what influences our band and how much we are then able to stretch it. Someone who has no access to a musical instrument or has never learned to read music may never discover they have perfect pitch, their musical band remains unstretched , it may be a lovely thick juicy band, whose stretchabilty knows no bounds but its potential will never be recognised. Someone who has a much smaller band but has been introduced to the wonders of music may stretch their band to a much greater size possibly because of their own desire and the opportunities afforded them.
And so it is with art..... some will be blessed with awesome talent which neither they, nor the rest of the world will ever come to recognise. Either their talent has never been awakened or maybe they don't have the desire to pursue it and that is where the rest of us come in......just how big our artistic band is, becomes somewhat irrelevant when pitched against desire. Desire will stretch your elastic band as far as you will ever want, the human potential knows no bounds when it is married to desire. Desire will teach you everything...... it will push you to practice, to seek knowledge, improve technique, experiment. Desire is all it takes, you DO NOT need any special talent you just need to want to do it..... anyone can paint and how good we become depends on how far we stretch our elastic band, it will never snap it will stretch to wherever you need it to stretch to. Please think about this whenever you are feeling despondent... you can do it, practice will help you both improve and cultivate the desire, the more you do the more you will want to do.......I am living proof that desire rather than innate talent is what is needed....... here endeth the first lesson!!!
Very well put Judith. An excellent analogy.
ReplyDeleteThanks Brian, have always been interested in the "Nature versus Nuture" issue and this seems to explain things to me..... I often have a picture in my head about things..... now that's an interesting one.... do you have a picture in your head about the months of the year? Most people don't have a clue what I'm talking about, but my picture is an elongated oval starting in January, moving in a straight line until June where it starts to curve vertically into July and the end of August starts the return, back to xmas day. Then there is a vertical gap going up which represents xmas and New Year and then it starts over... I can always "see" where I am in the year..... hmmmm what is she on????
ReplyDeleteGreat article! I'm a beginner in watercolor and this is just the encouragement I need right now. Ive been painting for about 6 weeks and still trying to figure it all out from supplies to techniques. Also , I'm so shocked about the calendar year you see in your head. I see it exactly the same way...I thought I was the only one but you described it perfectly.
DeleteThanks Sue... I really know all this to be true and made a big point about it in the beginners workshops I have just done... it can be learned and you just need to want to do it!! As for the year, my Mum used to have something similar but most people look at me as if I am mental..... not that I actually discuss it much. Interestingly it was only when she and a friend of hers were discussing it that they even realised they had it, and my Mum then mentioned it to me. I don't know why or how they came to be discussing it as it does seem a bit bizarre, but hey it takes all sorts!! Let me know how you are getting on with your watercolours!!
DeleteI agree,very well put, and inspiring as well.
ReplyDeleteI should print this out and give to all my students!!!! I agree that anyone can be artistic you just have to want it and of course stretch yourself practice and step out of your comfort zone. If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always had ...how true
DeleteVery true Joanne and it is that drive to improve which makes us want to try things and as you say step outside. As I am never wholly satisfied with what I do, I'm always driven to move on and though I am happy to see improvement, there is just something inside which pushes me on.... whatever it is am very grateful for it and as I know I will never stop learning I doubt it will ever leave me!!!
ReplyDeleteYour analogy is wonderful!
ReplyDeleteThanks Judy it just seems to put everything into perspective for me and makes me feel anything is possible, so important for those times when we are feeling we will never be able to manage something. All it takes is more practice and eventually what you are trying to do will become achievable..... and then of course you move onto the next thing!!
DeleteVery well said!! I was just telling a new friend two nights ago " Art is a journey that never ends. You are always learning and you never graduate."
ReplyDeleteAnd don't you think Jo, it is the journey which is the important bit not the destination..... I never want my journey to end. My journey is forever changing and the destination constantly moving anyway.... whenever I get anywhere close it moves further away again as my own goals change... I think I am getting somewhere and then something comes along and knocks my painting beret right off my head!! As you say the learning will never stop, I cannot imagine no longer having something to learn.....there would no longer be any point in it so bring on all those twists and turns, the more the merrier and the longer it takes the better!!
DeleteWow, very profound but beautifully written and so very true! I think you have been blessed with more than a gift of painting but also a gift of inspiring!!
ReplyDeleteWow again!!! Thank you so much for that lovely comment Sue... I do hope there is an element of inspiration as I absolutely know it to be true... I'm not making it up, I am living proof that we can all get somewhere with our art (or anything else for that matter)... and where is completely dependant upon how much we want it, and I want it lots!!
Deletewow i second all the above, you are inspiring and i feel a book coming on, the way you write you kept me interested to keep reading thank you so much for posting
ReplyDeleteThank you for leaving a comment Rachel... I do actually have a book in my head in fact have written a few thousand words... just keep adding to it as things strike me but nowhere at the stage of sending it to anyone, so it is really fantastic to hear you were interested and kept with it until the end.
ReplyDeleteYou might like to read the Jean Haines review as well Rachel, she sent it to her publishers and I now do reviews for them...http://judithfarnworthart.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/atmospheric-watercolours-by-jean-haines.html
DeleteIt's definitely desire that will help someone rise to the top, no doubt about that. Everything I've ever pushed myself at I've done well at. Drawing, especially portraits, has come easy to me more than most things and I think it's a genetic thing personally. Once I read "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain" I realized that maybe drawing was easier for me because, my maternal side of the family was very right-brained, creative and intuitive. I'm not perfect at drawing by any means, but just like you said, with desire and persistence I could really develop it. I love your blog. It's like you're reading my mind, Judith. hehe :)
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely desire that will help someone rise to the top, no doubt about that. Everything I've ever pushed myself at I've done well at. Drawing, especially portraits, has come easy to me more than most things and I think it's a genetic thing personally. Once I read "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain" I realized that maybe drawing was easier for me because, my maternal side of the family was very right-brained, creative and intuitive. I'm not perfect at drawing by any means, but just like you said, with desire and persistence I could really develop it. I love your blog. It's like you're reading my mind, Judith. hehe :)
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely desire that will help someone rise to the top, no doubt about that. Everything I've ever pushed myself at I've done well at. Drawing, especially portraits, has come easy to me more than most things and I think it's a genetic thing personally. Once I read "Drawing On The Right Side Of The Brain" I realized that maybe drawing was easier for me because, my maternal side of the family was very right-brained, creative, and naturals when it came to art. I'm not perfect at drawing by any means, but just like you said, with desire and persistence I could really develop it. I love your blog. It's like you're reading my mind, Judith. hehe :)
ReplyDelete