why is she successful and i'm not?

hello folks!

I want to talk about something

that's been on my mind lately.

The importance of making art

for the sake of making art.

Regardless of credentials

or recognition

or career path

or sales

or gallery representation

or status

or success

or failure...

Making art for the joy of making art.

Period.

Writing to write.

Painting to paint.

Singing to sing.

Many moons ago, 

whenever i would look at the artwork i had

just sitting around the house in boxes,

unsold

i would see this as confirmation

that i must be a failure as an artist.

I knew many artists who were selling,

who were in galleries

who were chosen to be published

in the art book of the year.

But i wasn't one of them.

So i was a failure as an artist.

Or at least i thought of my work in this way.

Still - i kept painting.

I kept writing

and sketching

and doodling

and drawing.

Many moons later,

i realized the importance of these

finished, unsold artworks

lying around the house in broken boxes.

I began to recognize the value of my work.

All my work.

The good, the bad, and the ugly.

It is necessary for an artist to make art.

A lot of art.

Bad, good, ok, crappy, beautiful, embarrassing, exceptional art...

ALL of this is necessary

to one's growth as an artist.

To developing your skill.

To finding your style.

Your comfort zone.

To knowing your happy place

and becoming more comfortable

in your not so happy places

if that's where you must go

to make the art that must be made today.

To write the book that must be written,

to play that song in your heart

that wants to be set free into the world.

I no longer question or doubt myself as an artist.
i am an artist because i make art every day.

I face those nagging fears

and dark doubts

about whether or not

my work is good enough -

and simply squeeze more paint out of the tube,

and continue painting.

My work is good enough.

And what makes it good

is not the quality of the final product

but the process itself.

The fact that i AM painting.

The purpose is not for me to paint a masterpiece.

The purpose is to paint.

To keep working.

Period.

Don't let the success of others

get in your way of making art.

Just make it.

Trust that it needs to be made.

xox