"You should do something with it!". People say this to me to me very often when they see my artwork. With 'it' they mean my creativity. Wether they see a card I have designed or a drawing I have made. It makes me feel restless. Because exactly what do those people mean? And why do they asume I am not doing something with it already? But what they mean with the 'something' is: make money with it.
Last year I started 'doing something with it'. I started to work as a freelance graphic designer. I did well, had some very nice assignments and met lovely people who I could help with a book cover or a corporate identity.
All of a sudden, nobody told me anymore to do something with it. I was making money out of graphic design, but it dind't feel right. It didn't make me feel any richer, even though I could ask some money for it. I still wasn't happy. It didn't make me feel worthy. It was all digital. It didn't reflect who I really am and how I really feel. There is so much competition making the exact same kind of digital stuff.
Today I suddenly realized that this past year I was focusing too much about WHAT I should be doing 'with it'. But I have never really focussed on the WHY. The minute I started asking myself the question WHY I want to make art, I felt happier already. I now know there's only 1 thing that I really, really want to do and that is making Mixed Media Art. And I came up with seven good reasons why.
In a random order here are…
7 GOOD REASONS
WHY
YOU SHOULD MAKE
MIXED MEDIA ART
1. Art makes you feel worthy.
People who are able to express themselves with paint and are able to create with their own bare hands are well respected. Even if you are a complete beginner, people will admire the fact that you are willing to rediscover this child in you that wants to draw and paint. Being admired and respected for what you do makes you feel worthy.
2. Art is your legacy.
We live in a digital world. If we suddenly run out of electricity, we aren't able to read and see all the text we have typed, all the photo's and video's we have made. We are the generation of whom none of our emotions or feelings will be saved when our system falls apart, while of other era's we know so much because so much is preserved. From the bookkeeping, to the smallest memo's, to long handwritten letters. In our era all that things are digitalized. But your Mixed Media Art is not digital, your art will be there for times and times ahead.
3. Art reflects you and shows who you really are.
You can try to tell someone how you feel in words. You can talk, write an e-mail, a blogpost, an sms. You can make a photo, you can make a videolog. But expressing how you feel through the colors of your crayons, your pencils, your paint will truely make an honest blueprint of how you feel. If you would have this tiny door inside your mind and someone could take a look inside your eomtions, they would actually see your Mixed Media Art. When you show your art to someone, you're actually saying: Hey, this is me. This is who I really am.
4. Art makes you feel happy and proud.
Sitting in front of the TV all the time doesn't make you happy, people! It does occasionally maybe, but every single evening? While you can make art every single day, without being bored, without feeling useless. And when you do make art every single day (or week), you will continue to grow and feel so happy and proud about yourself.
5. You are an Artist!
Don't let anybody tell you otherwise. You don't need to go to Art School to make art. You don't need to go to a Cooking School to cook, do you? We all cook all the time. Every day. And we totally respect that one can cook delicious meals, without being a pro. Of course you'd need recipes. But who cares that you followed a recipe when you and your family and friends are enjoying your delicious home cooked meal? They will even ask you for that recipe.
We accept that someone can make the best pies in the world, without being a Chef de la Cuisine. You don't have to be the new Michelangelo to make awesome art. Do you think it is okay to be someone that makes the best pies in the world, without being able to make a 7-course diner? Than it is also okay to make the best Mixed Media art, without having an art-degree.
6. With Art you distinguish yourself
There are 7 billion people on this planet today. Everything we own are copies of mass produced goods. And in this mass-world we have the urgent need to distinguish ourselves. We want to be seen, we want to be noticed. We don't want to be a random number out of 7 billion. You want to be [your name here] and be well respected for being [your name here].
7. Art is in your nature
A few years ago I visited one of those famous prehistoric cave drawings in France. Even in prehistoric times human beings had the need to create. It is who we are. Deep in our heart we feel the need to create. If you have children, proof of this is around you all the time. Give your kid a crayon and it will start drawing. If you forgot to give your kid a piece of paper with that crayon, it will even start drawing on your walls! (You know this is true! ;-) )
We don't have caves anymore. But we do have paper, beautiful colored pigments in the shape of paint, crayons, pencils. Use them. You just have to, it is in your nature.
6 opmerkingen:
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Liefs, Melanie
Het zouden mijn woorden kunnen zijn!
Top!
Ik ben blij dat jij hetze goed onder woorden hebt weten te brengen! Niks meer aan toe te voegen!
Thanks ladies!!! :-D
It was amazing to read it, thank you!!! <3 RESPECT from Hungary...
Hoi Marieke,
Geweldig omschreven. Heb het ook even op mijn blog gelinkt. Hoop dat dat okay is :-)
Gr. Charlene
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