The Adventure Continues…
Last year I had the opportunity to do something that very few people get to do: I spent a week with an artist I greatly admire. Anyone who knows me or reads this blog should know what I am talking about (and chances are you’re probably getting weary of hearing about it, too). It was an amazing experience to say the least.
And I am going to get to do it again….
Last year’s class with Larry Elmore was termed a beginner’s class. This time around it’s described as an advanced class. All week long I have been casting my mind back to the memories of the people, the food, and the all-around good time I had the first time. I have no doubts there will be more of the same to come this October.
What’s interesting to me is that my perception is different this time. For nearly a year before the first class I tied myself into mental and emotional knots. That ever present fear of “Am I really good enough to stand in the same room as these people?” had me sincerely doubting whether or not I should go.
What I didn’t appreciate at the time is that when you get a large group of truly creative people together, pettiness and ego find no purchase. Each has their own style and skill level, and are very accepting and appreciative of the others. Most of the people at the last class were better than me in their own ways, but never once did any of them make me feel the lesser. That is the hallmark of a great experience in my book.
I think the mistake I’ve been making is looking at being an artist the same way I look at computer programming. In that latter arena, there are benchmarks and a veritable checklist of things that a program must adhere to in order to be successful, or at the very least termed “good”. Artists don’t work that way, and it would be a real tragedy if they did. A finished piece should not kowtow to any set standards that define it as either good or bad. The only qualification is whether or not something of the artist was invested into the piece itself. Artists invest themselves into their work like second nature, so by default that lone criteria is met.
I am not as uneasy about this upcoming class as I was about the first. This time I am eager. Eager to learn yet another series of tricks and tools that will help me realize the vision in my minds eye that has yet to truly be revealed. I am eager to take another step in improving myself in what has been a lifelong pursuit. I am eager to see again those I have the distinction to call friends.
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