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The best part of being an artist is also the hardest part of being an artist: there is no job description.
You get to make up the job yourself! - but - you also have to make it up yourself. It's amazingly freeing to be able to figure out for yourself who you are as an artist, but it's also incredibly challenging and terrifying to do this. Yes: both, and. At the same time.
A traditional job comes with a built-in job description. You know what is expected of you in that part of your life. When you're at work, your job is to do A, B, C.
You get to make up the job yourself! - but - you also have to make it up yourself. It's amazingly freeing to be able to figure out for yourself who you are as an artist, but it's also incredibly challenging and terrifying to do this. Yes: both, and. At the same time.
A traditional job comes with a built-in job description. You know what is expected of you in that part of your life. When you're at work, your job is to do A, B, C.
I have no job description and sometimes I flounder and sometimes I get stuck and sometimes I feel that I'm not doing it right. And sometimes I think I should give it up (but not really, because I know I can't. This is me.).
I've been thinking quite a bit about what I expect from myself in my job as an artist. And, number one, I don't actually consider it a job, because it doesn't start at 9 am and end at 5 pm.
This is just how I want to live my life.
This is a list of some important points I want to remember. A rough draft of my "job" description.
- I want to show people the good that I see in the world.
- I want to help people see the possibilities that could exist for them if they learn how to look.
- I want to share a sense of wonder; I want to pass on delight.
- I want people to come into my space at a show and feel that they are welcome to stay for as long as they want to, to chat with me, to look around, to leave, to come back. No pressure.
- I want to explore, play, and try new things.
- I want to be brave and vulnerable.
- I want to be creative in the way that feels right to me at the time that it feels right to me.
- I want to crack open the dull, ordinary things people tend to ignore, and reveal the beauty within.
This is my life as an artist; and it's a constant work in progress.
