Last night was the artist reception for a group of students from the gallery where I teach on Saturdays. It was held at the Hanover Park (Illinois) Village Hall where, for the last 6 years, our students have been invited to exhibit their work during the summer months. It has been my pleasure to teach drawing & painting at the gallery since it opened in 2005, so I always look forward to this opportunity to share with our local community the results of the students’ passion for, & commitment to, making art.
Standing in front of each of the wonderfully-achieved paintings done by my students last night or, for that matter, by any of my other students at any other time, it is common, even for me, to overlook how much effort & dedication they bring to their easels week after week.
When we listen to a piano concert, say, or see an opera, it’s easy to imagine the pianist or the singers practicing for hours on end in order to attain their artistry. Yet when we view a painting, though we may marvel at the technique or delight in the gorgeous colors, we don’t necessarily, or even usually, think of what was required of the artist in order to achieve such an outcome. It’s as though the painting came into being, fully-realized, with just the seemingly effortless application of its pigment. Perhaps this speaks to the difference between the performing arts & the visual arts, but it can also be attributed to the persistent notion, whether conscious or unconscious, that artists have been given a special gift at birth, ie., “talent,” that allows them to produce art & without which, the rest of us cannot.
Nothing could be further from the truth. Putting aside for now the debate over whether artists are born or made, the fact is, even a purported innate artistic gift won’t amount to a hill of beans without passion, commitment & dedication…all fancy words that signify hard work & long hours. And even before the hard work commences, there are two other things that are essential in order to kick-start the journey of art-making, even assuming, once again, the requisite innate artistic gift: One must experience an inner calling to art & then one must decide to follow it.
Having done so, what is the artistic equivalent to the musician’s rigorous practice schedule? It is acquiring & honing one’s observation skills by drawing & painting. It is mastering the techniques specific to each medium by practicing them assiduously. It is understanding how to use color effectively, a vast & complex task in itself that can only be achieved through direct experience. And, most difficult & daunting of all, it is finding one’s own visual “voice” by being courageous enough to face off fear & uncertainty. All of this requires years of passion, commitment, dedication; you know, hard work & long hours.
As for debating whether artists are born or made, this is akin to debating whether people can really change or if it is better to be lucky or smart: In my experience, people tend to believe one or the other depending upon their core beliefs about life in general. For my part, the notion that artists are born & not made played a significant role in deterring me from my dream of becoming one for an inordinately long time. But that’s a story for another blog…