Read Affirmations for Artists

to revere beauty without being enchanted by it…

Interesting.

Today, I meditate on the meaning of beauty.

I am too lazy to write out an entire Affirmation from this book, but at the end of each one is a promise that I am to make to myself, and I liked today’s:

I can’t control how my work will be received, what will be made of it, or what will be done with it. But it is in my power to chuckle at misunderstandings that arise between me and its audience. If I can assure no one else’s vital connection to art, I can at least assure my own: To the art I create and to all art that moves me.

It’s not that people in general can’t or don’t understand art, but that the artist isn’t afraid of their reactions. What if they don’t understand it? What if it doesn’t portray what I intended? are all questions of the artist. This book is all about losing fear and creating, which is really good for me right now.

By the way, the way I happened to get this book is interesting. I went to a hair-stylist, and he asked me about what I do for a living. For some reason, this guy made me feel like sharing. I told him that I was an aspiring artist, but that I was disappointed because I felt unsuccessful. It turned out this guy made a living as an artist for years before realizing that he was unsatisfied doing art for anyone but himself, and decided that he really wanted to style hair.

This guy was really interesting, and gave me a lot of pointers. He said that, for some reason, he had been compelled to take this book to work and read it, even though he hadn’t looked at it in years, and he gave it to me. I spent a whole year and didn’t look at it at all, but when my mom died, life suddenly seemed very short, and I was still feeling bad about my lack of progress as an artist.

And that’s where I am now. Reading this book, teaching myself to paint and make dolls, and taking guitar lessons. Thank you, Mr. Hair Stylist.

Today’s affirmation was basically, “Yer gonna get old,” while yesterday’s was, “Don’t do drugs.”

I understand that these are things I should think about, but shouldn’t a book of affirmations offer a positive take on these things? The book should be called, “Considerations for Artists.”

Today’s affirmation is about accidents.

“Many artists are afraid to encourage accidents in their art making…”

”...to protect oneself from making mistakes, to worry too much about wasting water color paper, film, or marble, is to create a state of constipation.”

Well, I certainly don’t want to be in that state!