So much easier said than done, but I always find the rewards of leaping greatly outway the risks. I often tell my students that the artists that they know by name never played it safe, they always pushed the boundaries, they always plunged into the unknown. Great article and great advice!
Yes, excellent article again. It's definitely scary to take the plunge and hope one can not only love how that can feel, but tread that water until it feels right. I so respect the timing that fear may put off....it's not only fear but the instinct/intuition to feel when it's the right time even if that itself feels somewhat uncomfortable. It's trusting in our own sense as well as the beyond the beyond (The Universe, God, Spirit, Higher Self, etc.). It's just innately knowing when to do it (and that takes practice, many takes, at times failing, but having that keep on keeping one attitude).
"The artist's call is to risk everything" When I was a young artist, I took this literally. But now I would add. Take care of yourself. Take care of your mental and physical health. Be aware of your relationships. Find healthy alternatives to artmaking. It can't be done at the expense of everything else in Life. Go to nature. Exercise. Love. Don't expect art to validate your existence. Sure, risk what's on the canvas. It means little. Art may or may not make you a living. It may or may not give you joy. Don't risk everything for it. It's just another option for doing, not a recipe for being.
Thanks for writing DD. Actually, I still take this literally. But yes! All of those other things you mentioned and many more need to be accounted for as part of the process of life for sure. A lot of that I have discussed in other articles. I am mostly talking about when you are actually at work on your art projects. You can't get to the depth of it without the 'all in' commitment, at least when you are in the studio. Everything else in life needs that commitment too. Mental health, physical health, paying the bills, relationships, cooking dinner, etc. Everything needs commitment and attention which could be a recipe for being as well as doing. I would also say the art making is a great place to test things out, practice self-discipline, freedom, imagination, develop intuition, self confidence and many other things that can be applied to everything else.
Gorky, whose quote was the inspiration for this article, seems to have been a very intense fellow and we have to consider that he did kill himself at 44 years old.
Arshile Gorky, an abstract expressionist painter, died by suicide on July 21, 1948.
Suicide note and circumstances
Gorky told a neighbor and a student that he was going to kill himself.
He was found hanged in his barn studio.
On a nearby wooden crate he had written "Goodbye My Loveds".
Tragic events leading to suicide:
A fire in his Connecticut studio destroyed more than thirty of his works.
He had a terminal diagnosis of rectal cancer and consequent operations.
He was in a debilitating automobile accident.
His wife and two children abandoned him.
He was dependent on a colostomy tube after colon cancer surgery.
Wise words from you. I appreciate everything you wrote here as it's all a great reminder to not totally let go and go crazy, but to first and foremost 'take care of oneself'. Thank you.
So much easier said than done, but I always find the rewards of leaping greatly outway the risks. I often tell my students that the artists that they know by name never played it safe, they always pushed the boundaries, they always plunged into the unknown. Great article and great advice!
As usual, timely and something that I completely needed to read right now. Thank you.
We either risk and grow… or stay put in the status quo. Great article!
Yes, excellent article again. It's definitely scary to take the plunge and hope one can not only love how that can feel, but tread that water until it feels right. I so respect the timing that fear may put off....it's not only fear but the instinct/intuition to feel when it's the right time even if that itself feels somewhat uncomfortable. It's trusting in our own sense as well as the beyond the beyond (The Universe, God, Spirit, Higher Self, etc.). It's just innately knowing when to do it (and that takes practice, many takes, at times failing, but having that keep on keeping one attitude).
That is all great advice Cecil, thank you - what has anyone to lose?
"The artist's call is to risk everything" When I was a young artist, I took this literally. But now I would add. Take care of yourself. Take care of your mental and physical health. Be aware of your relationships. Find healthy alternatives to artmaking. It can't be done at the expense of everything else in Life. Go to nature. Exercise. Love. Don't expect art to validate your existence. Sure, risk what's on the canvas. It means little. Art may or may not make you a living. It may or may not give you joy. Don't risk everything for it. It's just another option for doing, not a recipe for being.
Thanks for writing DD. Actually, I still take this literally. But yes! All of those other things you mentioned and many more need to be accounted for as part of the process of life for sure. A lot of that I have discussed in other articles. I am mostly talking about when you are actually at work on your art projects. You can't get to the depth of it without the 'all in' commitment, at least when you are in the studio. Everything else in life needs that commitment too. Mental health, physical health, paying the bills, relationships, cooking dinner, etc. Everything needs commitment and attention which could be a recipe for being as well as doing. I would also say the art making is a great place to test things out, practice self-discipline, freedom, imagination, develop intuition, self confidence and many other things that can be applied to everything else.
Gorky, whose quote was the inspiration for this article, seems to have been a very intense fellow and we have to consider that he did kill himself at 44 years old.
Arshile Gorky, an abstract expressionist painter, died by suicide on July 21, 1948.
Suicide note and circumstances
Gorky told a neighbor and a student that he was going to kill himself.
He was found hanged in his barn studio.
On a nearby wooden crate he had written "Goodbye My Loveds".
Tragic events leading to suicide:
A fire in his Connecticut studio destroyed more than thirty of his works.
He had a terminal diagnosis of rectal cancer and consequent operations.
He was in a debilitating automobile accident.
His wife and two children abandoned him.
He was dependent on a colostomy tube after colon cancer surgery.
He was humiliated by art critics.
He was severely depressed.
Wise words from you. I appreciate everything you wrote here as it's all a great reminder to not totally let go and go crazy, but to first and foremost 'take care of oneself'. Thank you.
So much truth in this. Thanks for the reminder and for putting it so eloquently Cecil.
Art imitating life and vice versa. 🤔