“I think if I could go back in time and give myself a message, it would be to reiterate that my value as an artist doesn’t come from how much I create. I think that mind-set is yoked to capitalism.
Poet Amanda Gorman, in “7 Questions, 75 Artists, 1 Very Bad Year“, The New York Times 10 March 2021
“Being an artist is about how and why you touch people’s lives, even if it’s one person. Even if that’s yourself, in the process of art-making.”
Pay particular attention to these words: “Even if that’s yourself“.
Now repeat them. And remember them. And believe them.
This month’s pebbles painting project developed from paintings I’d been doing in my sketchbook, playing with pebbles and paint, by and for myself.
Thank you Marion. I love receiving your Monday motivators and enjoy them all but this one really spoke to me. I have no wish to be a professional artist although I still want to be as good an artist as I can. I often get caught up in thinking that I ought to do this or that to improve, rather than just enjoy the process. Curiously, I have just finished a painting which I did purely for pleasure and gave me great joy (eventually). I will share it on Patreon.