Misunderstood...

Daisy: So, you’re an artist, what is the medium you work in?

Brian: Anger…Pain… Fear… Aggression.

Daisy: So, is that like, watercolor, then or…

From “Spaced” A British sitcom from the creators of “Shawn of The Dead”

In college, I had a friend who was an amazing painter, Ben. He told me that when he was home for Christmas one year, his family was having a gathering and many people from the neighborhood had come by. One of the guests that evening asked Ben what he was studying in college. He replied he was studying to be an artist. His father jumped on that and said “Which means he’s working really hard at learning how to at take people’s orders for their lunch.”

He is not the first artist misunderstood by his parents. And he will not be the last. While in Film school, my father continually would tell me when the local news station where I grew up was hiring. When I would tell him that was not what I wanted to do, he would ask me what the heck I was in school for. Sigh.

Now, I know that my parents are proud of my accomplishments in art. What I can’t determine is whether or not my accomplishments are more important to them than if I have a good dental plan.

I’m proud that I have never swayed from my artistic vision and got stuck using my creativity packing groceries or getting the perfect angle for the interview with the local winner of the prettiest dog contest. I don’t have a lot of money. I don’t live in a fancy place. I don’t have good credit, because it is hard to pay bills on time when jobs can be sporadic. AND, I also don’t have regrets.

It seems that we, as artists, live in either 2 worlds. We live scraping by, working in spirit-breaking “day” jobs, waiting, hoping, praying that one day someone will notice that we are more than the desk we sit behind, the phone we answer, the dishes we wash. Or we sell our work, but in the process also ourselves.

We are poets and musicians and dancers and actors and directors and painters and illustrators and more. We are desperate to just live off our art. To survive from our imagination. So we strive with our creativity guiding us, hoping we do the right thing.

There is no such thing as a lazy artist.

Artists wake up everyday knowing that they will most probably accomplish 3 things during the day; eat, poop and make art. If those 3 things get accomplished then things will be okay. However, no artist you have ever admired settled for okay. No artist you have ever admired was lazy. Hell, Pollack would ride his bike for the booze when he didn’t have a car. You get it done, because speaking what needs to be said is important.

Some days you will create good art. Some days you will create blah art. Some days you will create art that transforms you a little bit. But if you are not lazy, meaning you create in any way you can, you will always create something that helps you see a little bit more next time. That makes all the difference.

What many people don’t realize is that artists are working in every single moment they are conscious. Even when it appears they are doing nothing, they are actually listening to the birds and watching the sky and observing how the two interact.

When you receive a piece of art in your life, you are not just receiving a selection of words or square canvas with paint on it. You are receiving ideas. You are receiving a message that comes from a deep and profound place. You are receiving knowledge based on time and experience. You are receiving a new perspective on a shared history.

If an artist were lazy, he would show you nothing. He would have no work for you to see. Artists are not lazy, because they can’t be. Speaking what needs to be said is too important.

why i make art... why i teach art

I make art when I can not speak.

I make art when I feel alone and I do not want to be.

I make art when I am happy, when I am sad, when I am in love and when I do not know how I am feeling at all.

I make art to feel safe about who I am.



I teach art so others may learn how to speak when they feel they can't.

I teach art so those who feel alone, will no longer feel that way.

I teach art so that ART and the word and knowledge of all the artists that have come before me and that will come after me will be heard and understood.

As I am writing this entry, I am at Caldera, teaching film to middle school students. It is freeing to be working in a beautiful, natural environment and be teaching a digital, modern art. I watch my students light up when they see their ideas come to life in the form of a movie. I feel my heart light up when I hear a 12-year old say "Camera Rolling!" and another reply "ACTION!".

As artists, we must also be teachers. We must allow ourselves to understand our crafts fully-- that is our responsibility to the world. We must then pass our knowledge on to the future artists so that ART does not die. That is our responsibility to our ART.