Archive for October, 2009
Belize: Have Artist, Will Travel
click to view video
It’s rarely lost on me that I’m fortunate enough to have a job that allows for the types of travel that it does.
Traveling to warm and/or tropical climes in pursuit of bugs and critters to photograph would still technically qualify as a hobby for me, but I’m working on making it more.
My friends and family often ask “what was it like?” or “how did you do it?”, and more often than not I find it difficult to summarize in a satisfying way – there are just a lot of details (and planning) involved in a long trip to a far away locale.
Back at the start 2009, my partner and I traveled to Belize – the above video was an attempt to summarize some of the steps involved. Sadly I didn’t capture any of the process of actually getting to the marine reserve which was by small skiff (one of the best parts), but this should give a small idea of the journey.
To see images captured while on location and more, head to Photogrovert, my photography website.
A New Studio Cometh… Together Slowly
click image to embiggen
After spending the month of August on a small farm in upstate New York as an Artist in Residence with Chashama, a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping artists find the space they need, Chashama has awarded me with a Visual Arts Studio Award: stated simply, this means I’ve been given access to a new subsidized studio in the Brooklyn Army Terminal.
Above you’ll find a photograph of the space with freshly painted floors (ah, satisfying… you know that appealed to my barely restrained OCD) and a few odds and ends.
One of the things I’ve immediately noticed about having a larger space is that it begins to let your thoughts and ideas grow larger, which is both exciting and potentially expensive.
I expect there to be much movement on the creation front; part of the obligation to keeping the studio lay in spending no less than 50 hours a month in the space.
A Career in the Arts? Really? – Part IV
What drives someone to desire a career as an artist?
What makes them say, I’m going to make “art” for a living?
Every single artist I’ve met along the way has a different story to tell and, seemingly, a different impetus behind what drives them to create their art.
There are those who create art because they enjoy it, but feel uncomfortable making the jump to working on it full time, and there are those driven by an all-powerful need to create that allows for nothing else, and so, create they will, all else be damned. There are then those who simply enjoy the creative aspect of the work as a hobby and nothing more: something to pass the time and calm the spirit. And there are those who work at other tasks for the majority of their lives, turning only to art when so many other hurdles have been vaulted. The list goes on…
For myself, I realized that creating was what made me the most happy, and at an early age I discovered that I was a slave to making sure I was happy if nothing else. I’ve been called selfish, single-minded, stubborn, foolish, courageous, and a litany of other words because of this, but in the end it’s the pursuit of happiness that is the most important part of being alive for me. There have been a slew of words published on this very subject, illuminating the modern origins of this philosophy, but at the end of the day I can’t help but think that this is what one’s forebears had hoped and strove for: the dream that is “a better life”.
And so, shamelessly, I turned to the arts in one form or another to satisfy my desire to be happy.
To that effect, when I was asked recently what I would do should my current plan to establish myself in the art world fail, I paused, thought, and answered: “I’ll do something else in the arts.”
You see, I don’t have another realistic choice if my first priority is to be happy. Happy is different than rich. Happy is different than successful. Happy is not, however, so different than fulfilled.
In an earlier post in this series I mentioned that my father was not around a lot while I was growing up, but fortunately I had a supportive mother. I was, however, also very lucky that my mother, though divorced, was dating a young man who was equally supportive of my interests. That man later became my stepfather, whom I think of as my dad, and provided me with much of the support that a growing child needs in order to see one’s creative interests as viable in the context of a world at large.
For whatever specific reasons I chose the arts as the path which I walk down, it was without question made easier by the support I received, and still receive today by those I choose to surround myself with.
At the end of the day, were I to offer advice to a person seeking to become an artist, it would be this: surround yourself with support.
In fact, I think that good advice no matter your pursuit.
And, oh yeah, honestly ask yourself, “am I happy?”
my dad: a supportive environment is important for the developing artist
To catch up on the previous parts of this meandering series click here: Part I, Part II, Part III