Not that you asked, but I have some serious artist issues to work through right now and something tells me that I'm not the only one. I call myself a metalsmith when anyone asks what kind of art I do but maybe that's not fair to me. And to say that I do a lot of 'stuff' isn't fair, either.
Lately I have found that my hands are itchy for something different. Maybe to get back to what I started doing a gazillion years ago when a drawing instructor gave me such high praise that I started believing that what came from my hand and eye was, well, good. Not worthy of having my name on the front of my work quite yet (and that's another story - the lesson of which is to be careful what you tell students as it lasts forever) but certainly worthy of hanging for critique and learning to accept praise from peers. Whew! Was that a lot of 'heaviness, man' to work through for an 18 year old art student!
So here I am feeling pressure from a gallery or two that new metalwork is needed and old metalwork has to be exchanged for the new. What I 'heard' is that my old work isn't worthy anymore. Ridiculous, no? I internalized and brooded for a while and then began to work out some old issues and found that it's time to take a break from the hardware and metal for a little while (I'll come back to you, I swear) and to get back to the satisfyingly soft work of drawing and color. This weekend I took up a few colored pencil drawings that I had started (I'm ashamed to say) a few years ago and I began slowly finishing them. I began to work with more intensity and fervor and, believe it or not, JOY! My eyes are seeing things fresh and my hand is translating as well as ever and, can it be?, I'm excited to sit at my drawing table surrounded by pencils and toothy paper and just freakin' draw.
As I work out some issues, I'll be back with brilliant insight and a few more completed drawings. I'm not begging for praise here but am satisfied to show the world that I'm more than metal. What is an artist?
And what kind of an artist are you?
