The Spirit of an Artist
I grew up in a family of Artists and I have spent a considerable amount of time working with Artists. Artists are a special breed. An artist sees something in his or her mind's eye. Or hears something in his or her mind's ear. The goal of the artist is to realize that which exists in the mind. The image or the sound. Imagine a sculptor. The sculptor doesn't see a block of marble, the sculptor sees the image that is hidden within the block of marble. Along with seeing what the marble will become, the artist also sees all that which must be chipped away in order to reveal the hidden beauty of the sculpture.
Trouble is, artists can have the tendency to only verbalize that which doesn't belong. Instead of describing the beauty of the forthcoming sculpture, the artist can be heard saying things like "this doesn't belong," or "what's this doing here"? or "this doesn't fit," or "this isn't right," or things to this effect. To anyone listening, this could sound like a constant stream of negativism and the artist could be perceived as being a negative person.
Artists typically hate their work. Painters don't like their paintings and Musician's don't like their music. Why? The artist sees the difference between what is and what was intended. Nobody else sees both, only the artist. The rest of us simply see the beauty of the work of art, whether we are seeing it or listening to it. Michelangelo probably didn't like the paintings on the Sistine chapel ceiling when he had finished them. He probably looked up and saw what he intended for it to look like instead. The rest of us are in awe at the beauty of his work. Our minds are not plagued with the images of what it was supposed to be, we can simply enjoy what it is.
It took me a very long time to learn this. I didn't understand why i was being perceived as a negative person. I finally realized that it was in my communication. I thought that those around me saw the same image that i did.
Now i realize that i need to talk more about the underlying beauty of what i see instead of all that which stands in its way.
Eric Stromberg