Anyone Can Do That!

This is a response to Jeane Vogel's recent post Oh, Sure! Anyone Can Do This! Please check it out if you haven't yet done so - it is very well spoken and raises a lot of good points.

A lot of people can have a hard time appreciating all of the learning, adapting and risk-taking needed to develop an artist's eye or a particular skill, even including other artists. (In all honesty, that can be said of a lot of things, though, not just art.) And true mastery can make things appear effortless when they really aren't.

That said, I still cannot believe some of the things said at art markets. So many things have been said to me or friends of mine that I needed an outlet for it, hence I created He Said, She Said. I personally find it most important not to let others' views, opinions, statements and comments, poorly articulated or not, feed into my own self-doubts. There are so many obstacles and hardships to developing as an artist and it helps to be able to brush things off like water off a duck's back as much as possible. It's crucial to have an outlet though, so if you find yourself troubled by it make art or write a blog or keep a journal...

I still strongly believe that anyone and everyone can be an artist, though not everyone is driven or passionate enough to actually undertake the rigorous discipline, focus and self-searching needed to truly blossom as such. And I am all for exploring new media, outlets and ideas. I must admit I even kind of like the idea of i-phone art, although I'm sure it's been done already. :)