Defensiveness in Art

O.K. This is one of those posts that I hesitated on writing, but I hope to help those that really have their hearts set on being a photographer, designer, artist, or whatever. You know the show "So You Think You Can Dance (Sing)? Have you ever seen it? And how many times does the "talent' start out with, "My family thinks I'm a really good (fill in the blank)." That's when I usually cringe. Family support and encouragement is one thing, but pumping up a family member to the point where they think they are of professional quality is another thing. It's getting late, so I will continue this tomorrow, but I will end with one thing. I started writing years ago. I wanted to maybe be a children's book writer. Why, you may ask, when clearly my abilities lie in art. But off I went to write. And I mean write. I even went as far as meeting with a writing coach. I was convinced I had a story as good as any one. I had many stories I felt that way about. Gosh... my family thought they were just GREAT! So there I was one afternoon, sitting across from the coach, and after awhile I finally came to grasp what he was saying (even though I didn't want to hear it), "Stick to what you do best. Illustrate." Really???? Damn. But you know, that's ok. Maybe one day I'll write a simpler book. A picture book where the reader is more enamored with my illustrations than the few words I'll have on the page. Pictures books were more my thing, the coach told me. In other words... My story was "cute" but not GOOD let alone GREAT. And you know what? I didn't get angry and I didn't get defensive. I will hopefully blog tomorrow about the main reason I'm writing this... defensive attitudes among people who have chosen an artistic career for themselves, because somehow (I think) all that I talked about above will somehow relate to what I will continue on tomorrow! See you then!