The Journey

"It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters in the end."

                                                                                        Ursala K. Le Guin

The struggle of being an artist. I'm not sure if non-artists understand this or not, but it is not easy to be an artist today (and maybe it  never has been easy!). I love the time I spend painting, sketching, and thinking about new paintings. I'm not so crazy about the business side of things like marketing, framing, bookkeeping, etc. But it has to be done and I'm the one who gets to do it.
I have a blog about my art. Who reads it? Mostly other artists. My website? I find that most of the visitors are other artists. Not that there is anything wrong with this, of course. I too, am curious about other artists websites and many of their blogs have great, inspiring ideas.
But how do we get our artwork out to the non-artists of the world? If we are trying to make a living from our art we need people to see it! Most of the artists I talk to these days say their sales are few and far between. It is not always easy to show up in your studio every day when sales are slow. Will this stop me from creating art? No, probably not. Creating art is what I do and it feeds my soul.

Recently I was talking with a young woman I used to work with before I left my 9 to 5 job. She told me how her past few months had been filled with new creative past times. She took a belly dancing workshop, art classes and attended poetry readings for the first time. I was impressed that she realized at such a young age that we all are artists and we need to do something for ourselves beyond our 9-5 jobs. Something that involves using the other side of our brain. Something creative. Experimenting with other media, using words as images in a painting, writing poetry or stories, making music, cooking, and other creative hobbies all add to our well-being for both artist and non-artist alike.

I enjoy inspiring others to try watercolor painting and all of its quirkiness, moodiness, glorious accidents and wonderful transparent glowing. There is no other media like it. It is wonderfully freeing and wildly spontaneous. I am not trying to be a famous painter. I am just paying more attention to Life, to my environment, the sights and sounds around me and painting what I feel. This is the journey we are all on, the journey of life. Enjoy your journey!