[Bit]

Originally Posted by dixielady

I have a few artistic hobbies, but nothing to really classify me as a serious artist. Just some things I really enjoy.

I think being an artist is about the way we look at the world as much as anything... and I dunno about you, but for years I could not do much of anything with my hands, especially my drawing and painting (carpal tunnel syndrome), but I didn't stop being an artist for all that.

I think that if you are like me, no matter WHAT happens you will always find a way to make something (in the years when I could do nothing else, I sponge-painted shoeboxes) because the urge to create, to bring beauty, to make something new, to transform--that urge never goes away.

For me personally, whether I make things other people value or not, that urge makes me, creates me, transforms me into a serious artist simply because it cannot be denied. If I cannot paint with brushes I will paint with words, if I cannot transform the landscape I will transform my soul, if I cannot create beauty physically I will find a way to create it in your heart.

No, I'm not famous, nor do I have a career in the fine arts, nor do I even make a living in the craft arts.... but surely that spirit, that drive, that need to transform and create that springs out eternally no matter which way my life turns... surely that must be the lifeblood of a serious artist...