For the love of Art

For the love of Art & Happy Valentines to you this weekend.

I've got big news...

I'm engaged!

That's right, I'm engaged...fully...in life and in my creative process. I'm aware. I'm awake. I'm FULLY ENGAGED.

Someone asked me the other day why something they saw in a museum was a piece of art, why these things this one woman made years ago, were considered art. This sparked an amazing conversation:

Why was she an artist? 

Why is her work considered art?

What is art?

What is an artist?

How does one become an artist?

I hope to get more deeply into these fun art school type questions with an upcoming course, but for now l want to share what the creative process is on it's root level.

The creative process is on its root level about choices. 

Choices are how we navigate, categorize, and create everything in our lives. Our choices affect us on a deep level and on our surface experience of the day-to-day.

When we choose things from outside pressures, we are not always making the choices that suite us most. This is where 'artistic vision' comes in...

The artist is one who is very capable of hearing and heeding from a deep sense of internal vision. The artist seeks to be authentic with choices. The artist listens to that internal guidance. The artist makes choices consciously and purposefully to create what they must.

Regarding the blank canvas...

The question that comes up for me as a visual artist most often is: how do you just walk up to a blank canvas and know what to paint?!

The question is usually asked out of exasperation. Probably because the person is frustrated that they have tried to paint or tried to do this or that and they were unable (in their mind, they FAILED) to produce something from thin air.

Here is the thing about artistic & creative choices...

Artistic & creative choices are never produced from a miraculous "thin air". They come from years of churning, studying, understanding, listening, observing, drawing from resources, applying an idea over and over again...That canvas is a compilation of every bit of artistic training and preparation that person has done up until then. 

My infamous art professor, when asked how long a painting took him, generally would respond with the age he was at the time. This was his way of saying, everything I do now is a product of everything I have done, everything I have learned up to this point. It is a cumulative effect. 

There is no such thing as a thin air canvas miracle. Just sayin'.

So why would we think we can coast through life 
and have our creativity at our finger tips when we want it? 

Why would we think we can hit the snooze button on our senses 
and be able to conjure creative genius just because?

We have to cultivate our creativity. 

We have to get engaged.

We have to become educated in how we make our choices, 
on our selves, and what causes us to choose certain things.

We have to learn to trust our gut, our intuition, our artistic direction & vision.

When I shared I was engaged, 
perhaps you were hoping to see and hear a different message, maybe one that was more romantic. 

But this message of engagement is most certainly about commitment and, if you ask me, that's pretty dang romantic.

I'm committed to my creativity. 
I'm committed to making choices with my eyes open and a life being fully lived. 
Quite frankly, it can be a wild ride, but it's fun as heck.

I'm not perfect, but I'm a work (of art!) in process and that feels like a great reason to celebrate.

So Happy Valentines Day to you this weekend, dear Art Nurturer!

If you want accountability on your creative journey, consider joining The Cultivators Community. We talk about this stuff all the time and it's awesome. You can learn more here.

If you are loving this, please share it with those you believe would love it too.

Art Nurture is about being fully alive and living life with the soul of an artist. A life filled with passion, intention, and purpose. Thanks so much for your time and your presence.
 
Cultivate & Nurture, 
Court McCracken

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