Determination
One of the things that keeps coming up for me lately is the role of the artist. Lately it is my obsession to think about what exactly the identity of an artist really is, and more specifically this artist.
1%
I remember hearing in school from professors that less than 1% of art students will continue on as professional artists after school. I’m not sure if that was meant to scare us or motivate us. Still that first couple years after school finding my motivation to continue was difficult at best. Without the structure of assignments and the lack of invested and honest critique my work struggled and I did as well. I didn’t know what I was supposed to be doing or even why I was doing it, I’d infamously proclaimed in a critique that “Art is masturbation.” In direct frustration to what I knew was coming after school. That my work and ideas would both be put under the bed and I’d likely join the 99% either out of frustration or pure ignorance about how to be an Artist.
Wake up it’s morning
It was early one morning and the dead of summer in Phoenix that I finally figured it out. If I was to become an artist it meant that I had to do it no matter what and be willing to sacrifice everything to produce the work. I had to start producing everyday and refining and promoting as if my life depended on it. When I got out of bed that day I’d joined the 1% because I couldn’t differentiate between the idea of Artist and myself. It is now my life and more deeply who I am than anything else.
Participation
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Win stuff!
Those that participate the most will win stuff! Up for grabs: a signed copy of Phoenix 22, a Tyson Crosbie Photography Tshirt (morse code), and several signed 5×8 prints.
