How old are you?

Flamboyant

Original oil painting  12x30" gallery wrap

by Susan Roux

I remember having tea with John Morris while touring his studio in Ireland. John had lots to say about art and the business of art. He was so interesting to listen to. One of the things he described was how the artists community was like tiers of a cake. I didn't get what he was saying so I asked him to elaborate. This is what he told me.

The bottom tier is the largest. It's where an artist begins. There are lots and lots of people on this tier. Lots and lots of people proclaiming to be artists or creative. As an artist develops and improves they rise to a higher tier. The tiers, he said, quickly become quite small compared to the bottom one. He suggested that it was very easy to communicate with an artist on your own tier, but trying to have a great artistic relationship with someone on a different tier, was much harder. Especially, he noted, with someone on a tier or two beneath you. The very top tier is the smallest where only a few artists reside and he suspected they must all know each other.

It's an interesting concept and I thought about what he said many times. I have to agree that it's easier to relate and communicate artistically with someone on your own tier. I'm sure many of you can relate to loosing art friends as your ability developed. For one, as you do develop, your understanding of certain things deepen and it's difficult to have the same conversations with an artist who has not experienced or has not gained knowledge of these things. 

I remember telling my mother that my mind was opening to knowledge about color that I never even knew existed. She wanted to know what. But it was difficult to put into words. All I could do was give a glimpse, a suggestion of what I was talking about. I remember feeling so alone. I had acquired this amazing new knowledge and had no one to converse with about it.

Perhaps John is right about the tiers, but I see it a little differently. For me, the artists journey resembles that of a person growing. We first begin all excited, wow I can do this. Like the young child who wants to have all their work up on the refrigerator, you eagerly show others what you've achieved. You glow with their compliments. Then adolescence hits. You become shy about what you're doing because you feel it's inferior to others works that you admire. You push on however and soon like a late teen or early twenty, you feel it's so simple and rejoice that you know it all! Unfortunately your bubble is burst as you move into your mid twenties. Suddenly you realize you have a lot more to learn. As you continue through your adulthood, gaining information and honing your skills, you eventually come to a place where you realize you'll never know all there is to know or understand about art. The more you learn, the harder it becomes. With continued work and learning, I think we'll keep growing all the way to old age. 

I chuckle when I look back to a time when I thought all this was so easy...

I think perhaps I'm somewhere in my late thirties possibly early forties, as far as development. It's a little hard to judge. I do know I still have a long way to go. Unlike actual aging, I think it's possible to leap through several years, possibly decades at times. A great teacher can propel you forward. 

So how old do you think you are in your artist journey?

(And in case you didn't know, Don Hatfield is a great teacher and will be teaching 3 workshops here in Maine in August. Contact me for more information.)