Can Paint, but Won't Do It

I'm sure you all remember Claire. You know, the pastel artist who was set-up on Gatlinburg's sidewalk churning out freehand portraits... way back in the day when Gatlinburg was known for it's wide mixture of portrait and landscape sidewalk artists. (I'm sure there are literally thousands of homes who have, or had, original art decorating the walls due to the numerous artists who made their living on the streets of the little mountain tourist Mecca.)

Well, Claire said one thing which has stuck with me for years. We were discussing the subject of time and freedom and producing art for money. I made the statement that if artists had a funded income given to them so they wouldn't have to work for a living, then they would produce far greater pieces and really enrich the world with their artistic offerings. (I was young and naive then.) Claire instantly disagreed with my sentiment. She had been a part of the art community for far more years than I had. She was a professional artist; she socialized with professional artists; she lived with professional artists, she spent most of her life involved with artists and their art. Claire said, "Nope. Most of the artists I know, if they weren't producing art out of necessity for an income, wouldn't even be doing their art hardly at all." Her observations were that though her art community was extremely hard working, putting-in ten to twelve hour days (seven days a week during the tourist season), in the off-season when the artists weren't working, they weren't even thinking about producing art. Most of the ones she socialized with would sit around drinking, partying, and producing hardly any art at all. It wasn't a matter of time or income, it was more a matter of incentive. They just didn't do it.

Since then, I have observed her words to be pretty accurate. I have been around multitudes of artists, both professional; hobbyists; and students. Just like Claire, I too have observed many artists who actually do have the time, resources and income to churn-out an abundance of masterpieces... but very few of them do. Now, I'm not generalizing about all of them. I've seen a few who get wildly creative and produce like there's no tomorrow, but they seem to be in the minority. Our human nature makes it easier for us to talk about our passions than to actually put forth the effort to really do something about them.

Don't think I'm just picking on artists. This frailty of 'producing only when it's necessary' rears it's ugly old head in many other areas of life. Artists aren't alone in this regard. But it does seem when someone is working, or creating, solo... when they don't have other people to cheer them on, or to pay them, then it's far too easy to just sit back and talk about what you would like to do. It takes a rare individual to do their best when the rewards are only felt, seen, and acknowledged by yourself.

Yep, Claire was pretty accurate in her assessment.