Tuesday, October 27, 2009

First Question I'm Going to Answer

So far I've received two sets of questions for my upcoming Blogoversary Giveaway. I wanted to answer atleast some of the questions, regardless if these questions are the "winning ones" or not. So I am not going to reveal the person's identity for each question...and I may not answer them in the order I got 'em or all the questions the person asked in a row either. It's gonna be a BIG mystery. :) I'm also doing this so maybe I won't get repeat questions but we'll see how it goes. So here's the first one.

-What do you find has been the most challenging aspect in your artist journey?

Well, I've been on my artistic journey for around 10 years now. And for many years I hardly made anything at all. (And I have to say I really regret that but what can ya do, right?) So I started painting first and focused heavily on being a painter. But without any formal training or art classes, I truly felt like I did not know right from wrong quite often. Which was not terrible but I still struggled a bit. (And I still don't use the color wheel-ssshhh!)

Eventually I learned that there is no "right" or "wrong" with art. EVER. Yet again, very early on I felt "stuck in a rut" with painting mainly because I can't draw (at all!) yet I still like to paint and create things. So I kept on painting and it just seemed to look like I kept on making the same paintings. So soon enough I became very frustrated and bored and turned to mixed media work.

So to make this long story short (too late!)...for me the biggest struggle has been trying to find what I'm good at. What I feel are my strong points as an artist. And it takes a while for some people whereas with others it may not take as long. But I think that's also the whole part of being an artist-to discover and experiment to find what you're capable of. And if you fail, why not try again or try something different? It's really all just trial and error. Examples: Some things I make and people may not like them but I do. OR some things I make and don't think I did my best and then people really like 'em. So again, there is no right or wrong. If you like something, you like it, no matter what anyone says and vice versa.

And I'm still on my artistic journey and will be for the rest of my life. Who knows...maybe I'll stop mixed media within the next year and start doing watercolor. Anything can happen. And you can't plan it. It'll happen whether you're ready or not. And I'm sure I'll still struggle in the future but maybe not as much as I did in the beginning. {Knocks on wood} Well, to be very cheesy my lil' business cards say "Eve Noir: painter, mixed media, and collage artist" and I feel like that does really represent what I do. So the struggle (and upcoming struggles) was worth it because I feel like I'm finally on the path I should be on. ;)

5 Curious people had this to say...:

Irish Chick Soup said...

There's a lovely story about Claude Monet.

He always wanted to paint with the realism of Eugene Delacroix. He said he just didn't have it in him. Now he's seen as one of the fathers of French Impressionism and personally, one of my favorites.

Brialee said...

You are so right, it is definitely all about the journey! You may find your niche, and maybe that niche will be your comfort zone for a year or ten years, then it'll evolve into something else taking you in a whole new direction :) That's what being an artist is all about. *hugs*

Sullivan McPig said...

As long as you enjoy what yuo're doing it's all worthwhile in my opinion. and I know about people loving something you hate: the worst short story I ever wrote in my opinion was the one my writing teacher loved best.

The Queen of Clearance said...

waiiiit! Am I too late for my questions!!!???

Eve Noir said...

QUEEN-No, you're not. You need to send them to my ghostgirl6@gmail.com email though. Not here...and I'm just answering some for the fun of it now. That's all!