A to Z, 2012-- Q is for... (PART TWO)

QUOTATIONS!

Borrowed from my Pinterest wall... as much as I love the quote, the accompanying image just makes it a million times better!

I've always loved collecting them. From stories I've read... to movies and television shows... famous people... friends, family... if it's quotable, I've written it down.

Another Pinterest-"borrowed" image.

I used to have TONS of notepad files on my computer, filled with quotes I'd collected. I have some actual, real-life notebooks filled up, too. And one year, for Christmas, I gave all my friends personalized notebooks with images of their favorite TV shows, with all the funny things from the year written in.

One of my favorite quotes of all time, is a rather obscure one about love...

• "The kiss originated when the first male reptile licked the first female reptile, implying in a subtle, complimentary way that she was as succulent as the small reptile he had for dinner the night before." --F. Scott Fitzgerald

I just couldn't resist throwing that one into the mix today! For the purposes of keeping this blog post short-ish, however, the rest of my quotes will be all about art and artists and artistry and creativity and creation:

• "An intellectual is a man who says a simple thing in a difficult way; an artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way." --Charles Bukowski 

• “Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.” --Leo Tolstoy

•  “An artist is a dreamer consenting to dream of the actual world.” --George Santayana  

•  “I've been called many names like perfectionist, difficult and obsessive. I think it takes obsession, takes searching for the details for any artist to be good.” --Barbara Streisand  

•  “Were I called on to define, very briefly, the term Art, I should call it 'the reproduction of what the Senses perceive in Nature through the veil of the soul.' The mere imitation, however accurate, of what is in Nature, entitles no man to the sacred name of 'Artist.'” --Edgar Allan Poe

•  “An artist needn't be a clergyman or a churchwarden, but he certainly must have a warm heart for his fellow men.” --Vincent VanGogh

• “Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures.” --Henry Ward Beecher 

• “I'm painting an idea, not an ideal. Basically I'm trying to paint a structured painting full of controlled, and therefore potent, emotion.” --Euan Uglow 

•  “I’m not an abstractionist. I’m not interested in the relationship of color or form or anything else. I’m interested only in expressing basic human emotions: tragedy, ecstasy, doom, and so on.” --Mark Rothko

One quote I found on my hard drive, long lost and buried, combines my two careers, my two loves-- teaching and art:

• “I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.” --John Steinbeck

I will leave you all with this one last quote, this one last thought. It does not deal with art per se, but I came across it today:

• "Some asked me where the rubies grew, / And nothing I did say; / But with my finger pointed to / The lips of Julia." --Robert Herrick

What makes me smile most about that last quote, is that it not only mentions my name, but also my birth stone. Coincidence? Or just one of those things that was "meant" to be found by me? You be the judge!

See you all tomorrow, for the letter R~ 

A to Z, 2012-- A is for...

Art.

But before I get too far "into" that, don't forget to sign up for my special giveaway... if you sign up for it, please remember to do so on the ORIGINAL blog post, linked above or found a few posts below. And let me also give a warm welcome to any A to Z challenge participants who may be visiting!

Now, back to the scheduled program. It took me a long time to consider myself an artist, and realize that I truly am one.

Me as a senior in high school, putting together my "senior project"-- a 3-D rendering of the high school musical. In this photo I was working on the curtains, made from fabric left over from my costume. I'm smiling in this photo because a friend was taking the picture, but this was probably my least favorite project, when it was done~

I've been creating since as far back as I can remember. I learned how to knit (the first time, at least) when I was three. I started out making jewelry and doll-pins, and selling them along the beach with a friend, when I was around 11 years old. I took art lessons around that time, and refined my painting and drawing and sculpting techniques. In high school I took several art classes, and learned how to screen print. College taught me to design techniques for 2-D work, and introduced me to the psychology behind designs.

But I never considered myself an artist.

The art of a former student. Coincidentally, this photograph also reflects exactly how I used to view my work~!

See, my problem is that one of my grandmothers is an artist. She paints watercolors-- the kind of watercolors that are hung in galleries and governor's mansions. Whenever people complimented me on a project, I always thanked them, but made sure to tell them that I was no artist.

No more.

Now, when people ask what I do or what I am, I tell them proudly that I'm an artist. I tell them that my most recent work is wearable art-- because whenever I make jewelry, that is what my ultimate goal.

I'm not saying that I think of myself as the world's best artist. I'm not saying there's nothing else for me to learn-- far from it-- and I still have doubts.

I found this through Facebook, courtesy of a friend <3

Even now, I still have moments when I wonder if this is what I'm truly meant to be doing, if this is the kind of thing that I SHOULD be doing, if this is the kind of thing that I'm good at. I question myself every day.

But now, at least I know, thanks to friends and family (and my own soul-searching) that I deserve the title.

To those of you reading my blog, who might be questioning your OWN status as an artist, I highly recommend that you read this article. It expresses my feelings, exactly, about what it means to be one.

Do my perspectives on being an artist resonate with any of you? I know I'm not the only one who struggles with this title... do any of you have experiences to share?

Tune in tomorrow, same bat time, same bat channel, for more alphabetical excitement!