Have you ever wondered about the influences other artists have on your own work? Those artists that you admire and WISH you could be more like? Is that something to strive for, something unattainable, or something to shy away from? And how do we strike a happy medium between these three?
As for myself, I have a rather long list of artists that I admire for one reason or another. Some, I admire for their ability to blend color; others, I admire for their ability to create a scene; still others, I admire for the sheer volume of their work and the beauty of it. And there are others whose work is so free and happy that I really want to find that same joy peeking out of my own work, just because it brings such happiness.
One lesson that I learned is that as artists, we MUST find our own artistic voice. This can be difficult, especially if we are lucky enough to attend a retreat where classes are taught by someone we admire. It is wonderful to learn new techniques, but I want to be my OWN voice, not a mini replica of so and so whose name and works are so easily recognizable in the mixed media and/or card world. It took a while for that to filter through all the information that I gained during the retreat that I attended. Most likely it took about 5 or 6 months for me to realize that, as much as I admired that artist, I was never going to be happy if all I attempted to do was to create art that SHE would like. I need to create art that I like!
And that, my friends, is the bottom line. As artists, we are driven to create - it isn't something that we just randomly "choose" to do. We are drawn to the chaos of inks, paints, glues, papers, dies, stamps, brushes - the list is inexhaustible! It is almost as if we are nothing if we do not create. But the single most important thing to remember is that we MUST be true to ourselves and our own individual art. As the great bard himself, William Shakespeare, said, "To thine own self be true" is the creed we all, as artists, should follow.
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