Mentors
As I have been regrouping since being out-of-town, I’ve been spending time doing menial things around the studio, lazily drawing in one of my many ‘current’ sketchbooks, and wondering what to do next. This has caused me to reflect on the path that brought me to this point and people that have influenced me.
When I graduated from Lawrence Tech, I knew I wanted to do my own fine art. It took a long time to find exactly what path to take, and how to go about it. I struggled with doing things I thought an artist “should” do, and I am so grateful for the people along the way that were generous with their time and kind with their comments. After some false starts, I did connect with a woman who initially encouraged new ways of thinking and working, becoming something of a mentor for me at the time.
But looking back now, I can see how a good thing for you at the time is not a forever thing. For me, much of my growth as an artist has been struggling with specific things in myself and my art process—not from being told what to do, not from having answers given to me, and certainly not from having to earn someone’s approval. A friendship, if it is real, and some help along the way is a gift for both the recipient and giver. But it can also lead to dependence, minimal risk taking and stifling potential. Too often I’ve let this happen to me. Years later I’m still working to shake off those shackles.
Another weakening form of mentoring can come from being too involved in artist groups. Too quickly gatherings can devolve to the lowest common denominator, becoming competitive and dysfunctional. Unfortunately I’ve been in enough groups where thinking and working differently from the norm isn’t appreciated or tolerated. Sigh.
What is positive for me is welcoming into my inner circle those persons who I genuinely respect and like. They aren’t intrusive, rather they energize me just by being there. I am blessed to know several people right now that fit that description; some artists, some not. This makes me happy, and content, to be the artist that I am becoming, and doing the art I love here in my Michigan home town.
When I graduated from Lawrence Tech, I knew I wanted to do my own fine art. It took a long time to find exactly what path to take, and how to go about it. I struggled with doing things I thought an artist “should” do, and I am so grateful for the people along the way that were generous with their time and kind with their comments. After some false starts, I did connect with a woman who initially encouraged new ways of thinking and working, becoming something of a mentor for me at the time.
But looking back now, I can see how a good thing for you at the time is not a forever thing. For me, much of my growth as an artist has been struggling with specific things in myself and my art process—not from being told what to do, not from having answers given to me, and certainly not from having to earn someone’s approval. A friendship, if it is real, and some help along the way is a gift for both the recipient and giver. But it can also lead to dependence, minimal risk taking and stifling potential. Too often I’ve let this happen to me. Years later I’m still working to shake off those shackles.
Another weakening form of mentoring can come from being too involved in artist groups. Too quickly gatherings can devolve to the lowest common denominator, becoming competitive and dysfunctional. Unfortunately I’ve been in enough groups where thinking and working differently from the norm isn’t appreciated or tolerated. Sigh.
What is positive for me is welcoming into my inner circle those persons who I genuinely respect and like. They aren’t intrusive, rather they energize me just by being there. I am blessed to know several people right now that fit that description; some artists, some not. This makes me happy, and content, to be the artist that I am becoming, and doing the art I love here in my Michigan home town.
posted by Candy at 6:25 PM
0 comments
