The worst kind of nightmare
I don't have bad dreams in the traditional sense. Monsters in the closet and things that go BOO in the night don't inhabit my nocturnal hours. Instead, I have a series of dreams where I am in work situations feeling way over my head.
Last night, I was back in the radio business floating through a program director's job not knowing what the hell I was doing. In my dream, I thought about doing one of two things: tossing it and trying something else or knuckling down and doing a proper job of it.
I remember the feeling of being overwhelmed and being an imposter in several different jobs, particularly in the early days. In all cases though, I chose Door Number Two and knuckled down and got very good at what I did.
In a way, I've been doing the same thing with art for the past 10 years. I like to say that I am completely self taught, and stubbornly so. That may sound brash and possibly cocky, but I believe going on the journey without overt influences has allowed it to evolve the way that it has. Because of my lack of formal art education, I still have some remnants of imposter syndrome that wash over me from time to time.
"Do you teach lessons?" I often get asked.
"I would never use the word teach," I reply. "Instead, I invite people to come and paint with me."
I offer support, mentorship and even nuggets of wisdom about the business of art. I don't impose a step by step by step prescriptive methodology to my workshops. Instead, I invite participants to explore their own voice and style. They get to make choices that make the finished work entirely their own.
Comments
Post a Comment