Why Am I An Artist?

Why am I an artist?  Someone asked me that recently and I replied with my usual, "Because it brings me joy!"  Then another wise person asked, "But what does that mean?"  And, that sent me onto a new trail that looked something like this:

Why am I an artist?

Because ...

• It's fun.
• It makes my spirit sing.
• I love seeing colors and shapes come together in new ways.
• It surprises me when new things show up.
• It takes my breath away when beauty shows up.
• It proves that I was wrong when I thought I could not do art or be an artist.
• It shows me that there is a river of creativity waiting for each of us to step into it in our own way.
• It reveals pieces of myself that I didn't know existed.
• I often don't know where things come from or how they got into my camera and computer.
• It feels like a sacred gift from the Creative Force.
• It makes me feel part of the Whole, connected by strands of beauty through the act of making art.
• It is my prayer for the world, my small way of sharing the joy and beauty that has been given to me.

It is my prayer for the world.  The person who originally asked the question said we'd get a jolt when we hit the core reason of why we're an artist.  This is where I got my jolt.


I encourage all of you to do this exercise ... you can substitute whatever word is appropriate to you for the word "artist" ...  writer, mother, teacher, doctor, politician, singer, butcher, baker, doer of whatever you love.

Eden Maxwell, author of An Artist Empowered: Define and Establish Your Value as an Artist-Now, initially asked the question that launched this train of thought as part of the SmARTist Telesummit.  Ariane Goodwin, founder, organizer and host of this incredible gathering of artists and art marketers, pushed my thinking even further.

Art Marketing Case Study: Drew Brophy

When we think about marketing our art, it's easy to get lost in generalities.  Today I found an artist who offers an excellent example of many principles of art marketing.

I was introduced to Drew Brophy by his wife Maria Brophy, who is part of the SmArtist TeleSummit.  I was intrigued when I heard that he painted on surfboards so I went to his website and found an artist passionate about surfing ... or maybe a surfer passionate about art.

Here are some of the specifics I noticed:

A tagline that builds credibility and speaks to the target audience:  "Making things look cool since 1971."  Surfing is one of the few "young" activities that seems to honor the elders in the field.  In some fields, mentioning the year 1971 would almost relegate you to the dustbin, but here, it's a badge of honor.  There's a secondary tagline of "Livin' the dream" with a picture of a surfer and a killer wave."

Understanding and speaking the language of your audience:  In addition to images that fit the subject ... bright colors, dragons, eyeballs ... Drew's words fit the subject and the audience.  Here's the opening of his artist statement:  

In high school Drew Brophy’s guidance counselor pulled him aside and sternly warned, “Drew, you can’t just surf and paint your whole life.”   He was crushed, because those were the only two things that he was good at.  He was determined to prove her wrong.

By proving her wrong, Drew connects with every frustrated teenage surfer ... even if they happen to be adults still remembering their younger days.

Using the technology relevant to the audience:  Drew's clientele is young and the media of the young is video.  Here's a video where Drew transforms a plain vanilla van into a surfer's dream machine ... all to the pounding beat of music that fits the target audience.