I read something interesting about Jim Hensen on Facebook this morning. The post said that Jim had no training when he started doing the Muppets on TV, and he that had barely any experience with puppets in general. It said he basically made it up as he went, and learned from each trial that came his way.
The post was from a home school mom I follow. She shared it to point out that, when you’re home schooling, you can make things up as you go. You aren’t exactly following any else’s example, like the public school system generally does, so you have freedom to do things your way. You learn how you work, and sometimes you learn a new, better way to do things. Jim Hensen made it up as he went, and look at where the Muppets are today.
I really want to enter ArtPrize in 2020. I’ve only been drawing and painting for a year and a half, so I really doubted my abilities. I wasn’t sure I had enough skill to enter (keeping in mind that I will have two more years of experience when I enter). However, my art, and pretty much everything else I’ve done, has always been my style. It’s been different, and when I try to paint what other people want, or what’s “popular”, I usually bomb. It just doesn’t look how it “should”, and I get discouraged. That’s because it’s not mine. I learned that painting, or “arting”, as I like to call it, isn’t about what people want. It’s about sharing what you see, and how you see it. I wanted my art to have all my imperfections, be from my heart, and my mind, and be as unique as me. Nothing I ever do will look like what’s “popular” because I wasn’t the one who made it popular. I can’t replicate what someone else has done (yet 😉 ).
So, I’m going to enter ArtPrize, despite what my art may or may not look like. I have a story I want to tell, and a dream to fulfill. I’m going to enter what I’m happy with, and what I’ve put my whole heart into.