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Dear Artist,

How do we translate our ideas into art forms? Sometimes is comes easy for artists and sometimes it doesn’t. In our last correspondence artist Amalia Pica confessed, “What I have to say about the world cannot always be translated into an image.” What happens when this is the case?

 

While each creator has unique creation dilemmas the universal factor that clouds most artist’s ability is the fear of failure. The great and dreadful words, “I failed” must not control one’s ability to continuously create. The fact of is that not everything will be a success and in reality this is okay.

 

Artists who can man the tide need to have seaworthy thick skin. Not everything will be viewed or accepted in the manner in which the artist hopes it will be. Not everything will be beloved or admired by one’s audience. But when the tide does come in, the artist needs to ready and prepared to harvest the fruits of his labor.

 

Before success can be found however there first has to be in the very least an attempt. No art, means no possibilities of success either. Artists must create first, and second look to the outcome of the audiences’ input.

 

This means that you must keep working until the piece or series connects with your inner guidance system in a way that feels complete. One cannot look outside of himself to see if a work is done or not.

 

If I dislike a current art piece, I will continue to work on it until that feeling of discontent is lifted or I will every now an then abandon that project for a space of time and revisit it at a later date with fresh viewpoints. Often I can come up with a remedy that resonates with my soul. Sometimes it takes months to do so, but it is always worth it. Because of this I like interact with my work daily, viewing it on my studio walls so I can feel their energy and see if connects with me spiritually or not.

 

Creating good long lasting art is a process. Will the artist feel a tinge of failure during the process? It’s highly likely that he will. The key to successful art creation is understanding how to work through these feelings to get the art form to higher level of cognitive satisfaction. Like Pica shared, not all ideas will translate, but in my experience the ones that do will be worth it in the end.

 

Keep making art my friend,

 

Uncle Salvador

 

 

 

PS: Here is some visual artistry for you to enjoy. It goes well with current state of our world. To hear the artist, Cornelia Parker, speak about this piece there are three short clips below that can be accessed.

 

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