YGT: The Frustrating Burdens of Artistry

Artists have a knack for taking the ordinary and making it extraordinary.  They can take a mountainside and make Mt. Rushmore.  They can take three chords and make the blues.  They can take discarded bottle caps and make this:

Steven Beatty and Laurel Kurtz collected thousands of bottle caps
to depict the impact of waste on the environment.

Oh, the joy of being an artist.  It allows you the freedom to create...  But being an artist is also hard, burdensome work.  It should be said that most artists are attempting to capture a glimmer of a glimpse of an idea that darted across their minds.  They nurture this spec of creation and often become enraptured, dedicated to the idea of the idea.  The artist becomes willing to sacrifice time and energy, simply to witness this chance of success.


Then they are confronted with the unforgiving reality of biology: artists are human - therefore, they live in bodies.  Bodies require food and water to survive (and accomplish things).  Food and water costs money.  Money (often) requires work.  Oh, and the art you want to create?  Those discarded caps?  Someone has to BUY bottles for you to make that.  Sheesh.  The sad truth is that the artist is saddled with finding resources.  For example, the bottle cap production above required the artists to solicit caps from friends, family, and even on Craigslist!  


Ok, so once the artist has the resources to create what they think they thought they saw, they are faced with another frustrating burden: exposure.  Now, the artist must present their work to the public.  Like emerging from a dark room into the sunlight, they must now experience the blinding rays of critique.  They must watch others make judgments on the piece that they suffered so incredibly to make.  In an instant, what once was an intimate, personal moment is now a spectacle.  In a moment, your dream can be dismissed.


Artists travel this journey constantly.  I wonder what the great psalmists' motivations were when they penned their poetry.  How they struggled to access resources in war times.  How they now watch as some of their words are barely read (Psalm 45), while others are celebrated (Psalm 23).  To be an artist is a great calling filled with immeasurably high highs and inevitably low lows.  Thank you to those who sacrifice time and time again so the world may witness glimpses of the divine.


Lord, thank You for the blessing of creativity.  Please don't quiet our minds.  Please allow others to come alongside us and support our work.  Please give us the courage to chase our ideas even when we are poor or when we don't get the responses we desire.  Let us create as unto You.  In Christ's name, Amen.


Clay,
j.a.g.




--------------------------------------------------------------------
Psalm 45:1
My heart is inditing a good matter: I speak of the things which I have made touching the king: my tongue is the pen of a ready writer.