Blooms Askew: The Greatest Peace of All
“When words become unclear, I shall focus with photographs. When images become inadequate, I shall be content with silence.” - Ansel Adams
For whom does the artist work? Of course, they create for themselves. But who is their actual audience? Certainly, if they have any, they work for their patrons, because supporters of this kind value the work enough to pay for it and display it. And an artist will always be grateful for their patrons. But beyond that, what separates the artist from all others with a creative impulse?
The key difference, to my mind, is that the artist puts their work out for others to see, to appreciate, and to criticize. The artist takes a chance on sharing their art knowing it might not work, and they will fail, and if they have purpose, they will improve, and try again, and again. Artists must remember the lesson taught by Thomas Edison... "Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up." For there are few overnight successes (if admiration is success) in the world of art; sudden stardom is most often many years in the making.
What can you do as an artist who hopes that their work finds an audience receptive to the message and the effort involved in creating their art? It can be difficult to persevere when there are so few eyes and ears enjoying and learning from one's efforts, especially when delivered altruistically (for the most part). And passion only sustains for awhile, when praise is seldom found, so an artist must also have purpose. Purpose drives the effort regardless of reward. Purpose is the great burning WHY in the artist's heart.
The growth of an audience is a laudable goal because it offers some measure of validity to the artist's work, although there is very little relationship between audience tally and audience quality. But it is psychologically challenging to continue producing work of great worth if so few appreciate the final product. Sharing works best when the offering has takers.
Marcus Aurelius, the Stoic philosopher and Emperor of Rome from 161 to 180 CE, provides some guidance about this from his personal journal, written as he sought to continually better himself... “Does anything genuinely beautiful need supplementing? No more than justice does - or truth, or kindness, or humility. Are any of those improved by being praised? Or damaged by contempt? Is an emerald suddenly flawed if no one admires it?”
No matter the praise or scorn heaped upon the work, the art, words, or performance are of intrinsic value simply because they exist. And for most artists and authors and performers, that must be enough. To have created something that may live beyond oneself, for one's children perhaps, is reason enough to carry on in the face of general indifference. It is a surprise, at least to me, at how few close relations truly care about another's work when something beyond an instant of attention is required. It is too much to ask.
So the work itself must be the source of sustenance. Chasing an audience leads to madness. Again, Marcus reminds us that “a thing is neither better nor worse for having been praised.” And so we must remember the great Stoic truth, which I shared in my post from March 12, 2022...
“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” - Epictetus
Put your mind at ease, my friends. We are only entitled to our work, not the fruits of our efforts. Hope and fear are twin edges of the same anxious sword. We would do best to realize that we can only control what we do, and never how someone else reacts.
Similarly, our freedom lies in our personal ability to choose our reaction to events. When we focus on our thoughts, words, and actions, and accept that everything else is beyond our control, we can be happy no matter what our circumstances may be. And that is the greatest peace of all.
Clicking on the image will open it in full screen
‘Blooms Askew,’ a chimerical cavalcade of new growth at the edge of a mostly dormant late winter forest, on an overcast morning in southern Wake County, North Carolina.
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