Recently a friend named me in the 7 day art challenge. You post 1 piece of art each day for 7 days and you can talk about the art if you wish.
Immediately I had mixed feelings. I appreciated the compliment paid me by my friend as she put me in the category of "artist". But I also had some qualms. Because "artist" is one of those words that has different dimensions to it depending on the lens through which you are looking.
I am surrounded by artists who are actually producing new work constantly and also are generally lucky enough to be getting paid to do so.
I do NOT produce new work regularly and, to the best of my knowledge, I've never been paid for a single artistic thing I've done.
As I looked through the other types of things people were posting it all seemed to be what I would call "serious art" - the kind that aspires to be (or has been) displayed in a gallery somewhere.
This was a problem for me because the only artwork I have of this type was produced many years ago.
Many, many, many, many, many, many, many, many.....
Well, you know, a REALLY long time ago.
A lifetime ago.
Actually three lifetimes ago.
As in three kids and a bunch of other stuff ago.
Most people do not know that, while I received my degree in music, I was also an art major in college.
And I'm proud of the work I produced in that time, and the short period following, before my life took other directions.
So I did actually have some pieces I felt I could post that reflected those days.
But the fact that it was all made so long ago and that I no longer do anything close to it also made me feel like a bit of a fraud.
To everyone who complimented my VERY OLD artwork - thank you. It means a lot to me to feel that the work I produced had some merit.
And to the friend who sort of dragged me into posting it - well, to be fair, she didn't have to drag all that hard. It was nice to go back and look at my work and nice to feel proud of it.
And, who knows? Maybe this will inspire me to pick up the pencils again :-)
If you don't follow me on Facebook or Instagram here are the pieces I shared (also the one at the top of the page)
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