A post over on Damien Franco’s blog about Stating Again as an artist got me thinking about R-tiste Monkey Shines…and things happen when ever I start thinkin’…..hummmmmmm…thinking about R-tiste monkey shines excuses and time wasters….

There must be a million starts in an artists lifetime!!!

here is my comment on Damien’s post:

i have sometimes crawled and dragged myself into the studio…and there is much blessed discomfort in being an artist indeed…but that is what keeps me at it…i think what makes artists give up for long periods is lack:

lack of hope and vision for a future as an artist
lack of time to create on a regular basis
lack of support
lack of inspiration
lack of knowledge about how to market yourself and your art
lack of trust in your skills
lack of passion for creating

it is not easy being an artist, but it sure beats every other job i’ve had!!!

This might seem controversial initially, but this is my paradigm…Any or all of these lacks can be the root of abandoning your art for short or long periods of time or forever if the lack is great…

Sometimes I operate in great lack…nonetheless, I keep on doing what I love. It’s about starting over again and again each time I face an empty canvas to paint or an empty page to write…it is about starting over once more.

Many people have the ailment I call R-tiste Monkey Shines…monkeying around and waiting to start because they want the perfect beginning or the perfect idea first. Let me tell you what I know for sure…

if you just start…the beginning will come

what can make an artist quit making art?

It about the srarting…the actual physical act of picking up the brush or typing the words or conditioning the clay or warming up your feet…is what brings the imagination out to play and the rest just follows the rhythm set by the creator…I promise.

It’s kind of like this blog….there are many times that days go by without one comment or interaction from readers…I can get really down when that happens and say why am I doing this? Yet I go on…in trust that my words may someday reach the people who are meant to here my experiences and benefit!