The Tortured Artist

Are you an artist or know someone who is? Most artists fall into the category of being different from the rest of society. We have visions, dreams, goals, and fantasy's about our chosen craft that sometimes makes us crazy, and in some cases altogether insane! Being an artist in today's society could mean a zillion different things. You could be a musician (like myself), a carver, sculptor, a painter, a stonemason, a carpenter, a software engineer, an automobile collector, and so on, and so on. So why is the artist tortured? Is this just something someone penned back in the day or is it real? I can only speak on my own behalf and experience on this one, but I'd venture to say that most artist's I know or have known are tortured in some way. Take for example myself. I have written probably over 200 songs and have about 100 recorded. In my opinion, most of my early efforts are crap. Unlike a lot of artist's, I threw my songs around even though I knew they weren't that good, because I did not care about being perfect, I was just having fun being me, creating art. What I didn't realize was the amount of judgement and criticism I would receive in a negative way. Geesh! I thought this was for fun, but evidently others take their criticism quite seriously. As an artist, once you receive this kind of criticism, it can break you down. Especially if you don't have a thick skin. Then after this criticism you are ready to unveil your next big project, a painting, a song, a carving, but you are tortured by the idea of negative judgements and you become unsure of yourself. This insecurity is ratcheted up when you start talking about money. When an artist creates for money, the product becomes different (in my opinion). When the artist creates with passion, just for the sake of creation, a part of that persons soul resides within the piece. Music is real tough because you are sharing intimate thoughts about yourself to folks you don't even know. People have no idea what a person like me has had to endure over the years as a singer of original songs. My heart is on my sleeve for everyone rip apart with their judgemental comments. "You'll never make "The Voice" that's for damn sure"! The conundrum here is, do I make art/music my way and pretend like these negative critics are not here? Do I listen to their advice and change my product, or just simply quit making art?
My personal opinion on this is, "Do Not Stop Creating"! Here is the beauty of art. Your skill level does not matter. Your skill level does not matter. Your art is unique to you, its your story. Nobody is like you. That's why your art is cool. Its yours! Look at it this way. A 10 year old sings an original song about her grandparent's. The kid only knows 2 chords and she sings off key.  But the song brings her parents to tears of joy, everybody loves it. Now imagine an accomplished virtuoso guitarist performing a complicated piece of music flawlessly. Is his song/performance better than the child's? Hell No its not. The guitarist has the sheet music. Someone else wrote the piece. He is simply following a map. The little girl has written from her heart, her song has got soul, its hers. That's what I'm trying to tell you people. Get out and create, don't get caught up in trying to be "Good Enough", just do what you do and forget about those critics out there. Hell, they never picked up an instrument or paint brush in their life, forget about em'!
As I write these words, I realize that I am a very tortured artist. I am my own worst critic and I constantly second guess myself. But my goal here is very clear. I aim to inspire others. To inspire is one of the greatest achievements an artist can do. So please, stay original, and stay true to your passion. For those of you who are making a living doing what you love, I applaud. It has got to be a hard road to travel. Defining success as an artist is very touchy subject for some of us. Keep at it and let me know if you would like to discuss this subject in more detail. My name is Joey River of "The Lookouts" band, thank you for reading, and please subscribe to my blog for more interesting story's on random subjects. Cheers.    

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