GIVE YOURSELF PERMISSION
Currently on my easel in the studio. One of many paintings in progress for an exhibit at the San Luis Obispo Museum of Art next year. Stay tuned for more details. © 2021 David Limrite
“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Give Yourself Permission
I want to do a follow up to last Sunday’s post, “Making What I Want To Make”. This post struck a chord, and I have heard from many people about how it resonated with them.
I received an email from one artist who said that she has been creating her work and watching it evolve. But, everyone she shows her art work to, turns up their noses at it. She goes on to say that, after reading my post last week, she feels as if she has my permission to not care what friends and family think.
She just wants to make her art and she has my permission wholeheartedly. Not that she needs my permission.
What she is really saying here is that she is going to give herself permission to create the kind of art that she wants to create. Hooray!
This is huge step for her, and it can be a huge step for you too, if you are currently allowing others to question the art you are making. Or worse yet, letting them influence the kind of art you are making.
I told this artist that there is nothing we can do to control how others will perceive and respond to what we create.
For me, if I am passionate about what I do, create my work with conviction, and put it out there proudly, it will find its audience. And those that turn up their noses at it (and there have been plenty) will find art out there that they love. Finding art that they love is on them, not you.
Lastly, because I have stuck to my guns all these years, and created the art I wanted to create, I have gotten really good at making it. And even if someone does not like my work, they will hopefully respect the quality of it.
Give yourself permission to make the art you want to make. And get good at making it.
Best,
David