dear you,

i have been sitting a lot with myself these days [who isn’t]. i’m not really alone since my family and pets are pretty much constants in this age of shelter in place. the demands for snack and help pepper my daily existence. and i’m finally admitting that i really really really miss my alone time. it’s hard to quantify how important it is to just be alone working in the studio, but when you don’t have that time, you all of a sudden realize how much you took it for granted.  in this - what is decidedly lack of studio time for myself - i have been looking for other ways to keep my art practice open and engaged, even if i’m not continually certifiably active on the projects i was working on before [why i still think that sketchbook work - while fulfilling and incredibly important -  is not quite real work is a discussion for another day]. i do this by looking to be inspired, reading things that relate to my artists interests, continuing my color meditation practice, but also turning off. sometimes i need to NOT see what everyone is up to because it gives me performance anxiety. sometimes i just need to walk. outside. safely avoiding any other humans. just feeling my heart beat or looking intently at a beautiful flower. 

i have always said that there is no one path for an artist to be “successful”. YES that’s in quotes. because i think that every artist has to define “success” for themselves. for some it’s having a certain number of followers on instagram. for some it’s being able to ditch their day job. for others it’s simply being able to make work that they find meaningful and important. some people need accolades, some need sales, some just want one person to see their work and be moved.  success is a moving target. and once you reach a goal [being in a museum show!] usually a new goal appears - fuzzy in the distance, but there for us to work and sweat towards nonetheless. we as humans/artists are rarely ever satisfied. at least not for long. why else would we pursue yet another painting/sculpture if our last one was pretty darn good?

and here we are - in the dawn of an uncertain new age - and we have no idea what is in store. oh i’ve been reading about how the art world will forever be changed - duh -  so will small businesses, grocery stores, so. many. things. we will recover - even if the road ahed is uncertain and difficult, ultimately  i am not a soothsayer and i don’t have a reliable way to predict exactly how. in the day to day,  i’ve noticed that it can be a bit harder to get art supplies when nothing is open [unless you want to support big corporations] and watercolor paper isn’t deemed “essential” to arrive in a timely manner. good thing we artists are creative right? we can literally use anything we please for supplies [toilet paper rolls i’m looking at you]. and i don’t know about you, but i have hoarder tendencies when it comes to art supplies. so i have things in my art pantry i can turn to. and we artists generally don’t take no at face value. we like a challenge. we like the chase. we know how to navigate through the struggle [ok. sometimes this doesn’t work as well as we hope, but we persevere]. and so i return to what has been my mantra for my entire adult art life - and what i say to students and anyone who might listen. being a creative person means not following a path that has been laid down for you. there is no A + B = C. unlike a doctor or lawyer, doing things correctly and in order is no guarantee of a job or that elusive “success”.  sure you can emulate someone who’s career you think is great, you can tread where others have before, you can adopt and adeptly copy. but inevitably you have to digest whatever it is you are consuming and make it your own. this is why being a creative is not for everyone. it takes incredible resilience. flexibility. it takes a certain amount of authenticity. and luck. it takes understanding when a mistake is actually a happy accident. it takes the ingenuity to replicate those accidents. all i can say is screw those people who don’t believe that art is a “real" pursuit. of course it is. it is at the crux of what it means to be human, and all the artists i know and love are incredibly smart - they are thinkers not just makers. screw the idea that you have to be a certain kind of artist, use a certain material, do things a certain way. NONE OF THAT guarantees anything. and that is both the beauty and dilemma of what we do. 

in this time of change and hardship i want more art. i want problem solving the way only we creative people can do it. i want sharing and vulnerability and beauty and concept and everything. absolutely everything that artists have to offer. i wonder if we are the eyes, ears and mouthpiece for the soul of humanity. that might sound grandiose, but it also rings so true. soldier on. find your path. trust your instincts. make huge and gorgeous mistakes. share it all. in anyway you know how and see fit. 

love,
lisa

Website: www.lisasolomon.com
Instagram: @lisasolomon