My name is Sarah, and I am an artist.
Isn't that crazy? That feeling you get when you refer to yourself as the thing you've always wanted to be? In a way, I feel like a fraud, or a wanna be because my work isn't hanging in the Whitney museum or archived in private collections around the world (yet).
I remember the first time I was ever called an artist. I was at my first real job, ever, at a run down frame shop with broken machinery, being mentored by a quirky woman named Georgie, learning all the ins and outs of how to frame pictures.
I fucking loved it.
The work that came in and the museum-ready product that went out had everything to do with color, shape, and the golden ratio. (Throughout this blog, you'll find that I'm a little obsessed with picture framing, but don't worry. I'll leave my little rants in a separate category so us framers can geek out elsewhere). It was about three months into my newly solidified part-time gig when Georgie and I got to talking about my goals of what I wanted to do with my life. I had mentioned that all I ever did was draw, and everything I could ever do would have to be related to it. She lit up like a motion-sensor back porch light and exclaimed "Well that's what your doing right now! You're being paid to be an artist, because only an artist could do the work that you do!". I was mildly startled at the burst of excitement, but I couldn't help but smile. I guess I was, wasn't I? I mean, why else was I in love with a minimum wage job in a dusty old shop? Of course it was what I was doing, and not where I was or what I was being paid. If I'm always drawing, creating, and entertaining my passion, didn't that mean I was, am, and always will be an artist?
And that's how it was born. I became an artist the second that someone called me one, someone that wasn't the voice in my head. I'm not a fraud or a wanna be if I have someone to stand witness to the passion I have and the work that I do. It's been said that one person may not change the world, but helping someone can change the world for that person. Every once in a while, that one person is an artist who just needs to hear themselves be called one. The cool part about that is the capability we all have to change someone's world by giving them the recognition they deserve.
I'd love to hear if anyone else remembers the moment they became an artist. If you haven't become one yet, use this moment as your justification to become the artist you've always wanted to be. It's not easy, but I promise it's worth it.
Thanks for the read!
SW
