Q: What would you be if you were not an artist?
Self-portrait on a Hudson River barge
A: I honestly have no idea, but whatever it might be, there is a good chance that I’d be bored! In my younger days boredom was a strong motivator. I left the active duty Navy out of boredom. I couldn’t bear not being intellectually challenged (most of my jobs consisted of paper-pushing), not using my flying skills (at 27 I was a licensed commercial pilot and Boeing 727 flight engineer), and not developing my artistic talent. In what surely must be a first, by spending a lot of time and money training me for jobs I hated, the Navy turned me into a hard-working artist! And once I left the Navy there was no plan B. There was no time to waste. It was “full speed ahead.”
Art is a calling. You do not need to be told this if you are among those who are called. It’s all about “the work,” that all-consuming focus of an artist’s life. If a particular activity doesn’t make you a better artist, you avoid it. You work hard to nourish and protect your gifts. As artists we invent our own tasks, learn whatever we need in order to progress, and complete projects in our own time. It is life lived at its freest.
My art-making has led me to fascinating places: Mexico, Guatemala, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, France, England, Italy, Bali, Java and more; and to in-depth studies of intriguing subjects: drawing, color, composition, art and art history, the art business, film and film history, photography, mythology, literature, music, jazz history, and archaeology, particularly that of ancient Mesoamerica (the Olmec, Zapotec, Mixtec, Aztec, Maya, etc.). And this rich mixture continually grows! For anyone wanting to spend their time on earth learning and meeting new challenges, there is no better life than that of an artist.
I SO agree with this exchange that I read years ago between between Trisha Brown and Mikhail Baryshnikov in the New York Times. I wrote it on a piece of paper and taped it to my studio wall:
Trisha: How do you think we keep going? Are we obsessed?
Mikhail: We do it because there’s nothing better. I’m serious. Because there is nothing more exciting than that. Life is so boring, that’s why we are driven to the mystery of creation.
Comments are welcome.
Posted on November 10, 2012, in 2012, An Artist's Life, Art in general, Bali and Java, Creative Process, Guatemala, Inspiration, Mexico, New York, NY, Photography, Quotes and tagged "full speed ahead", "the work", active duty, all-consuming, archaeology, Argentina, artist, Aztec, Bali, Boeing-727, bored, boredom, boring, Brazil, challenge, commercial pilot, creation, earth, England, exciting, film history, flight engineer, Flying, focus, France, gifts, Guatemala, Italy, Java, keep going, learn, Maya, Mexico, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mixtec, motivator, mystery, Navy, New York Times, nourish, obsessed, paper, photography, progress, protect, serious, Studio, time, Trisha Brown, Uruguay, Zapotec. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
barbararachkoscoloreddust.com 
Thanks for sharing your road to becoming and artist!! Loved reading about it.
Thank you, Cathy. There is so much living that goes into making art. Life and art are always intertwined.
This is interestingly just the thing I’ve been looking for! Excellent and thankyou!
Thank you, Chi.