In celebration of the tenth anniversary of my blog (yesterday), I am republishing the very first post from July 15, 2012. Q: What does it take to be an artist, especially one living and working in New York?

Barbara’s Studio (in 2012) with works in progress.

A: The three Big P’s – Patience, Persistence, and Passion. Without all three you will not have the stamina to work tirelessly for very little external reward. You can expect help from no one.

There are so many obstacles to art-making and countless reasons to just give up. When you really think about it, it’s amazing that great art gets made at all. So why do we do it? Above all it’s about making our time on earth matter, about devotion to our innate gifts and love of our hard-fought creative process.

And, my God, it even gets harder as we get older! So what do we do? We dig in that much deeper. It’s a most noble and sacred calling – you know when you have it – and that’s what separates those of us who are in it for the long haul from the wimps, fakers, and hangers-on. I say to my fellow artists who continue to work despite the endless challenges, we are all true heroes!

These words still ring true and it’s good, even for me, to occasionally be reminded.

Most importantly, THANK YOU to my 85,500+ subscribers for taking this journey with me!

Comments are welcome!

About barbararachkoscoloreddust

Barbara’s thoughts on art, the creative process, soft pastel, the inspiration she finds in travel, what it’s like to be an artist in New York, and other wisdom for artists as we travel our solitary and sometimes lonely roads.

View all posts by barbararachkoscoloreddust »

Posted on July 16, 2022, in 2022, An Artist's Life, Art in general, Art Works in Progress, Black Paintings, Creative Process, Inspiration, New York, NY, Painting in General, Pastel Painting, Photography, Quotes, Studio, The West Village, Working methods and tagged amazing, anniversaries, art-making, artists, calling, celebration, challenges, continue, countless, creative, day, devotion, endless, expect, external, fakers, fellow, hangers-on, hard-fought, innate, journey, July 15 2012, making, matter, obstacles, occassionally, older, passion, pastel paintings, pastels, patience, persistence, postcards, process, progress, reasons, reminded, republishing, reward, separates, stamina, Studio, subscribers, tirelessly, yesterday. Bookmark the permalink. 20 Comments.

Molly Heron | July 18, 2012 at 10:26 am

Wonderful Barbara!
barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 18, 2012 at 10:57 am

Thanks, Molly.
Cora Jane Glasser | July 18, 2012 at 11:47 am

Barbara, I really enjoyed reading this interview. I fine and concise combination of personal story, art “exhibit”, and pep-talk- we all need it! Congratulations on getting this done and out there. Best, Cora
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 18, 2012 at 12:22 pm
  
  Thanks, Cora. Circumstances have forced me into being my own coach and best friend and I am always happy to share what I’ve learned.
Jacqueline Sferra Rada | July 18, 2012 at 12:43 pm

Barbara
Your words on pastel work which I also have a deep love for in addition to my painting practice resonated with me as I also love being one with the medium and being able to move the color around and layer them directly using my bare hands for which I am yet to find a satisfying replacement and doubt ther is…..as for your words on being an artist in NYC (and I think they would apply to any location) ….truly inspirational and validating.
Jacqueline Rada
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 18, 2012 at 12:53 pm
  
  Jacqueline, thank you very much. You’re right. It’s tough being an artist regardless of where you live. And between you and me, pastel is simply the best!
Kari Feuer | July 18, 2012 at 1:22 pm

Hi Barbara,
Love the Q&A format. I work in pastels as well, and there is something better about using your hands, partly to do with the “grease” from your fingers I think! I find that Wallis paper is slightly kinder, while still taking lots of layers (plus wet media).
Kari Feuer
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 18, 2012 at 1:32 pm
  
  Thank you, Kari. Yes, the grease from our fingers! That must be it. I’ll have to check out that paper.
julie seyler | July 20, 2012 at 5:25 pm

Congrats Barbara on this. It looks great and definitely reflects your vision and persona. I am really curious to see what emerges from the Bali trip.
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 20, 2012 at 5:19 pm
  
  Thanks, Julie. I can’t say yet how Bali might affect my work.
The Gallery Goddess | July 31, 2012 at 10:05 pm

Reblogged this on The Gallery Goddess and commented:
The inspirational, talented Barbara Rachko on being a living, working artist in NYC, USA.
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | August 1, 2012 at 10:05 am
  
  Vicki, thanks very much!
  - The Gallery Goddess | August 1, 2012 at 9:14 pm
    
    You are very welcome. I love your blog. It’s so you!
oldswimmer | July 11, 2015 at 9:41 am

Strong, good advice Barbara! Yes, as we get older, it gets harder. But maybe it gets less scary to let superfluous things out of our lives so we end up budgeting more energy to artmaking. You call it persistence. I call it stubbornness. Let them shake their heads and shrug!
landscape painter | July 30, 2016 at 2:22 am

Patience, Persistence, and Passion – So true
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 30, 2016 at 10:39 am
  
  Thank you, Pat.
AvistTheArtist | July 15, 2017 at 9:47 am

Wow. I know how you feel! The world pouresses inward to squeeze the creativity out of you and you must push back twice as hard to continue on your (my) Creative Journey! Glad you started your blog five years ago…Congratulations!
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 17, 2017 at 11:28 am
  
  Thank you very much!
The Curious Scribbler | July 14, 2018 at 7:28 am

Happy birthday, Barbara’s blog! Wishing you many more years to come.
- barbararachkoscoloreddust | July 14, 2018 at 9:27 am
  
  Thanks very much!