How to...

[English Lady]

HOW TO BE AN ARTIST

STAY LOOSE. LEARN TO WATCH SNAILS.
PLANT IMPOSSIBLE GARDENS. INVITE
SOMEONE DANGEROUS TO TEA. MAKE
LITTLE SIGNS THAT SAY YES! AND POST
THEM ALL OVER YOUR HOUSE. MAKE FRIENDS
WITH FREEDOM & UNCERTAINTY. LOOK FORWARD
TO DREAMS. CRY DURING MOVIES. SWING
AS HIGH AS YOU CAN ON A SWINGSET,
BY MOONLIGHT. CULTIVATE MOODS. REFUSE
TO "BE RESPONSIBLE". DO IT FOR LOVE.
TAKE LOTS OF NAPS. GIVE MONEY AWAY.
DO IT NOW. THE MONEY WILL FOLLOW.
BELIEVE IN MAGIC. LAUGH A LOT.
CELEBRATE EVERY GORGEOUS MOMENT.
TAKE MOONBATHS. HAVE WILD
IMAGININGS, TRANSFORMATIVE DREAMS,
AND PERFECT CALM. DRAW ON THE WALLS.
READ EVERY DAY. IMAGINE YOURSELF
MAGIC. GIGGLE WITH CHILDREN. LISTEN
TO OLD PEOPLE. OPEN UP. DIVE IN. BE FREE.
BLESS YOURSELF. DRIVE AWAY FEAR.
PLAY WITH EVERYTHING. ENTERTAIN
YOUR INNER CHILD. YOU ARE INNOCENT.
BUILD A FORT WITH BLANKETS. GET WET.
HUG TREES.
WRITE LOVE LETTERS.

by Sark.

I apologise for the shouting, but I've just cut and pasted this because it struck a chord with me.

What makes you an artist/writer? What activity do you do that directly effects your writing,that makes you in essence a writer.

DO you consider yourself to be an artist?


I watch, watch everything and everyone because you never know where inspiration might be hidden.

Anyone else got any pearls of wisdom to share?

 

[Icingsugar]

I have only one rule that I live by:

Marvel at the mundane. Everything is magic if you look at it long enough. Life is worth living just for the multi facetted sensation of everything you've come to think of as dull.

That's it. Really.

 

[English Lady]

thank you Icingsugar...I hope I remember that more and more in my life. Seeing things through a toddlers eye's helps though. My daughter finds everything fascinating!

 

[Icingsugar]

Kids know. The rest of us often forget.

 

[Chicklet]

I am not an artist.

 

[Icingsugar]

And by claiming that, you are an even bigger artist.

 

[oggbashan]

I'm an artsit until I use spell-checkers because my fingers get tangled up.

Or are my fingers trying to give me a meaningful message?

Og

 

[Guest]

In another thread I stated that I do not believe in inspiration. I meant that no thing or person or event 'inspires' or serves as a catalyst for me to write. What keeps me writing? I realized long ago that I read (or listen to opera, go to films, watch ballet, etc.) in order to learn how to live as my self. I am just humble enough to know I cannot do this alone. I make friends, or perhaps only 'arrangements' with some persons, for a few basic reasons and needs, but also to know better how to live my life.

Alice Munro has said that women narrate their lives differently than men, so I learn more from women, but that is not to discount men. If I have a penchant for certain male writers it is often because of the women they portray.

Memory and self identity are crucial for my writing. Memory comes into play more than I might even be aware when I write. The 'irony of memory' is always with me; at times it seems to pervade my consciousness.

Abandonment is the theme of my life; rather common I believe. So I write around it, try to figure out how to live with it. I write to live better, vs. mere survival.

Being an artist is as difficult and fragile a thing as trying to be one's self.

 

[LorriLove]

hiya el

umm how to be an artist, buy some paint and a brush maybe sorry i'll go

 

[English Lady]

Lorri..hey its a good suggestion!



And i know we're all artist's by all the different angles we're ocming at this thread from!