As an artist full of inspiration you need to figure out how to express your creative vision. While deciding what to work on for the 2024 Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant cycle and exhibit, I’ve come up with steps that may help others.
[This is only an excerpt from my full article originally published online in the Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine as part of the Emerging Artist Grant Artist Stories assignment. Read the full article here: Now What? How To Choose Your Art Path]
My biggest dilemma as an artist: So little time, so much to create.
There seems to be a lot of talk about where to find inspiration. But I’m more concerned with the flipside: choosing from all the inspiration and all your artistic desires and visions. The tough call is which creative path to follow – and possibly killing your creative babies.
We can talk about THE WHY we create. For me (as for many) the answer is simple: because I must. It’s a calling, it’s a curse. It’s a blessing, it’s a responsibility. It’s why I’ve been put on this Earth, it’s my path to make a positive difference in the world.
And in a longer, honest conversation we can talk about more nuanced reasons and why we pursue a particular art discipline. There are deeper messages, goals, visions, skills, legacy, growth, activism etc. And in those nuances, we start to bump into THE WHAT.
When the question is not why – but what.
At this stage of our grant cycle, the most pressing question is not why, but what? What do I want to work on during the 5 months, and what do I want to exhibit, perform, or present during the big event in May.
Contemplating that important choice, made me revisit past big choices and what helped me make them…
The full article is part of the assignment to write a dozen "artist stories" during the 2024 Creative Pinellas Emerging Artist Grant cycle. Check out all of my Creative Pinellas Arts Coast Magazine articles.