DCDanceBlog

i just finished a great book. it’s art and fear, by david bayles and ted orland, from 1993. i picked it up while browing at a used bookstore, and it is a little gem–clean and clear and full of insights about what it means to make art.

ultimately, what it’s saying is that making art is hard for everyone, not just for you–not just for the lonely individual who keeps second guessing herself and worrying that she doesn’t have anything unique to say, but for even established artists. the authors say that making art is always a risk, and even if you’ve been successful in the past, there’s no guarantee things will go well in the future. the only difference between successful and unsuccessful artists, they say, is that the successful ones have figured out how to push through and conquer their fears enough to try to make something.

the book is well written and doesn’t waste words, so there are lots of good quotes. here’s a couple on the pitfalls and the solution, respectively:

If making art gives substance to your sense of self, the corresponding fear is that you’re not up to the task–that you can’t do it, or can’t do it well, or can’t do it again; or that you’re not a real artist, or not a good artist, or have no talent, or have nothing to say.

put simply, your work is your guide: a complete, comprehensive, limitless reference book on your work. there is no other such book, and it is yours alone.

essentially, they say, the way to learn to make art is to make art. to just do it, and push past expectations, and find what interests you, what is uniquely yours, and delve in.

i love it. somehow that lesson has proved very helpful to me–there is no magic, no divine inspiration to wait for.