The Artist's Perspective - Passion

I’m writing The Artist’s Perspective on Valentine’s Day. The day when love is in the air, which considering the somewhat lack of it these days, it’s refreshing to see signs of the mighty heartbeat of passion. Ahhhh, passion. What would we do without our deepest desire to care about something in the most demanding and dedicated ways? To sacrifice. To be one with a someone or something, that you make your life about it. Loud and proud, or softly spoken, hardly a step is taken without considering how those steps may or may not affect that which you are passionate for.

I’m passionate about being an artist. Even though “artist” is just a title, though it may be an earned one. More so, I am very passionate about creativity, using my imagination, being inspired and inspiring others if possible in the process. I accept that with my passion, and owning my title as an artist, that I will be praised by some for my talent and incorrectly stereotyped by others as starving, or not knowing business, or other such silliness.

Being who you are and being passionate about it is in my opinion, the only way to live. I don’t want or wish for my life to be boring or regimented, for it to lack the freedom of thought, or to simply be a part of society. I want my life to be abundant; creatively, mindfully, spiritually, financially, charitably, healthily, happily, truthfully, knowledgeably, worldly, as humanly as possible. I live an artful life and I’m passionate about it.

For artists trying to find their way, creativity will always be a winding path. Life is a wandering path sometimes, but creativity will bring you so much more than the normal day to day of almost anything else you could do. Every time you create something you have the unique persecutive of seeing the inner you. Your originality is at your fingertips. How many people can wake up in the morning with a visual concept and know that it is not only within them to create it, or at least try, but to feel within your skin the joy of sharing it with the world.

There are those who mutter beneath their breath, oh, I could do that. But they never will. Artists by their very nature are people of action. You are not an artist if you merely think about ideas. Art is not an idea, it is a visual/audible creative action. You only get there by doing. That which has not been created can be a wonderful idea or concept, but it is most certainly not art. Art is, only because an artist executed an idea into a reality. Some ideas take hours, some days, weeks or even years to become a piece of art, and some art is destined never to be, to simply exist as an idea or thought.

For those who covet art, who purchase it, who teach it, who celebrate art, bless the world for you. You make the world more interesting, more fun, more in contrast, more bold, more colorful, more filled with texture and a deeper understanding of ourselves as a human race. What is inspiration without the inspired? No matter if you are drawn to words, song, dance, animation, story, stage, painting, sculpture, cinema, design, or the any of the many forms in which the arts become reality, art so very much appreciates your contribution too.

To view Tom's artwork please visit his website ThomasNeel.com