Excellence in Fine Art Making: a journey of deeper significance

There is a deeper, wonderful, far more enriching, inspiring and fulfilling world of joy, accomplishment, creative satisfaction, visual sophistication and beauty to unpack for the artist or art student who decides that doing what comes easy and feels natural is not the ultimate pursuit that we may engage in.

The more we learn about making art and being creative, if we truly embrace a creative path, the more we realize that there is no end to the depths of that which art makes possible for us to explore, not only as artists or creative people, but also as human beings who instinctively desire meaning, learning and enrichment as part of our lives.

The greater the student, the greater the artist the student will become, not to impress others, not to become financially successful (though one certainly can) but to know within oneself that one’s journey is meaningful and authentic, substantive and one of true greatness.

I have been in pursuit of excellence for many years as an artist in my own capacity. It was (and still is) anything but easy, especially in the beginning, because I had to (and still must) work hard for improving my skills. As an art student I was surrounded by others who were far superior to me in terms of natural ability and practiced skill sets. Through some great mentors and taking classes from other artists, over the years, I managed to grow and learn and improve. My fear was not that I would be a bad artist, because i know that in time and with practice, I would succeed in ever greater measures. My fear was that I would stagnate and settle for so much less than what I am truly capable of: a pitfall for even the most prodigious of artists: to settle for less because it becomes comfortable.

It was always my thought that if I am serious about pursuing my profession and industry, I should always strive to develop my knowledge and skills with regard to it. As I embarked on and evermore embraced a greater capacity for the pursuit of excellence, I soon discovered that I am merely scratching the surface. A lifetime could be spent on delving into my artistic potential, learning skills, becoming more visually literate and I would still, simply be chipping away with a toothpick at a mountain of what is available to me as an artist.

One thing I have always known is that I would not settle for mediocrity. It is hard for me to imagine that I can learn only a small part of art making and for the rest of my human life only practice that small part. To me this would be boring and limiting.

Let me be clear: we should always realize that pursuing excellence is not about becoming a perfectly skilled or famous artist. We cannot be perfect – it is part of our humanity. Few become famous, and dare I say, often not really because they are that great at art making. Sometimes more because they have been at the right place at the right time or their potential was recognized by an educated critic or gallery owner.

There will always be artists who are better and artists who are lesser than us in terms of specific skills, successes or approaches to art making. There really is no point in spending all our energy on trying to outdo someone else: this can be disheartening and cause us to actually lose our own unique voice as an artist, by trying too hard to walk in the path meant for another. Each journey is unique and that uniqueness is critical for an artist or creative person to become the best version of themselves in terms of creative success. The point is not to compare ourselves and to be in constant competition with others. The point is to consistently unpack our own journey with great sincerity and to allow ourselves to always be challenged to go further and see more.

The question we need to ask ourselves as creative people, students and artists comes down to this: Who am I as an artist and how can I learn to reach as much of my potential as possible by walking my own path, embracing my own desire for learning and developing my skills and visual sophistication in increasing measure?

Art is a holistic engagement with self. The artist cannot separate self from the creative process. My hope for all artists is that we will always consciously pursue excellence and never settle for a mediocre journey, simply because it is easier (or maybe even more profitable) to do so.

There is no point of arrival. There is only the fervent satisfaction and solving the problems, the overcoming of self within the journey to excellence. Happy art making!

To explore taking art classes from Avianne, go to: www.TakeArtClasses.com