The blazing sun under which some young artists shine is as far removed from my world as a faint star in a far off galaxy. I see it twinkling cheerfully in the charcoal sky but I can not warm my body with its warmth or see my path with by its light.
Over the last days, I have been engaged in increasing my "visibility." I say visibility because I feel that often as an artist I have moved through life as the invisible man working away but having the work never seen. It is time to move things forward and using the above paragraph's metaphor, bring the work into the light.
I don't really write these thoughts for the young, excited and ambitious photographer or artist, but for the older creative who struggles to continue and not give up. Recently, I attended a small dinner party, a reunion of sorts with fellow graduates of the Film School at Columbia University. We met in the 1980s, in our youth, energized by our hopes and dreams. Some twenty-five years had passed and the crew had passed from their twenties into their forties and fifties. What excited me and energized me was the enthusiasm for the arts that this crew still had exhibited. None had reached what could be called the pinnacle of success but all were still striving to create. I think that's amazing and I'm so impressed and motivated by their continued aspirations.
So even though I wrote yesterday on my Facebook wall that I felt that "putting myself out there" felt like pitching stones in a vast lake and hoping that the ripples hit the banks, I'm still pitching and watching for the waves to turn Tsunami on me and wash across the shore.
