
On this episode of the Art with Soul Podcast, I share some thoughts on how you can develop the confidence to call yourself an artist, and to stand behind the art that wants to be expressed through you, in a way that matches your sensibilities. By way of Andy Warhol’s iconic Campbell Soup Can paintings and Lee Ufan’s From Line series of abstract minimalism paintings, I’ll help you challenge the notions of what “real art” means.
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Fun fact: I can’t draw a stick figure to save my life — my figures end up with 3 legs, mismatched arms, are too long or too short, or have huge heads and tiny bodies — you get the drift, right?
For years, I thought that if I couldn’t draw a stick figure, I could never become an artist. And yet, here I am.
I still can’t draw stick figures. And I am an artist.
What does it mean to be an artist?
Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need to have had your paintings exhibited or your art hanging in galleries to be an artist. If you create art, you are in artist!
But I also know that it isn’t that easy to declare yourself an artist — there is a lot of baggage attached to that word…to that archetype, ranging from the starving artist trope, to the tortured soul, to divinely ordained, to eccentric, and many more.
But the fact is, no one out there can point to someone and declare “There, that person, or that kind of person, is an artist.”
You are the only one who can anoint yourself as an artist. And there’s a significant mindset shift that is needed to do that.
Tune in, as we talk about:
- Some of the fears that hold us back from claiming the title of “artist”
- Andy Warhol’s series of Campbell Soup Can Paintings
- Minimalist abstract artist Lee Ufan’s From Line series
- The lessons we can draw from these artists’ pursuit of their art
and more!
Resources mentioned on this episode of Art with Soul Podcast
Lee Ufan: Marking Infinity A write-up of his work from the Guggenheim Museum.
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