Titles

All along, I have always been hesitant to call myself an "artist" because I feel this is a title that must be earned, a sacred badge of honor granted to the fortunate few who can see....something. I have felt I was unworthy of the title, too green or too untried to truly embrace this identity. I started thinking to myself today, on my way from class, where is the line between a "student of art" and an "artist"? When does one finally recognize some sort of professionalism, some sort of solidity in order to define themselves by that term? Perhaps the word alone is only a certain perspective, a way of looking at oneself and one's work. I call myself an artist because this is more of what I am than anything else....but I use the term tentatively...and with respect for what it stands for. For I am still learning. I hope always to be learning. Growing. Pushing myself harder and farther than anyone else could possibly imagine to the greatest possible being, artist, that I can achieve.

Until that moment, through a lifetime of struggles, I call myself an artist as a reminder of what I am working for, a reminder of what I can be, a reminder of what.... I already am.

The Start

By starting this blog, I want to create a place where I can track the development of my work over time and where I can bring together the influences on my art, like a scrapbook for the digital era. I don't present myself as an established artist, nor do I have grand illusions about who I am and about what I do. All I know, or have ever known, is that this is what I love to do, and that makes it worth doing.

The way the world is going, no discipline will remain pure in itself, untouched by the fields of study that surround it. Just as man is not an island, his work should be the same, informed by all around him. Increasingly, artists are beginning to integrate other disciplines--science, music, film, engineering, and so much more, to create dynamic works that transcend what came before them. Because of this, we, the viewer, are experiencing art in entirely new ways. I use the word experience, because that is what I believe a viewer should feel when they look at mine or any other work. Here, by being online, I can work out ideas in much the same way, bringing together music, photographs, stories and more in an effort to create something dynamic and with a life all its own.


(All photos and reproductions of my work are copyrighted and protected by law.)