To Be Or Not To Be?
“To be creative is to let little pieces of your heart go & place them into each project you make.”
When someone calls me an artist I cringe. I have a hard time considering myself an artist. An artist has a certain degree from pedigree arts school. An artist wears her heart on her sleeve; or pours her emotions into whatever canvas she uses in whatever medium she prefers. Or at least, so I convinced myself.
Only recently did I realize (or accept) that I can call myself an artist, too. Creativity is as innate to me as breathing, from the Michael's kids crafting classes my mother would take me to on weekends to the HTML coding my father inspired me to learn; making is something I feel deep in my bones. To be honest, I think I've always seen things a little differently, and that's probably what most people call creativity. To me, it was the only way I knew how to see.
I've always had this thought in my head, that being called an artist or creative meant I had to have this amazing, emotional, triumphant, one-of-the-seven-archetype-type story that drove my creation. Well, I just like to make stuff, and I'm more logical than I'm emotional. I didn't fit my artist stereotype. I often don't have an emotional backstory to the things I create. More often than not I am simply inspired by nature and colors, traveling, juxtaposition, design and function, and a deep-seated desire to understand the hows and whys of the world. I do believe that our experiences help shape what we create but for me functionality with design is a driving force for the things I make. And that backstory can be a little flat, and practical - I just make things.
But I've learned that there is still a vulnerability to my story, as lackluster as it might be. Because creativity and making is a part of me, it makes everything I create, or the activities I pour my energy into so personal. That's why this website; finally allowing the things I love (and make) to be open for criticism is my way of letting pieces of my heart into the universe, and you get to see them in each piece I make.
I may not consider it art, but here is my heart.
-R