Everyone will tell you to grow your audience. Focus on subscribers. Get bigger. Increase market share. Be for everybody. Be liked. Be loved.
But nothing gives me more pleasure these days than when I notice someone unsubscribe from my email list. Why? Because it means I’m not for everyone. It means I’m forming a point of view. A strong opinion. I’m picking a side. A side that’s not for everyone. It’s exactly what art is supposed to do.
What if, on the days we don’t feel like making art, we do anyway? In the same way that we show up to our day jobs when we don’t fee like it?
The problem with progress is that we’re likely to learn that we’re either not good enough or not ambitious enough. But maybe there’s no other way?
If a chair is for sitting, what’s sitting for? Why sit at all?
What might we be able to tell ourselves and listen for in order to provoke more positive energy and action in our art practice?
Where does the motivation for beginning mark making come from? Why would I even try in the first place?
