What being an artist means ... maybe !

Well today the weather was great again. I am so pleased as it is meant to be Winter here and not this warm and sunny. Aren't l a lucky girl!! Long may it continue. 

It was very strange today, to only have one baby instead of two. My grandson and his mum and dad are in UK, so l just have one baby girl to care for. We went for a walk to the beach and when she went to sleep ...I sat with my feet in the water and sketched and sketched ... bliss! 

 I have been asking myself  lately, "what being an artist " is all about? Does it mean how creative you are, how much money you make or is it people's reactions to your work? I HAVE to make Art every day, l have no choice. If l don't, l become more and more irritable and bad tempered! Ask my poor husband and family! :) 

"Art is a kind of illness"  a quote by Giacomo Puccini.

 " Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up" Picasso said in October 1976:

The second of these quotes rings so true to me. Until recently l owned and ran a small art studio and school for babies, children and adults. To watch children JUST draw and paint was remarkable. They have no fear about how they draw something .. it is what ever they say it is. Colour is what ever they put on the page and they have no worries if they go together or are the right tone. Gradually as they go past the age of about 9, l began to see how they change. Is it their own need to be perfect or is a parent or teachers need? Either way it is such a shame to see this transformation take place. If only we could stay as children, where are Art is concerned.

Being an Artist, in my view is a state of mind. I don't create to be rich or famous, l create because l have to and l can. Sometimes my life is hell,  l can't create because l have a lack of vision or imagination . I don't know what to paint, in other words ... my mind is blank. Do l give up? No. I sketch, l think, l go for a walk, l cry but l don't give up. Even if no one sees my work or no one buys it, l still have to create . l dream, l record those dreams and they in return become paintings ... sometimes! If my work is not right or not up to scratch. Does that matter? YES. It shouldn't but it does and that is where l am trying to change. I am trying to become more like a child. In the rest of my life, my family tell me l am only 4. If only l could be like that with my Art? :).

Night from Bondi beach. :)