“The only artists I have ever known who are personally delightful are bad artists. Good artists exist simply in what they make, and consequently are perfectly uninteresting in what they are. A great poet, a really great poet, is the most unpoetical of all creatures. But inferior poets are absolutely fascinating. The worse their rhymes are, the more picturesque they look. The mere fact of having published a book of second-rate sonnets makes a man quite irresistible. He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize.”
~ Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray ~
Most of the good artists I have met are shy and live in their heads. Steve Wozniak says the same thing about inventors and engineers. The less productive artists I know lead socially active lives filled with as many conversations as possible about themselves and the people they know or are connected to. They are fascinating, as Oscar Wilde puts it. They are flamboyant, loud and live as large as the signature on their canvases. Just like in literature, their work is readily accessible. They have a group of admirers, and their name is bandied about as an artist.
Let’s face it. It’s a lot of noise.
Woz says we need time alone to develop our ideas without the outside influence of the sales and marketing departments. So is the art created away from all of the noise really better? My guess is that it depends on who is doing the work and what their intent is. Is it personal growth or just more noise?
That said, we all eventually need to share a couple of drinks with some friends. But who do you want to hang with at the end of your day? How do you want to spend your day? Positively? Negatively?
In my experience, I have always found sharing to be an integral part of being part of an art tribe. There is no declared leader or autocrat. There are discussions, debates, and a whole lot of sharing. The sharing of ideas and one’s life is, after all, what makes life interesting and fulfilling. An exchange of ideas gives rise to new ideas and concepts. These open and free exchanges lead to new developments and creative growth for everyone upon return to the studio.
At the end of my day, I prefer to have drinks with interesting people who promote ideas that foster personal growth. I’m not interested in, nor fascinated by, discussions that lead to the exact same conclusions without resolution. Time spent complaining about galleries, lack of sales, and collectors is certainly not my cup of tea. Instead, uplifting conversations and good company are what fuel my creative fire. Finding and nurturing this kind of environment is essential for the artist. Who we hitch our wagons to creatively really does impact the work we do, and what tribe we become a member of decides the level of our success.
Although Woz says it’s important for creators to work alone away from the sales and marketing departments, he fails to realize that he wouldn’t be the Woz if there weren’t Steve Jobs and the marketing machine he created. As artists, we need to be in alliance with people who will help disperse our work to the public. In the many conversations I have had with the “negative” creative types, I have never heard a positive word said about galleries, collectors, or the general public, for that matter.
This pervasive negative attitude among failed artists is perhaps the very reason that they are failed artists.
Who exactly should be in our tribe?
Obviously, the most positive people you can find! Each art form can and does benefit from exposure to the others, so it shouldn’t be just visual artists. Age isn’t a factor, nor is the level of success. Finding the right people and the right mix is very important. Everyone should be walking away feeling refreshed.
Every so often, you find a tribe. It seems to happen spontaneously, and when you least expect it.
When you find them, you will know it.
