"Round Robin" penTonight I was at an awards presentation for some of the outstanding students at our school. I presented the award for the outstanding art student, and in thinking about this presentation I found a great short essay from Andy Jones which asks the question 'What makes a great artist?'. I have struggled with the idea of being an artist. I feel like a "jack of all trades, but master of none". I think that is just part of being a Jr. high art teacher. This quote made me me feel better about what I strive to be in my explorations. Tonight I quoted only the first part of this essay hoping to inspire this student. It also inspired me.
What makes a great artist?
In my extremely humble opinion, an artist is someone who creates. Everyone is an artist, being artistic is what separates us from the animals. What makes a great artist is not the ability they have, or the skill, or the technique, or the experience. A great artist has magnetism, magic, spirit. A great artist makes somebody stop and think, and think again, then reflect and ultimately, react. Whether it be music, the written word, architecture or painting, the ability to make people think about what they are looking at rather than just look and move on, is to me, the greatest gift an artist can posses.
In my extremely humble opinion, an artist is someone who creates. Everyone is an artist, being artistic is what separates us from the animals. What makes a great artist is not the ability they have, or the skill, or the technique, or the experience. A great artist has magnetism, magic, spirit. A great artist makes somebody stop and think, and think again, then reflect and ultimately, react. Whether it be music, the written word, architecture or painting, the ability to make people think about what they are looking at rather than just look and move on, is to me, the greatest gift an artist can posses.
-Andy Jones
1 comment:
Great quote! And I love the robin too!
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