Let's explore a question that strikes at the heart of many creative journeys: What makes you an artist? Whether you’re wrestling with doubt or simply seeking to understand your own creative identity more deeply, this conversation is for you.
I often meet artists who question their legitimacy. You may have found yourself wondering, “Am I really an artist if I don’t have formal training?” or “Is it enough if I’m just creating art as a hobby?” or even “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay my bills with my art…” and therefore you feel less of an Artist because you don’t fulfill some standard response to these questions. The thing is, in essence, we all know that being an artist isn’t tied to how much you’ve sold or whether you’ve studied art professionally. It’s about something much more profound. But how can we understand that being an Artist is profound? Let’s look into that!
At its core, art is a sensorial experience that elevates emotional intelligence. Remember when you were a child and you learned about your senses? Sight, taste, touch, hear and smell. Art is when these senses are deliberately activated so that we develop a better understanding of ourselves and the world around us. An artist, is the agent creating that experience so that whoever interacts with it, walks away with a tangible awareness of how that experience affected them. It’s not just about technical skill—it’s about the ability to create something that resonates. Artists have a unique genius and sensitivity to the world around them. They turn emotions into visual language, sound, movement, or text. What makes you an artist is your drive to create and express, to take what’s inside you and bring it out into the world where others (or even just your own self) can engage with it. That’s what makes art an experience—what makes you an artist is the creation of those connections.
Being an Artist comes with a feeling of responding to a calling. For some, the calling to create begins in childhood, when imagination runs wild and freely. Most of us Artists can trace back our creative streak in our childhoods, born with an inclination to express and create their interpretation of experiences. For other Artists (although not the majority) felt their calling come later in life, often after a transformative experience that shifted their perspective. But whether it’s the curiosity of childhood or the awakening from a life event, being an artist often means answering a call—something inside you that compels you to create. It doesn’t matter when that calling happens; it’s the response that defines you as an artist. The defining element is the desire to translate thoughts and feelings into something that can be defined as an experience .
Unfortunately, one of the biggest challenges for many artists is understanding what role their art plays in their lives. Is it a hobby? A form of self-expression? A potential career? It’s common for artists to feel more or less as an artist according to what external validation says the finality of your art should be doing. Truth is, no one on the outside can define the finality of your Art. Only the creator can define what the purpose of their art will be. If you’re not sure, you will most likely agonize with feelings of unworthiness, because only you can (and should) define the real meaning and value of your Art. Good news is, as soon as you define “why” you make art, you begin seeing yourself as valuable. Having the agency to define the purpose and role art has—whether for yourself or for others—helps build confidence in your identity as an artist. It’s not the medium or the audience that defines you, but YOUR intention behind your work.
So, what truly makes you an artist? It’s answering to your calling, allowing your passion for creating to take action and let it have an effect on yourself and/or others, your openness to expressing what’s inside you, and your commitment to following that creative impulse. Whether your art hangs in galleries, is shared among friends, or simply fills sketchbooks, you are an artist simply because you create, and there’s an extraordinary value to that kind of genius ;)
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