Being a student in college, working full time, and just being 20, means my life is mostly a period of transition. Never static for long, the Pennsylvania weather changes less than I do. I’ve spent most of the past two weeks wearing the wrong shoes while packing up my belongings.
Moving off campus and into an apartment means my own place for me to draw. Instead of borrowing wall space or trying to cram too big art onto the backs of my dorm’s doors I can now pin them up in my new studio. I find myself with more wall space than I know what to do with, the struggle of full walls no longer an issue.
I never really know what to do with walls stocked full of my art, it just means less space for me to draw. I don’t like hanging on to pieces for too long, the oldest pieces on my wall are from July. For the most part I give everything away (not including the art I’m making for my upcoming exhibit); I want my art to be with people that want it for the art.
I don’t believe in the saying “Art is a luxury.” I think that’s a grossly mischaracterized umbrella term, not all art is a luxury. I believe services can be luxuries but not art itself. I would gladly give every piece I’ve ever made away for free, but I wouldn’t take on a commission for free.
I find myself giving away more and more of my art as I make it. I hold no attachment to my pieces, if someone so much as looks at my art for too long I find myself offering it up. My parents and friends’ houses are littered with pieces, my Dad had to tell me not to give him anything else, his walls are stocked full.
It’s not about the drawings for me when I create. It’s about the ideas and getting them out of my head. The act of creation, of putting my waiting pencils to paper, is second to the idea. The outcome means very little to me, I’ve made tens of dozens of pieces at this point, my studio walls hold only four. Because it’s about getting the idea out of my head, not taking up space.
It’s not about the drawings for me when I create. It’s about the ideas and getting them out of my head.
