PoppyRow

It’s so funny how kids follow our examples so easily. My daughter knows I make and sell art as a part of my life, and has therefore decided she will pursue that as one of her careers. It’s only one of many; because when she is an adult she plans to pursue different careers on different days of the week, such as archeologist, ballet dancer, astronaut, artist, and cowgirl. She’s rather ambitious!

 To encourage her artistic endeavors, I let her paint like mommy, using canvases and acrylics, watercolors on blocks, etc. She enjoys this immensely! Consequently, I will often ask her to give her art away, because we amass piles of her masterpieces! But she informed me that she will “sell this painting for three dollars, and this one for five dollars because it’s the best one”.

This is a riot to me, but revealing as well. I sit back and examine myself. Art has always been about my conversation with the world around me. Every piece means something, and every piece says something. But in the long run, when hitting deadlines and attending shows, am I sending her the message that it’s about the money? I have to remember to keep a balance. That selling my art is the highest compliment I can be paid, and that making a living as an artist is a valid and noble pursuit. But it’s about the art, and whether I was paid or not, I would still be compelled to create.

My daughter’s innocence, being inspired to create by simply being in the presence of an artist, desiring to share her work with others, and feeling confident to slap a price tag on it is a great lesson. It’s about the compulsion, it’s about the sharing, and it’s about the selling in order to have the funds to follow through the next inspiration to complete the cycle.