I find myself incensed by an overheard comment Wendy Williams quotes in her blog, incensed enough to post twice in one day:
“If you can’t be a full time artist, then don’t do it at all”
I have the good fortune to be able to work in a creative educational environment for two and a half days a week. This brings me some cash. Not a lot. We have enough.
In my head, I am a full time artist. To me being an artist is not about the job you do to get the money to pay the bills. Whether you stack shelves in Sainsbury’s or get funding from the Arts Council is irrelevant. Being an artist is about how you think, what’s in your head, how you express that. Expression.
Some full time artists have to compromise that expression in order to get the funding to pay their bills. Sometimes. Some don’t. I prefer the way I work. I don’t have to adjust my output in order to sell or to fit. But however I work, I would never tell an artist they could not be an artist. How could I?
