Becoming an Artist

I have been an artist for a short time now. Less than two years ago, I decided that I was going to pursue my passion of being a full-time artist. Since then, I’ve made a lot of art, a lot of friends, and encountered many obstacles (and conquered most of them). A question I have been asked more than once is why I decided to become an artist. Unlike many artists, I can’t say that this was always a dream of mine. I have always liked art, but when I was younger I was more interested in science. Learning all about how the world worked was a huge passion of mine, and still is if I think about it.

However, what I soon discovered is working in a lab was not for me. It wasn’t the problem-solving career I had been hoping for. So, I was left looking for something else. I worked in more than one job that I did not enjoy, wondering if my future was going to be full of one dead end job after another. I prayed to know what my life was supposed to be about.

I started to take random little classes to have something I enjoyed doing. This led to private art lessons with a professional artist. While it was fun, I still didn’t think of myself as an artist. She and I became good friends and she told me about the Milan Art Institute. I thought long and hard about it. While I wasn’t sure about becoming an artist, I figured it was better than doing nothing. So I signed up.

The master class was fun and a lot of work. Yet still I didn’t consider myself an artist. Half way through the one-year program, and I still didn’t see myself as an artist. I wasn’t sure if this was really for me. I wasn’t the type of person I envisioned making a career out of art. Perhaps this was just another dead end road.

It wasn’t until I found my style that I felt something I hadn’t felt in years. As I figured out the way I liked to layer spray paint, drawings, inks, acrylic and oil paint, my heart began to sing. My canvas would feature some beautiful flower or odd insect I had studied, surrounded by a swirl of abstract. Something clicked. This was what I was meant to do. I was meant to create. I was meant to combine my love of learning and science with a love of making beautiful art.

It may sound strange or esoteric to hear such a momentous decision described this way. It certainly was for me. I had always been a planner, someone who carefully thought out every move. However, in that moment I was led by something greater than myself. I had been asking for my life’s mission, and some small piece of it was revealed to me. To discover and help others discover beauty in the unnoticed facets of nature and our lives.

I don’t know where you are at in your own personal journey. However, if you are feeling lost, I want you to know that your passion, your life’s mission, may just be around the next corner. Sometimes you have to take a chance. Listen to the little whisper of your heart that wants to reach out to your dreams. You may be pleasantly surprised by where it takes you.