What It Means to be an Artist
Hello Friends.
Thank you, from the deepest depths of my heart, for visiting. It’s crazy to think that one year ago, launching a website and a blog to showcase my artwork was an accomplishment seemingly well out of reach. Well... enter a global pandemic, work from home orders (dare I say it… stay at home orders) and I, like many others, suddenly found myself with more free time than usual.
Waking up each day, grabbing coffee and spending most of the work day in my PJs at a makeshift WFH desk, I reflected on my life, current affairs, and the state of the world. I decided to make a concerted effort to spend this newfound extra time bettering myself. I read more. I learned more. I exercised more. I tried new things that were normally out of my comfort zone. And of course, I revisited an old passion: creating art.
When I wasn’t spending time honing my ping pong skills against my dad (the first time I ever beat him was March 27th, 2020) or reading a book, I was making art. I have always loved artwork, ever since I perfected drawing a shark with crayons on construction paper. Soon thereafter I matured, went to college and life got in the way. The real world stopped this hobby in its tracks. I became so entangled in my career and climbing the corporate ladder that I forgot all about what used to light me up.
Rediscovering this passion has rebuilt my sense of purpose. I’m now taking risks and leaps of faith like I never have. Being an artist is much more than being able to put the pen to paper and draw an image. Being an artist means evoking emotions in others and, arguably more importantly, in yourself. There are few better feelings than pouring sweat and emotional equity into a work of art, whether that’s written word, visual arts, drama, music, etc, and witnessing the awe-inspired reactions of those to which it’s revealed. All of us are artists. We all have the ability to create and move others. It just takes finding time and putting an idea in motion.
All the best,
Sam Bell