12 signs you are an artist

12 Signs You’re an Artist Image courtesy of feelart from www.freedigitalphotos.net Image courtesy of feelart from www.freedigitalphotos.net Are you sure you’re an Artist? Of course you have the paints, pencils and other instruments to say yes to that question, but how many of the following points ring true for you? You get excited about clouds… details, marks in the pavement, colours on walls, textures, fabrics and the like, your friends are excited about a new TV show… You are also excited about the smell of fresh paint, turps, raw materials for sculptures the view out the studio window, and ‘oh look a cloud…” Your family are excited about a social get together, but you’re ecstatic about getting a new canvas. The family event is a success, you wish you were in the studio. You leave the event wondering why people did not respond favourably when you talked fondly about your new canvas and clouds when asked “how are you dear…” Your friends connect on social media with groups relating to foods and fashion, you join the Cloud Appreciation Society… mutual point of agreement funny cat pictures. You haven’t sorted the studio in weeks but you still manage to work around all the things in your way despite high levels of frustration at times. Your frustration turns to annoyance when you finally have to clean it up enough to do some more work… this is punctuated with stints of looking at the new posts on face book for the Cloud Appreciation Society “OOOH! Ahhh…” and your friends wonder about your mental state being a wild roller coaster ride. Your water colour water and your coffee cup become one and the same. You put some honey just near and ant’s trail, then sit for ages watching how they react to the new food source. This is punctuated by bouts of looking up at the clouds, “Ooh, AH!” the day ends with your partner bewildered by nothing being done, “But you were busy all day right?” Your friends show off their new outside entertaining area and the furniture, you visualise getting rid of the furniture and can see a great area for setting up installations and trying out new ideas for suspended works, mmm art. You find a blank surface exhilarating and terrifying all at once, this can be awkward if it’s a wall in your friends home and you are caught touching the freshly painted surface… You don’t care you are searching in your pocket for a pencil to make a start on a new work, ‘ouch’ You found the sharp nub of a pencil, you now wonder how it got there. You select clothes with patterns and designs which can camouflage paint splatters. Sure you have a painting apron just inches away from where you work, but inspiration can’t wait until you put it on. Your friends read the headlines on books, magazines and the like, you see the illustrations, layout, colours and textures. Your friends read the book, you flip through looking for pictures and illustrations. You visit a hardware store to collect a new shelf, but some how you end up in the paint area checking out the paint swatches, ah teal blue! You leave wondering what you went there for in the first place, but are pleased your coulor swatch collection is growing. You stab yourself each time you sit down due to a very short, sharp ‘nub’ of a pencil that has mysteriously found itself into your pocket again, the pain is dulled by your mind wandering on to thoughts of lead poisoning and the notion that a mind altering situation could evolve from that over time and oh look your cat is chasing your dog… hmm all’s well in the world as your mind now wanders to contemplating visiting the hardware store to look at colour swatches. Your mind now contemplates the bunch of other things that point out you’re an Artist and your own list builds in your head for a few minutes until the cat runs across the yard and a cloud becons you to come outside and have a look! Have a few ideas to share, drop a note in the comments for this point. Regards Steve Gray