I wanted to write a few lines about my artistic journey. How I drew constantly as a child, illustrated my short stories during the summer vacations, created 2 comic books during my illness when I was 10, painted with artists in studios, or how I went to art college studios without being accepted to study (that was the best thing that happened). But is it really that important?
While I was writing these things, I was often looking for the right words and didn’t know where to start. When I struggle while writing or drawing, I know I have to let it go and start all over again. If there is no flow, it is not the right path.
But what is the real art? I used to think, that art is when someone paints a picture or for example, sings a song. But I understood that art is more about creativity, joy, happiness, and peace of mind. Therefore, it cannot apply to just a few activities, such as writing, drawing, or dancing. You can find it everywhere and everyone can do it! Everyone can be on his artistic journey if he lives his life creatively and even the basic and simple things give him joy. Well, we can debate whether something GIVES us joy, or whether we always find it only within ourselves. I think it’s a combination of both. By connecting our inner spiritual world with the surrounding material world. We can search for creative ways to solve everyday problems or even don’t see things as problems, but more as things to do or solve. Like when they say “Do what you love” but you change it to “Love what you do”. Little change, huge impact.
Creativity in life would be also to do things in a different way than we are used to.
Take a different road, ask different questions while talking to someone, cook something unusual, visit a place where we’ve never been, go to the cinema alone, sing and dance while painting a house..there are millions of examples. But do you feel that energy in it? The energy of everyday routine and the energy of the trip to discover mysteries and legends in your neighborhood?
When I lived in Prague, I sometimes walked home from work, it took me about 3 hours, compared to 40 minutes on the subway. I walked through alleys where I wouldn’t normally go because there was nothing but houses. But I always ended up discovering something interesting. A small park on a hill, a botanical garden, and once also a house with a giant sun with a human face painted on its facade (probably a sundial, but really weird).
Either way, I always came home in a completely different mood. I saw things from a different point of view because I did something different.
That’s why everyone can be an artist, no matter if he knows how to draw a figure with the right proportions. If it gives you joy, peace of mind, or/and happiness, it’s a real art.
I am one of those people who find peace of mind and joy in drawing, painting, and writing. Something in me still drives me to these activities, much more than, for example, fixing a car or baking a three-tiered cake (that is the real art of someone else!).
When I was younger, my art form reflected a lot of my inner world. I used a lot of black paint and depicted things that could be classified as art therapy rather than the creative process I described above.
Being the type of person who feels that what I create should help others, this type of art felt like something that should just stay with me. Although now I am thinking about my “beat generation” poems that I should write again. Even though I live a quiet life, my punk side is still alive.
Anyway.
That’s why now I only create when I’m in a good mood. Because that’s what I’d like to share with the world. Not because I think that everything has to be beautiful and positive, but because I feel that there is a lot of the ugly from our inner worlds out there. And nice things are mostly fake.
I feel that I have to create something beautiful that will delight the human heart. I hope I can convey this joy and peace of mind through my drawings and creations.
And to top it all off, here’s the story of how I didn’t get accepted into art school. When I was deciding which high school to go to, I wanted to choose an art school. The problem was that these schools were far away and would cost a lot of money. And it should also be mentioned that in our family no one believed that it was possible to make a living from art. As in many other places, they believe that few special people make money with their art and therefore it should only be done as a hobby, while one has a real job. Well, this is a belief that I will have to overcome too, because it got too deep in me.
So I didn’t know what to study and I chose economics because business is connected to all sectors. The family was happy. When it was time to choose a university, I said that the only possible choice for me was an art school in Prague. Since no one in our family studied at university, I had my hands free and it was more like “I’ll try and see”.
Since I hadn’t studied art before, I didn’t know the conditions there were. Of course, I read the requirements for admission to study, but in reality, everything is a little different. I even went to a preparatory course, but our lessons consisted of us students drawing something and the teacher getting drunk with other teachers, and then they criticized our work, we paid them and went home.
We were supposed to bring about 20 of our original works from home with us to the entrance exams. When I showed my artwork at home to my roommate, she told me “Well, you can also sit down into the color and make a print of your butt, if this is art.” And so I did it. I think it turned into my best artwork back then.
When I got into the building of Art University, there were about a million people there..and I knew they only take 3 people a year. How silly of me to even try.
We were given a drawing assignment to draw right there, plus questions from the art world. I remember we were supposed to design a drawing for a public block of flats, and the guy sitting across from me drew a giant penis. They accepted him for the second round. Me, not.
All those who were not accepted for the second round went to collect their home artworks from one art room. Three students from this school were sitting there. I smiled at them when I walked in. They looked down at me and one of them said: “I don’t know what’s so funny here”. And they looked at each other with the sneer on their face. And at that moment I understood that this is not the place for me. I wouldn’t want to become someone who feels superior to people who don’t study at this school. And I wouldn’t want to spend time with these people either. Because I feel good with someone who can make fun of problems, failures, and embarrassments. Although I don’t think it’s embarrassing not to advance to the next round of entrance exams.
When I was working, I took an evening painting class. Our teacher was a student at another Art University and when we became friends he took me to their studio. There I met other artists and watched them at work. They had one thing in common, their style and the colors they used were exactly the same.
It might sound like a cliché from someone who wasn’t accepted to an art university, but I think that if someone wants to create art, he doesn’t need to study art. All he needs is to feel joy and energy when he creates. Perhaps the title is important if one wants to sell paintings in galleries, but I’m not sure about that either. It’s work that speaks for you.
I would be happy if my art spoke to someone and they could feel better or even feel inspired to create too (I’ve mentioned this thing so many times that it seems important to me haha).
I love both drawing and painting. The precision of lines and unrestrained brush strokes.
Now I have also added upcycling of old things because I feel sorry for how many beautiful things we still throw away. Not to mention the ecological crisis that we started with our consumerist lifestyle.
Instead of destruction, we can choose to create beautiful things. And so each of us can be the artist of our own life. Am I not right?