got talent?

Talent, if it is anything, is a gift, and nothing of the artist's own making...

Even at best talent remains a constant, and those who rely upon that gift alone, 

                      without developing further, peak quickly and soon fade to obscurity... 

Talent is a snare and a delusion.  

In the end, the practical questions about talent come down to these:  

Who cares?  

Who would know?  

and What difference would it make?  

And the practical answers are:

    Nobody, Nobody and None.

Admittedly, artmaking probably does require something special, 

but just what that something might be has remained remarkedly elusive - 

elusive enough to suggest that it may be something particular to each artist, 

rather than universal to all of them.  

But the important point here is not that you have - or don't have - what other artists have,

 but rather that it doesn't matter.  

Whatever they have is something needed to do their work -

 it wouldn't help you in your work even if you had it.  

Their magic is theirs.  

You don't lack it.  

You don't need it.  

It has nothing to do with you.  

Period.

more gems from Art and Fear...

just love that book.

I've been back to work this week and off to Spokane this weekend to see friends.

House chores go undone, 

art lays in waiting, 

art lessons need to be prepared for kiddos.

C'est la vie!

Have a blessed weekend !