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| flickr / dvortygirl |
It’s an artistic
thing, plain and simple, nothing more. I know that it is an artist thing and
not just me . . . I’ve read time and
time again how artists will not share their work before they feel it is complete. But it’s a family thing, time for a little
compromise, ha, not a good thing, compromise, well at least when you are
talking about the creative process.
There are reasons
for artists not wanting to share their work with others until the art is in a
phase of completeness. Which of course the artist’s work is never done. Yes,
the time eventually comes, it is a time to let go, a time where the artist’s
child must be stripped bare and meet the world and either be received with
great fanfare, or a toast of mediocrity. Yes, it is a painful process that is accompanied
by many a doubt, and fear, accompanied with strong hopes that it won’t be rejected.
And yes for most artists we hang on longer than we probably should, we are
driven with a certain sense of perfection, of completeness, always the nagging
questions; Is that everything I wanted to say? Is that said the way I wanted to
say it? Or even better yet, is it said in the best way possible? Is it too
long? Is it too short? Is it too narrow or just a bit too wide? The endless
nagging persists even when the time is complete and even when it’s still in
development.
The reasons for
not sharing work are countless, they are endless, sometimes fabricated and
sometimes justified, but the major point is that they do exist. It is as
integral to the creative process as the first draft or even the initial idea
that even hasn’t had time to ferment. It
comes down to a certain ability of treating new creations as a possession. One
that is held close, that is heavily guarded, a possession that is so valuable
that it can’t be shared, it’s like the feeling when you bring home that brand
new car home and your best friend asks for the keys. It is meet with the same
type of hesitation, that overly protective sense of possession, but trust me it
is so much stronger for a new piece of art than it could ever be for some silly
shiny new car. If we continue with the
car analogy for a moment it will be easier to enlighten the non-artist to the
way the artist’s way of thinking. We are
scared to hand over the keys for that new car for several reasons, our first
thought, no what if they scratch it, what if they wreck it? What if I want to
look out the window at it and it not be there?
Even
more so than the fear that our piece of art might receive a scratch on it, is
the fear of letting go too early, it’s the best way to jinx a project. So it
becomes necessary to stay clear of the unsolicited advice in order to protect
the integrity of the work of art. A partial vision that is shared is only a
partial vision, which may or may not look like the masterpiece that it will finally
become, only time will tell. But therein lies the biggest dilemma, to share an incomplete
vision is not to share a vision at all, but more of a revealing of an idea. That idea, once it is shared, is forced to
bend and sway to more forces than if it wasn’t shared at all.
What about that
killing process where a decision is made that this big portion over here just
doesn’t fit the whole, an independent observer may suggest to leave it, not to
slash it to pieces often as an artist does. It is then that the creative
process and the art itself would become damaged, scratched, or worse yet sabotaged
or tainted. The piece of art is then doomed, paralyzed, permantly placed in a
state of never achieving completeness, of never being done, of never being right
And those are the
reasons my dear sister that you even tho you are family you will and must wait
till the child is ready to be released into the world before you or anyone else
can see it.
