I know some artists think they are too old to get their name out into the world and become the artist they have always dreamed of being….BUT I am here to tell you different.
Why? Because you and your art matter.
Let me tell you a story. I was on what I call the “hamster wheel of art.” I wanted to create strong abstracts but didn’t know how. I started wondering if I was too old to do anything really big with my art.
I read books, took workshops but couldn’t put the pieces together to create abstracts that really spoke to me.
Here is what I discovered during this searching time…books don’t really address what is needed as they are usually general information. Workshops are also the same…they don’t get down to a specific issue.
With all this general knowledge I kept coming up with weak abstracts. I was beside myself as I yearned for deeper understanding….concrete information.
But first let me back up for a minute….I had been following artist Ken Goehring for years. He didn’t blog or have a website but I saw his work in museums and galleries. His work spoke volumes to my heart.
I happened to go to a Rose Society meeting at my friends home and there on her wall were five…yes five…40 x 60 Ken Goehring paintings. My jaw dropped and I sat in her living room during the meeting and stared at the paintings.
Carol said to me after the meeting was over…I see you like Kens work….would you like to meet him?
Meet him? YES!!!
Carol introduced us and he became my mentor. I felt I was the luckiest person in the world.
I met Ken at his studio every Wednesday morning for over a year. Each week I had an assignment and each week as I entered his studio he told me in a very gruff voice to go outside and wash the oil painting off with turpentine as it was worthless.
After a year of this routine I was shocked when Ken stopped me and said “You have something in this painting.”
Ken started talking about the emotion in the painting. The whole session was a talk about how putting emotion into your work is so important. To be honest, I had never thought of this as I was so involved in creating a strong abstract design.
This was a turning point in my art. I took Ken’s information and dug deep into how to apply it to my abstracts. My work became stronger.
Up until this point I had received many rejections in juried shows but on a whim I decided to enter the Rocky Mountain National in Golden, Colorado.
To my surprise I not only got in but won one of the top awards! I was 52.
This is when I learned that age only heightens your ability to create art filled with emotion and meaning.
Age shouldn’t be a deterrent to fulfilling your dream but an advantage.
