An artist? What?! Me?
- kendallbryantcc
- Jul 27
- 2 min read
I can’t sing! I’m a terrible dancer! A toddler could draw better than me! Oh you wouldn’t want me on your stage! I couldn’t paint if my life depended on it. blah blah blah
If I got a penny for each time I have heard an adult tell me they are not an artist or even more outrageous- “I am not a creative person” - I would be a very rich person. Did I just use a boring, way over used phrase? Yep, because I’m talking about a boring, way overused pattern.
As a theatre maker and visual artist, I have been working with adults who give me all the reasons they are not artists for coming up 30 years now - thousands of them! And I have never actually ever met one for whom this is true! I did meet a truly tone deaf person, once, but she could dance so … not exactly a limitation.
Picasso famously said "Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up”
So what is the problem? In my experience, 9.98 times out of 10, the adult standing in front of me saying “I can’t” or “I am not” has been told this by someone close to them or who had some influence over them some time back in their childhood or adolescence or formative adult years. A fearful parent, a jealous peer, a cousin, a teacher, a sports coach, a sibling, a friend … some other person who was not coping well with their own feelings of inadequacy and this UNtruth has stuck and crippled for years.
The other 9.8 times out of 10 is that, the minute I point this out and ask “who was it for you?”, the wounded artist can immediately, with almost no hesitation, name the person and often the very moment.
Wow!
The thing is, human beings are not designed to want to do things we are going to suck at. It’s a basic premise of survival. Built into our very makeup. We are programmed to “succeed” and be able to wake up tomorrow and do it all over again. If you have a desire to sing, then chances are, you CAN sing! Same goes for drawing, dancing, sculpting, writing, acting, whatever your “dream” is, you HAVE THE ABILITY!!! If you can utter a sound, move a part of your body, feel an emotion, hold a pencil in any way, mush playdough, think a thought … the list is endless … then you can sing, dance, act, draw, paint, create … the list is ENDLESS!
So I ask YOU - who was it for you?
And even more daringly - what is your artist wound you’d like to heal? WHAT IF you tried again? Who could your artist be?
There’s NO-THING boring about that!
Now that we’ve opened the door to the possibility … penny for your thoughts?
Let's get creating, shall we?
~Kendall Bryant
(She/her)
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