Why Is Art So Personal to Us?

“Sharing your art is worth it.”

Since then I have evolved into a grown woman who has no problem advocating for herself. My life experience has taught me that someone is always going to have an opinion about my life.

Accepting that, I have developed a thick skin and live my life unabashed by the opinions of others. That is until recently.

Now, I’m the type of person that can strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere. In the soup aisle at the grocery store, filling up my gas tank, or just walking the dog, it doesn’t matter.

I can also be an incredibly open person and you can pretty much ask me anything and I will tell you.

There is only one area of my life that I clam up about and that is my creativity.

For most of my life, I have been creative. From glittery popsicle stick creations as a kid, scrapbooking as a teen, and jewelry, painting, ceramics, photography, and mixed media as an adult, crafting and art has always been a part of my life.

Mostly what I created never left the confines of my house or apartment. Now that I have decided to follow my passion, write this blog, and sell my art, things have changed.

The thought of showing my art to the world makes me revert right back to that shy, timid schoolgirl who was so worried about everyone else’s opinion all those years ago.

I even cringe when the person closest to me – my husband- enters my craft room and my artwork is out. I want to scramble and cover it all up and shout, “Why are you in here? What do you need? Get out!” But I don’t. Instead, I distract him, drawing his attention away from the paint smeared on the paper or the words written on the page.

Now,  it’s not all my creations. The jewelry and crafts I have no problem sharing with others. Heck, I have given away many deformed pieces of ceramics as gifts!

But when my art is created with emotion, I feel exposed. The minute I put some paint on canvas and allow my heart to guide my brush then I become vulnerable.

Thinking about this the other day, I asked myself, “Why am I like this?” How can someone who is strong-willed and independent be embarrassed by such a thing?

As I started this endeavor of becoming a freelance writer and artist, I was ecstatic to finally do what I love full time- writing, creating, and writing about creating! I jumped full-on into this business and it wasn’t until I had to publish my first blog post and list my first piece of artwork that I cringed and those negative thoughts crept in- what if nobody likes it? What if nobody reads it? What if nobody buys it?

Putting yourself out there can be difficult and lots of self-doubts can take over. Especially when your name and picture are attached. It’s one thing to sell art and write articles anonymously and it’s another to have a 6-inch photo of yourself plastered on the About page. You have to own it. My work is there for everyone to judge.

I create what I feel. I don’t create for anyone, but me. If I like it enough, I will sell it. There is a lot of artwork that I create that will never get a gleaming bright photo on my website. And that’s ok. Creation is a process and sometimes we succeed and sometimes we fall short.

When I lost someone close to me, I created a lot of art and did a lot of journaling as a sort of therapy. At that time, I just did it because I felt the urge and didn’t look at it as a way to heal. But looking back years later on those words I wrote and those paintbrush strokes I made, I am amazed. WOW. Those eloquent words came from me. And I can see the emotion in the paintings, and it takes me right back to how I felt all those years ago.

That’s where the art gets very personal. It’s not just canvas with acrylic paint on it. I’m putting out a piece of my heart. An emotion. An experience. It’s one of the only areas in my adult life that I care what others think.

My art represents a period in my life.  I can look back through my art books, photo albums, and art journals and see the phases that I have gone through. My art shows me who I was at the time I created it.

It represents an emotion caused by a life experience, either positive or negative. It is a way of processing the world around me, documenting my life, expressing how I feel. It’s like a visual story that transforms my emotions and experiences into something tangible.

It occurred to me that if I feel this way, then others must feel the same. And I was right. Quora and Reddit have forums dedicated to helping people overcome their fear of sharing their art. I’m not alone. There’s more like me. Timid artists toiling away at their craft in the shadows of their everyday lives too paralyzed to open their door (or web browser) and share it with the world.

So, why is art so personal to us?

Then I found the answer. These aren’t my words, but it is exactly how I feel. I could not have expressed it better than the author, Amanda Wilson:

To create art is to give of yourself. Your time, your emotions, your darkest secrets, the very essence of who you are.

In art, our creations are a reflection of who we are, who we were at the time of their making. To share it is to expose ourselves on a stage; naked, vulnerable. To let your friends, your family, complete strangers, look into your eyes and see beyond the superficial, your well-crafted facade, and into the heart of you. No wonder it’s so difficult to share.

Recently it occurred to me that to hide your art is to hide a piece of yourself. To keep an important part of you hidden, concealed for fear of judgment, of ridicule, of not being “good enough.”

Yes, I hyperlinked the entire quote because I want to make sure I give her all the credit in the world for her powerful words that so effortlessly conveyed what I felt in my heart.

Constant judging seems to be woven into our DNA and I have accepted that is how it is in every area of my life, but my art.

But that can no longer be. Despite all the fear and hesitation, art is not optional for me. It is essential.

I am going to have to force myself to accept it. That being creative is who I am and whether the world likes it or not, I won’t stop.

Deep down I know someone somewhere will like it. And if not, well darn it, I do!

All hidden creatives, we need to collectively unite and expose our art and ourselves to the world. First, it is scary, then liberating. It is freeing to say, “Here it is World, here’s my creation, love it or not.” Then be truly content with whatever the outcome.

Sharing your art is worth it. The more you share, the greater your artistic confidence will grow.

Don’t let your art only live a in a book on a shelf, or in a basement closet, or wherever else you stash your creations. Set it free. Set yourself free.

I’m not going to do my typical closing request to read another one of my blogs or follow me on social media. No, today I am going to do something different.

My Call to Action today is going to be to share at least one piece of your art with someone this week. It can be a friend, colleague, family member, whoever, just as long as this person hasn’t seen any of your artwork before. Step out of your comfort zone and release that beautiful creation out into the world.

Still need more convincing, then read this.