Oh, you're an artist!

The biggest misconceptions about artists.

You serious artists out there will be able to answer this question without hesitation. The misconceptions the general public has concerning artists is hardly ever stated directly but is revealed subtly through the questions asked of us.

A question asked of my wife...

"What's John doing today?"

Translation: Being an artist allows you to do whatever you want, when you want. It's kind of like being retired. You can work or not work. Sleep in or just watch TV all day.

"What do you do when you're not inspired to paint?"

Translation: Artists operate totally on feelings/emotion. If in the "mood", you paint; if not in the "mood", you do other stuff. Basically, artists lack discipline. It's all about inspiration. When inspiration comes into the room, you work frantically until you drop and then you don't work again until the next whiff of inspired air decides to visit you.

"It must be nice being an artist?"

Translation: You don't have a boss. You don't have to go into work every day. You can come and go as you please. You can paint what you want, when you want and no one tells you what to do. You're free of worry and responsibility.

"How long did it take you to paint that?"

Translation: That is way too much money for the time you spent on that piece. My, you artists really rake in the dough! Why should you make so much when painting is for fun and it's what many people do for a hobby? Heck, my Mother can paint.

Those are a few of the questions often heard by artists. I'm sure you can think of more. So, what are the biggest misconceptions about artists?

We are naturally gifted so creating comes easy, but at the same time we're pretty eccentric and definitely follow the beat of a different drummer.

Now, that may be true of some, but the pros I know are pretty much down-to-earth, hard working individuals.

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