Saturday, September 6, 2008

Professional as an Ideal


Five of the five paintings I was allowed to enter into the Pacific Northwest Plein Air Painting Competition, have been accepted into the show, and four of those have sold.

After all of the effort and practice, I decided to take a short hiatus this week. The efforts that I put into painting is only a small part of the artist experience. I am also the inventory control specialist in charge of frames, glass, paper, screws, wire, pastels, etc., etc. I am the framer, glass cleaner, nail pounder, and dog walker. I was in need of rest. It took injury to my leg from walking into a old rusted fence, a thumb injury from a broken easel, and then I bruised the same thumb opening a door, and suddenly I thought maybe the professional needed to putter.

Below is a quote from theWARofART by Steven Pressfield. I read this today and thought the Professional better get back to work or risk turning into an amateur, tomorrow, I paint!

The moment an artist turns pro is as epochal as the birth of his first child. With one stroke, everything changes. I can state absolutely that the term of my life can be divided into two parts; before turning pro, and after.

To be clear; When I say professional, I don't mean doctors and lawyers, those of the "the professions." I mean the Professional as an ideal. The professional in contrast to the amateur. Consider the differences.

The amateur plays for fun. The professional plays for keeps.

To the amateur, the game is his avocation. To the pro it's his
vocation.

The amateur plays part-time, the professional full-time.

The amateur is a weekend warrior. The professional is there seven days a week.

The word amateur comes from the Latin root meaning "to love." The conventional interpretation is that the amateur pursues his calling out of love, while the pro does it for money. Not the way I see it. In my view, the amateur does not love the game enough. If he did, he would not pursue it as a sideline, distinct from his "real" vocation.

The professional loves it so much he dedicates his life to it. He
commits full-time.

That's what I mean when I say turning pro.

3 comments:

Donna T said...

Congratulations on the show and the sales, Donna! You deserve a break and probably Buckley does too.

RRoseman said...

Donna- I know a good hand therapist in oregon if you need one! That is my former"profession"-and now I am trying to make art my profession-but as an old hand therapist, rest is important-and gradual return to work is better than full speed ahead! so don't over do the first few days-love the work from the show-rroseman MS OTR

Donna Van Tuyl said...

Thank you Donna T. and rroseman. I am rested and ready to go. The hand is healed. I am fortunate it was my right hand, as I am left handed!