WHO CARES

 

Years sometimes take their toll on ambition and pursuits. You get to a point when you start to think why try, who cares? This is so true with art efforts. Still Famous artists produce great work in the twilight of their careers. Art influenced not only by their talent, but by life experiences, deeper in meaning, closer to emotion. You only have to think of the great songs “Hurt” by Johnny Cash or “A Song for You” by Leon Russell. The photographer Saul Leiter gave up photography mid career to paint. In later years, the experience led him back to photography with a greater understanding of color, perspective and fullness. It fostered his most famous photographs.

For most of us though we are not on a track of fame. Our art efforts are largely just that, efforts. Overlooked is how those efforts reflects our being. They represent how we see life, what it means to us, and the special beauty we find along the way. Early cave dwellers painted hand prints to let others know that they lived. Perhaps that is the great reward for continuing your art. It makes you feel alive. Recording the meaning of the years spent. A learned satisfaction with the effort. And, of course, there is always the chance you will find your special song...