99 Red Balloons, Detail, 51 x 51" (with frame) /129.54 x 129.54 cm, Watercolour on Paper, 2010 1. The ability or skill in your ten finger tips (or toes) (or lips) (or tongue) (your whole body) (or whatever it is you use to make art in any form) 2. Your heart and mind (because that’s what you use to make art) 3. Even if they take away your tools, your instruments, or whatever that isn’t a part of you physically or spiritually, you will always have the means to make art (unless they surgically remove your heart and mind, fingers, toes, etc.) 4. The tools and instruments, materials, equipment, studio, etc. that you do have 5. Air 6. Light 7. Colour 8. Nature 9. Life, in general, for inspiration 10. The senses we have, sight, sound, touch, smell (perfumers are artists, too), taste, that allow us to experience art 11. Every morning, every new day, every opportunity to make something new, or try to make something new, to explore 12. The precious seconds, minutes, hours we get to work on our stuff 13. Death, because it can push us to not waste the time we do have to make stuff (and because it can push the value of our work up LOL) 14. The people who see, hear, read, experience what we make, even if it’s just one person! 15. Every time someone says they liked what we made 16. Every time someone says they didn’t like what we made, because at least you know they looked at it or checked it out, and you can learn from it, right? 17. The people who help you out, and encourage you to keep going with your art 18. The chance to thank the people who help you out, or make it up to them, somehow 19. Music (which is also an art) to make art to (if you are a musician and you’re reading this, check out No 20) 20. Other artists who may or may not be doing the same thing as you, and their art—to support you and show you what else might be possible 21. The health and strength to make art (however much of it you have, if you are still able to make art, it’s enough) 22. Every medical aid known to man in case you didn’t have the health or strength to make art, so you can continue to make art; cold compresses and hot water bottles 23. Books! Poetry, literature (writing is also an art) which can fill your mind with lovely images (or songs) (or more words) you want to recreate outside your mind (if you are a writer or a poet, see No 20) 24. Places to show your art to people (not just galleries or museums or theatres—there are so, so many!) 25. The good people who run these places and gives artists opportunities to show their work there 26. The internet, which is also a place to find music and literature and places to show your art to people 27. The opportunities (which may or may not be at No 24) for showing your art to people; it’s up to you to take them as they come, or create those opportunities for yourself 28. The opportunities that don’t work out, because, like No 16, you can learn from these, desho? 29. Second chances (see No 28) 30. The fact that there are, and relatively more opportunities for artists because there were times not everybody was allowed to exhibit or perform their work, like it was a lot harder for some of us 31. Every single completed painting, sculpture, composition, piece and so on 32. Every single work in progress 33. Every single work that didn’t work out or you had to trash or start over (because, see No 28) 34. Your growing body of work, or portfolio 35. Your growing skill and expertise (or, to put it in video game parlance, your accumulated ‘experience points’) 36. Electricity 37. Water 38. A place to work (wherever this is, of whatever size) 39. A place to sleep, or rest (because we all work and create better when we’re rested) 40. Time for sleep or rest 41. Caffeine (because sometimes we need to work even when we can’t get a whole lot of sleep or rest) 42. Teachers, mentors, people who are willing to share their expertise and give you advice to help you be better at what you do 43. Art schools or anywhere that offers lessons (see No 42) 44. That more people have the chance to go to art school or take lessons, because there was a time not everybody could (see No 30) 45. Travel—I know that still isn’t as easy to do at the moment as it was a couple years ago for some of us but that makes you a lot more appreciative of it now 46. Places where art is preserved (see No 24) so future generations might be able to see what the artists of today were doing long after we’re gone, just like we’ve been able to see the art of centuries past 47. People who work to preserve art (not necessarily at No 46), particularly those working to preserve art forms (like weaving, pabalat or pastillas wrapper-making or making taka) that are on the brink of extinction My oil pastel and acrylic painting of pastilla wrappers and a taka I painted for someone who'd been a very kind supporter of my practice 48. Glasses ^___^ (see No 22) along with medical tape and painkillers and all that 49. Plushies (or real live pets, if you have them) 50. Soap and other cleaning solvents, agents (like if you need to clean your violin or your trumpet) to keep our stuff, our studio, and even ourselves—clean ^__^ 51. Pre-made stuff—there was a time we had to make our own brushes, grind our plants, bugs or minerals for pigments—and maybe violin craftsmen or piano manufacturers weren’t as easily accessible as they are now 52. People who buy or collect art, or hire artists, give them a job or engage their services, especially people who are willing to pay what’s fair 53. Every sale or commission (even the ones that end up not getting paid for or paid for fairly, because you at least completed it and can add it to your portfolio) 54. People who respect artists and what they do, and understand that what we do is a ‘real job’ (see No 52), and that what we do is valuable and not just in terms of how much you can sell it for or get paid for it 55. People who trust artists to know what they’re doing and who give us the room to do our job (without ‘helicoptering’ or being a ‘backseat driver’) 56. The people who know how to give constructive criticism or feedback, who really want to help you to become better 57. People who write about and study art, like art historians, who help people (including artists) understand art better 58. Video games (if you’re an artist who’s into this), not just because of their ability to help you decompress but also because they can be an art form in their own right and inspire you as such, or even be a place for showcasing your work 59. Cartoons (see No 58) 60. Comics (see No 58) 61. Movies (see No 58) 62. Air conditioning, electric fans or a heater if you live someplace cold (I sure don’t ^__^), because it can hard to work if it’s too hot (or cold) 63. Grants or scholarships for artists 64. People who protect what we do—not just like guards watching over stuff in a gallery but also copyright and stuff from being stolen and taken advantage of 65. Framers, carpenters, stage hands, recording studio technicians, printers, publishers and other people who support or provide auxiliary services for what we do 66. Peaceful times, times of good weather, no natural disasters and such—so we can work 67. Times of war, typhoons and other calamities—because they can inspire us to create and express ourselves and we’d still be able to work (see No 3) 68. Children—because they’re the next generation of artists and you get the chance to pass (your) art on to them 69. Anyone you’ve had to occasion to teach or share your know-how as an artist, with 70. Garbage, or waste material, because it’s given some of us alternatives in creating their art 71. A rebellious streak, or the spirit of experimentation, because then we’d still be in the ‘caveman artist ages’ and all the art we’d create would look all the same 72. All the artists who came before us with that rebellious streak and spirit of experimentation 73. A sense of responsibility, which keeps us from creating things we know might be harmful or could hurt people in some way 74. The people who promote your work and get other people to experience it, too 75. The high you get when you’re in the zone or in the middle of working on something Messages in the Ether in progress 76. That feeling you get when you finally finish something (which is the best feeling in all the world), when you stand up, back up and look at it (or read it or play it in its entirety for the first time) 77. The people who give you the space you need to work—not just physical space, but like, not bugging you when they know you are working on something 78. Delivery services—for when you need something but you really just don’t have the time to leave the studio to get it 79. Work from home jobs—or other jobs apart from art that some of us have to have that allow us to continue making art or that fund our practice 80. Bosses and co-workers at these other jobs that understand what you’re doing as an artist and who better yet, are able to and actually do cut you some slack for it 81. Food that’s easy to eat (or won’t make a mess or get into your work or gear) while you’re working ^___^ 82. A readily accessible toilet ^___^ 83. A bug-zapper 84. A nice stretch after working long hours, or being able to put your feet up or walk around for a bit, ‘creative downtime’ (see Nos 58 to 61) 85. Early morning walks (or any mind clearing activity like that (like some people do yoga) that helps with the creative process 86. The presence of mind to not wash your brush in your tea instead of the water when the cuppa is right next to the, yeah ^___^ (or something similar for other kinds of artists like accidentally putting alcohol on the varnish of your violin) 87. The ability to express yourself, to let stuff out (that’s better let out because they say you can get sick if you keep like, strong feelings and such, in) 88. Clothes you can work in, that are comfortable, and like you won’t mind so much if you get them dirty 89. Being able to get these clothes (reasonably or tolerably) clean ^___^ 90. Means of saving copies of our work (although for some of us, like Gene Kelly said, it’s the original that counts ^___^) 91. Laughter, people and things that make us laugh, a sense of humour 92. The chance to contribute to culture—to your country’s culture, the culture of your race, world culture 93. The chance to celebrate or commemorate things—an event, an idea, a person 94. The chance to get an idea or a message across 95. The chance to educate people or teach them, make them better for having experienced your work 96. The chance to leave something behind that might outlast you, something of you, or a piece of you, a record of what you thought or how you felt 97. Giving people a chance to get to know you or understand you better 98. The chance to put the skills you learned and honed, over hours and hours and years even, all that hard work—to good use 99. Freebies! Given to you, like free paint, a free venue, free copies of your work—not freebies you give to people (see No 52) 100. Being able to spot and avoid scams or things that could harm you in any way as an artist 101. The chance to praise and thank God for all, all, all this and far more, through your work I named Laudamus! for the Exsultate Justi of John Williams from Empire of the Sun * Interested in any of the pieces in this post?
Drop me a line to let me know and I'll let you know if it's still available, or how soon I can make something similar just for you.
2 Comments
6/10/2021 12:24:12 am
Nice list! I'd add friends, lovers and funny stories as inspiration for my comics 😜
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Jill
6/10/2021 05:02:12 am
Super super thank you, Melissa ^__^** Friends, lovers and funny stories > the list just grew to 104 because you are so, so right 💖💖💖
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