Art is a Solitary Process (but Not Necessarily a Lonely One)

I don’t know whether I’m saying this because I’m, me, or because, it’s true ~ I mean, what about the artists who work in pairs, or collectives, or, artists who have whole teams behind them? Like Michelangelo didn’t paint the Sistine Chapel ceiling all by his lonesome.

And even if artists didn’t have a team, there would still be the framer, or, the people at the gallery, agents, maybe, that kind of thing. Then, there are (obviously) married artists (sometimes to each other), or artists who have artist buddies. There are entire communities, too.

And what about orchestras or ballet companies, or bands? Writers have editors, and sometimes chefs have teams, too.

And what about the audience? Or the viewers? The listeners? The (pardon the parlance from my other job) target market?
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So I’m thinking maybe it really is just me ​

~ but this post here from Mr Pressfield says that when it comes right down to it, artists really are alone.

So I guess it isn’t just me, and I don’t mean ‘alone’ in a struggling-slash-suffering-slash-artists-are-special kind of way or whatever, either.

I think even if you were in a duo or a band or a company or collective or kitchen brigade or what have you, there’s this, thing about the creative process that is yours and yours alone ~ and nothing can bring that to the, uh, birthing suite (if you will) but you.

It’s the thing that makes your art yours, regardless of whether you’re a soloist or the lead guitar.

Now I’ve always been a one-monster-show at the painting factory, even though I’ve been blessed with my parents, my sister, my cousins, friends, framers and so on ~ all of whom I will always be grateful for (after God, of course (and Mama Mary and my Guardian Angel and all my friend saints).

So actually, if you think about it, I really have no business writing this piece, haha!

And I’m writing this the day after I was lucky enough to zoom with a friend, which honestly made me feel better than I have in weeks. (Thank you, Leslie!)

But this really has been something I’ve been thinking for quite a while, about how freaking, well not lonely, really, but how solitary this whole art thing is.
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And because art is solitary, I think, you need to be strong for it. ​

And I don’t mean bench-pressing X number of pounds or whatever, either.

I’m fairly sure I’ve mentioned elsewhere on the jillablog about how much (if not the lion’s share) of what goes on in any artist’s practice (or process) takes place in your head. (Or ought to, to me, anyway.)

Now unless (or actually, even if) you’ve got voices in your head, that much, in itself, is pretty dang solitary. I didn’t mean for that to sound good or bad or what; it’s just an observation ~ and if you’re the type to actually like being alone, this isn’t a bad thing at all.

But if you’re an artist like me ~ now, I’m not saying a lot of artists are, or, I’m any sort of standard or whatever; just speaking or sharing from experience ~ it’s not the whole conceptualisation-slash-ideation-slash-brainstorming thing alone (no pun intended).
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For one thing, you’d be holed up all by yourself in your studio

-slash-office-slash-apartment, if you were me. (Okay, enough with the slashing.) I’m very lucky indeed to not have to set foot outside my front door (or at least the front gate), ever, unless absolutely necessary. Up until now, anyway, even the framer comes to me, and I’ve been able to have paint, paper, and other supplies delivered.

Since I’m alone and I’m told my apartment is meant for up to four people, I have just enough space to push my easels around if I needed to ‘stand up, back up, and look at it’ or move the stacks of canvases or frames around if I needed to find things.

But the biggest upside of being alone like this is being able to work without any (external) distractions ~ theoretically, at least, within the jillaflat. (I obviously have no control over my neighbours, all of whom I am truly very lucky to have because they have been so kind to me.)

Also, outside of working hours (for my day job), I have absolute control over how long I can work (on art, I mean) ~ that is, until my ageing body cries out for sleep (or food or the bathroom or other such ‘pesky necessaries’) anyway.

Not that I’ve never been grateful for all those times back at my parents’ house when I’d been called for dinner, prayer, or an errand ~ but if you’re an artist, you’ll probably understand how this has made me difficult to live with.

But I guess for anyone who has to really focus (whether they’re artists or not), having somewhere separate to work is practically indispensable.
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Of course, my ‘alone-ness’ does have its drawbacks

~ like back at my parents’ house, my brother was always around to open jars or carry heavy things (some of my larger framed pieces with glass weigh a tonne). And where I live now, the ER isn’t exactly around the corner anymore if I should slice my thumb open again while releasing stretched paper.

Also (I don’t quite know how to put this), I admit it can get tough at times when you’re, wrestling with things like ‘I can’t figure out the best way to compose this piece’ or ‘what should I do with the bloody background’, or worse, ‘I don’t know what I’m even doing this for, anymore. I give up.’

While again, I am grateful to have my sister, my cousins, and my mom for things like that last one, things like the other two are things I really have to work out for myself. At least, I, feel that I must work those things out for myself. I don’t ever want to have anyone (or anything) else to do that for me, ever.

And while that can be frustrating sometimes (i.e. when you have a deadline and you needed to spend more time actually making instead of baking (in your ‘brain-oven’, if you will) ~ it’s not altogether unpleasant. In fact it can be downright enjoyable. I don’t mean just fun ~ I mean you can really derive joy from this solitary, in-your-brain-alone process.
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And this is precisely why, however solitary this whole art thing is, it isn’t necessarily lonely.

You know how folks always say how you can be alone but not lonely? It’s true.

Simply because you’re just so busy ‘working things out for yourself’ ~ which includes the whooole process of research or study, making studies, and planning things out. Not to mention things like stretching your paper or your canvas, priming or laying ground colour, mixing colours, cleaning palettes, washing brushes ~ the whole nine yards.

It can seem like a whole lotta work for one person to do ~ and it is! I keep telling myself how, when I get rich, I’ll get an assistant to do the dirty work for me (mainly the washing and cleaning and opening stubborn jars or pails of paint or medium and hefting heavy pieces and bits of wood and basically keeping the painting factory clean -stuff).

But again, it’s all that work ~ brainwork and busywork that leaves one very little time to ever feel lonely, really, even if it’s done alone.

Besides, I hadn’t mentioned all the, um. YouTube and Netflix and Disney+ and Prime and Spotify in between (and during) all the washing, cleaning, opening, hefting, and so on ~ and of course, during the actual ‘baking and making’ parts of the process.

Although I believe I have mentioned my mom, and my sister, and my cousins, and occasional late-night (for me) Zooms (and voices in your head) (that prompt you to do Netflix or YouTube AND Spotify at the same time to drown them out while you paint so you can just freaking focus already) ~


Yes, art is a solitary thing. But even if you are a lone studio wolf like me ~ or the thought of facing up to the challenge of bringing art into the world all on your own gives you pause for whatever reason ~ you don’t have to be lonely. You won’t have time to be! You just have to be strong.
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