Alice Munro's Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

A friend of mine recommended Alice Munro to me when we were both twenty and living in Italy.  There was no English bookstore in the small town of Orvieto, where we were living, but on a day trip to Rome we stopped at an English bookstore, and she bought something by Munro.  I hadn't heard of Munro before, but she assured me that, even if it was the only new English book she was able to buy, Munro was worth it.  Since then I've come to love Munro myself, so I was happy this past fall when I heard that Munro had received the Nobel Prize in Literature.  

Munro's acceptance speech is delightful.  She answers graciously when the interviewer asks (in my opinion) too many questions about her being a female writer, and she is honest about the reality of her work as a writer.

I wasn't surprised to hear that Munro started telling stories when she was very young, even if she was only telling stories to herself.  I suspect this is something many artists have in common.  Personally I'm always baffled by the question, "When did you know you wanted to paint?" because I always wanted to paint.  

Of course that childlike stage doesn't last forever, and at some point it is necessary to be tenacious, to dig in and do the the hard work of being an artist.  Or, as Munro says, "I never gave up at all; it was just something I did."  

I suspect this grittiness is part of what makes any artist successful.  It's one thing to be a child who loves stories or drawing or music or acting; it's a very different thing to continue this work into adulthood, even after the point where the work becomes hard and discouraging.  Munro is an inspiration to me for many reasons, but one of them is simply her determination to continue writing.

Advice from Van Gogh: Don't Run After the Amateurs or the Dealers!

I love Vincent Van Gogh’s letters to his brother Theo.  Brimming with anecdotes about daily life, spiritual concerns, and occasional requests for money, the letters are also a rich source of wisdom about being an artist.  The following quote is from a letter where Vincent describes a conversation he’d had with a harsh critic.  Rather than trying to please the critic, Van Gogh defended his own way of working:

Believe me, in things of art the saying is true: honesty is the best policy – rather more trouble on a serious study than a kind of chic to flatter the public.  Sometimes in moments of worry I have longed for that kind of chic, but thinking it over I say: No – let me be true to myself – and in a rough manner express severe, rough, but true things.  I shall not run after the amateurs or the dealers, let those who want to come to me.  In due season we shall reap, if we faint not!

Of course the quote is striking because have many dealers and collectors did come to appreciate Van Gogh’s work, albeit after his tragic death.  The quote wouldn’t land with much force if his work had never become popular, but since it did, Van Gogh’s words here are almost prophetic.

What I find most interesting is that even Van Gogh, a profoundly eccentric and sincere man, occasionally longed for “that kind of chic” that would please the public.  I’d like to think he was above such things, but I suspect this longing infects most artists at some point.  However pure our motives may seem, there is some part of us that is afraid of telling the truth and that wants to merely flatter the public. 

Part of the work of the artist, I suppose, is being willing to tell severe, rough, truths.

The First Post

I think it is obligatory to begin a blog with a defense of why the blog exists.  Why, in an already-full blogosphere, should I add another blog into the mix?  Here is my reason:

I want to better understand what it means to be a working artist.  

Thus, the title: artWORK.

In this blog I'll be exploring a variety of questions and topics, including:

1.  Where do artists look for ideas?

2.  How do artists find time to make things?

3.  What are some of the obstacles artists encounter in their work?

4.  What are the unique joys of being a working artist?

Since I'm an artist myself I have few hunches about the answers to these questions, but I'm sure there is still a lot to learn!