In order to define artist, you must first define art...
Art is about freedom and creative expression. Being an artist is first and foremost about feeling free to create. It is about expressing what's inside you, your spirit, your soul. Expressing something that potentially others can not express through your eyes. It is about expressing what you want and maybe even need to express. It has nothing to do with education or whether you create profesionally or as a hobby.
Some people have always had an artistic/creative eye; Perhaps you can't find your niche. Me,for example, I've tried painting, basket making, sewing and a variety of crafting. It took me years and I happened upon it. I create art through beading. I create jewelry. Inspired by Bogalon (Mud cloth) from Mali. I am confident in my creations.
I do not copy cat others, attempting to create. I don't scroll the internet looking at the work of those who sell online with copying their ideas in mind. I do not even want to be in the space of those who I already know are not confident in their creating and just hustling a way to make a few dollars.
Do you pay attention to other artists who seem to attract lots of people to their work so you ask questions like, where did you buy those beads or how did you do that? Well, we all know what that means. You have to be confident in your own creations, regardless of how beautiful the next artist's work is.
Don't look at their creativity and incorporate it into your work. You can't sell the spirit of their creativity. But you can sell the spirit of your own . Tell potential customers your inspiration of that particilar work when and why you created it. Tell them what you were thinking or what inspired you. As potential customers view your art works, encourage them to pick it up, try it on. Your spirit speaks through your art. Did you know that?
Stand when people approach you to view your work. Don't sit in a chair while someone looks at your work. Are you a security guard guarding your own work? Or an artisan who welcomes people to touch and try on the piece you created. What type of energy are you exuding?
Smile and engage, create a display that enhances your creativity without over exhausting it. Are you an artist or commerial saleman?
Could you be a Copy Cat Hustler just trying to make a dollar? Watch your network enviornment. Stay away from spashing your art all over social networks. (Unless of course you need brownie points). Confidence people, confidence. Don't you know that the copy cat hustlers are looking for your posts on facebook.
Offering your services may be ok. Who you are, what you specialize in. Perhaps you can show a sample or two, but encourge art lovers to come to your studio. Broadcasting your art & crafts devalues the originality of your creativity. People who love art want your art & crafts. They want original work. They will come to see what you do from one or two samples.
My creations are far to phenominal to splatter all over a social network.
When I sit down surrounded by my beads, tools, jazz, tea and incense filling the air, the outside world is gone. My mind takes in all the textures, colors and shapes in front of me. I can put the same beads together in a dozen different ways, and suddenly my mind says,"that is it". I am on a mind boggling high.
It is my responsiility to get my work out to places where people can vendor with me.
Creating is what I do. So, if art is about freedom and creative expression, I am an 'Artist'. How about you?
Sculpture
The ART of Natural Hair African Venus” was created by the sculptor Charles Henri Joseph Cordier in bronze in 1851. The sculpture was created as a companion piece to an earlier work created by Charles Cordier entitled “Said Abdullah of the Mayac, Kingdom of the Darfur”. The model was a young African woman by the name of Seïd Enkess who was a former slave in France. Both busts became popular after France abolished slavery in 1848. Charles Cordier himself was sympathetic to the abolitionist movement and believed in the beauty and equality of all races.
