Today is World Art Day (15 April). The day honors and marks the birthday of one of the greatest artists of all time, Leonardo Da Vinci. The day is all about freedom of expression, tolerance, acceptance, and letting the creative voice speak through any form, medium, or channel.
Now coming to why did I choose this topic? In my art journey so far, I have come across many (and the number is quite high) people who feel that true art is only that which comes through generations of practice, or learning through art schools, or can be done only with traditional mediums of fine arts like watercolors, oil, charcoal, or acrylics. These critics or artists bring down newcomers and often tell them that what they are doing is not really sellable or long-lasting art, it’s just a fad or a hobby. I am quite sure that many of us who are working with alcohol inks, acrylic pouring, resin, quilling, mandala, doodling, and mixed mediums have found people who are bent on discouraging and rejecting us. These are seniors in the field, owners of galleries/art houses, teachers in art schools, or general art critics. They at times do not allow such paintings to be included in exhibitions as these are not considered “real art”. One person, even told me that, “Bohot gandagi ho gayi hai art field mein, people are making anything and selling it, real art ko badhawa dena hai.” (Translation: “The field of art has become dirty nowadays, people are making and selling anything, we should create more opportunities for real art.”) Well! This is my reply to those people who think like that.
There are hundreds of definitions of art and we all might have our own. To put it simply, it’s just an expression of our feelings, ideas, moods, styles, choices, or anything else in any way we like. How can it be termed “good” or “bad”? It’s true that we all prefer some forms of art over others, but those are our personal choices. The only difference is that some people have practiced more and some have practiced less in their preferred mediums. But as I keep saying all the time, we are on our own journeys. We are supposed to take our own sweet time to reach whatever destination is right for us. This is exactly why I do not like art competitions as well. I do not want my art to get judged by people who don’t understand it. (And usually, such competitions are designed to take your participation money.) The choice of art is so personal that judging what’s better and what’s not good is not possible. So, do not get discouraged when you don’t win in such competitions or when anyone tells you that your art is not good enough.
No art is bad art. Even if you don’t like what you created, it’s still better than not creating anything. It might be a stepping stone to something else that you haven’t yet realized. So, keep creating and enjoying the process. Don’t let anyone pull you down in your journey. You don't know what lies ahead.