Art is for everyone

Art is for everyone, and everyone is a little bit of an artist.

From the beginning, when we can hold a crayon in our hand, we are compelled to make art. We make marks on paper without even thinking. We use intuition and our emotions to create something abstract.

As we grow we are compelled to create forms with our drawings, when we play with Play-Doh, when we build structures with Legos, and so on. Making things is fun and we are proud of the outcome no matter what it looks like. We only care what the end product is when other people critique our work.

This is when we start to think about what someone else will think or say about our work. We become insecure and we do not create as intuitively or as passionately as we did before, when we had no inhibitions. Criticism is what deters people from creating.

It is the little voice in our head which tells us we aren’t good enough even before anyone else says so. It beats down our confidence and we slowly stop creating things. Even though criticism can be crippling, sometimes there is also healthy criticism.

This type of criticism is meant to better ourselves. We just have to push through the initial hurt of our pride and jump over the hurdle for us to grow. Other people’s opinions can be helpful and are useful in problem-solving. Though in the beginning I said criticism is what causes people to stop creating, it can also cause us to grow in our skills and to think more broadly.

We need to learn what criticism is good and what criticism is bad. We need to listen to ourselves as well, because in the end, that is who gets to decide on our art: us. Do not let negative opinions cause you to stop creating. Consider other people’s opinions, but create what you want to create and never stop creating.