Grover is Bitter - for some reason, it reminds me a lot of bios of the old rat packers. A great read, regardless.

More than one of my posts have been about some facet of being an artist, and tonight I found myself wondering, just what makes an artist?

No matter the medium one works in, there are limitations. A writer must adhere to the rules of grammar and sentence structure, a potter must respect the physics of drying clay and glaze composition, a programmer must write compile-able code, and so on. However, there comes a day when one realizes that, as creator, one is essentially playing god. An author can have *anything* they wish happen to their characters, a painter can transmute what they see with their eyes into something more inline with what they see in their head… with me so far?

That moment of realization, when one steps back and thinks, “wait, I can make *anything I want*” - that’s what I’m talking about.

BUT

And I can’t stress this enough - but, this doesn’t happen until one knows the fundamentals. Any full of them self art student can throw random blotches of paint at a canvas and call themselves the next Jackson Pollack (and a good many do). This might mean you’re a very good, even slavish imitator, but it does not mean you are anything approaching an artist.

So, there are two things that it’s very easy for those who might become artists to do. One, they can let their chosen medium hold them back, becoming a technically proficient craftsman, but never moving into the fully creative sphere. Or, two, they can ignore all restraints and rules and produce very enthusiastic but still amateurish work. Now you can make a living doing either of these things - I see it happen all the time. But to really be an artist, for me, is to walk the line in between. Always learning the technical side of your chosen craft while never letting the constraints of that craft hobble you. It’s not an easy balance.