Art and faith...

art studio
Originally uploaded by ericblauer.

Here is a shot of my art studio in the corner of my garage. I am currently preparing for a showing in December at Jacob's Well. It will be my artistic coming out of the closet event. Exposing myself to the judgment of my peers, a slightly anxious step.

I find that doing art has similar challenges as walking out faith; particularly when it comes to making the commitment to put an idea on canvas or paper. It takes courage to commit to trying. I am currently working on a painting of Marilyn Monroe. I struggle with realism, so painting a woman is a real tough one for me. Deciding to try and take the step to put the paint on the canvas was tough. Paint isn't cheap! So learning is expensive, so I have to count the cost and once I start there is no turning back....good or bad.

The truth is, you only become better at your craft by doing your work. No other way around it and in fact the more risks you take the more satisfaction you find. I wanted to do more stuff and in order to accomplish that, I had to let go of what I was familiar with and venture into the unknown. I am so glad I did. Learning to let go of realism was a big hurdle for me. Most of my art has always been copying other peoples art. So having everything look just like the original was critical. That is important as a new artist but sooner or later you have to stop reproducing other peoples art and make your own...that is a step of faith too.

It takes a measure of courage to be an artist.