Why am I an artist?

This is a question I often think about and when I ask fellow artists seem to always receive a different answer. My response to this question has certainly changed over time and I am sure if you were to ask me a year from now I would give a different answer. There is probably an underlying theme in the various answers I have given throughout my life and career, but the words and emphasis seem to change over time.

So, my answer today is that being an artist is one of the few remaining ways in this world to be free. If I treat being an artist as a career or job, which I do, I feel as though I get to set my rules, my pace and make all of my own choices. I love this. I’m sure most people would.

I also get to work in my pjs, which is a plus.

My whole life I have seen the world in compositions of photographs. I have always tried to pay close attention to my surroundings to notice that magical object, event, thing that is waiting to be noticed by someone. I believe that is one of the many roles of an artist: to help their audience discover something new.

As a child I also dreamed of making this world a better place; I want us to reach a Utopia. Huge aspiration, I know. The best way I have found to communicate my particular thoughts on how we as a global culture can reach that goal is through the visual arts. I am not a great writer, my mind fires from one end to the other in a nanosecond, so I don’t know that I could really ever explain my entire life philosophy in words. So, I do it with images.

So to summarize, I am an artist because I believe it is the best way for me to positively contribute to the world around me. I also have a really awesome time thinking, breathing, and creating art.

–Lauren