I love my “not-art”"

Last week I had a very interesting conversation with my art teacher.

Just to give you a little context: he provides us with a very decent, technical training in painting with oils. He expects us to paint what he tells us to paint, in the way he wants us to paint it. And we’re not allowed to be “creative”.

I never show him the paintings I do at home. What I do on my own has little to do with what he teaches us. In class I follow his rules, and at home I make my own. But oh dear… last week he accidentally saw one of my “creative” portraits.

He didn’t say anything at first, but by the end of class he took me aside. He means well, he’s always respectful, but he’s very clear about what ‘Art’ is to him. And he wanted to warn me that what I make at home is not art. It’s decoration, like the posters you buy at Ikea, it’s definitely not unique, and if I ever want to make in the ‘Art World’ I better delete every image of it on the internet.

I was taken aback by it. Not only because I’m one of those sensitive people, but also because I really admire his painting skills.

Normally it takes me hours, sometimes days, to think of a good response to that kind of advise. But this time my heart had an immediate response:

“I don’t want to make it in the ‘Art World’. I don’t want my paintings in a museum or in those fancy art magazines. I want to create what connects me to Me, and I want other people to enjoy my work. I don’t care if my work is unique or if my teacher considers it to be worthy. I have spent two decades doing what I thought other people expected of me, and I’m so done doing that. Now I want to lead a fulfilled life, and creating and sharing my “not-art” makes me feel like I’m doing what I was born to do.”

Also, if anyone knows some people at the Ikea headquarters: please give them my number... :-)