"Eyes that look are common. Eyes that see are rare." - J. Oswald Sanders

Would you be able to maintain your sense that a painting was good even if ten or more people vehemently disagreed with you?

Do you have the internal strength to follow your own hunches?

If you don't, I can make some guesses as to why.

1.  You have been wrong before.  It is not that you lack passion and conviction it is that you respect the fact that emotion can cloud vision.  I cannot count how many times I have been caught up in some aspect of a painting without being able to see that the whole painting didn't work.  For years I had to get help to decide if something was good enough to mat! 

2.  There are too many art forms to be good at them all.  If the time is not taken to master the basics in any art form then there is no solid foundation upon which to build true mastery.

3.  Intimidation.  You have been bullied by someone with strong opinions, made fun of for a perspective that was different from others, or been shunned by someone who was jealous...etc. 

Nevertheless, if you think something is good have the courage to say so even though you will run the risk of being intimidated, uninformed or wrong.

The consequence of a life lived in suppression is a far greater loss.

"The Great Tradition of Art is Healing, Resonating the Being, Serving Our Equanimity, Raising Our Sympathies, Enhancing Our Existence. " Adi Da Samraj

As I have studied art and artists it is easy to realize that most artists (poets, musicians, painters, etc) while spending their lives passionately involved in their art live in circumstances that can hardly be described as comfortable.  They often live in poverty creating art most of their waking hours.  You may see their art presented in a beautiful frame in a luxurious gallery and yet this is no reflection on the circumstances most artists live in.  True artists will continue their art no matter what hardships or distractions arise.  A serious artist remains focused on their discipline, their passion, no matter what and thus their art becomes transcendent.  Meaning, their art goes beyond the ordinary range of human experience and understanding.  When an art form becomes transcendent it serves a great purpose for others because when they view it (or read or listen to it) they are moved beyond themselves.....and they are changed at heart by this experience.

We must always change, renew, rejuvenate ourselves; otherwise we harden. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

One of the most both challenging and useful things that happens to me as an artist is to be broken hearted, inconsolable, with emotion showing on my face.  It is part of an artists capability to deal with things in this world that are painful by creating. For me the process of creating when I am hurting and/or despairing helps me to grow and not become hardened.