Vulnerable Skin

With art, you as the artist are vulnerable. So we must remember to be careful to whom we entrust our dreams too. When we were little it was so much easier, you showed Mom, a teacher, or a grandparent. Someone within that group, normally was supportive and willing to see you try new things. But as we grow, we must consciously find those like-minded people who are willing to lift you up with their critics instead of leave you naked for attack.

It's not that critics are bad, they actually can push us to do our best work. Yet there is a difference between the "You can't do it," and "Why is the subject so dark?" One probes at us to articulate what we have done while the other strives to keep us in the status quo. And when you find the people who ask the whys keep'em and be thankful for them and shelter your works-in-progress from the naysayers.