Art appears in our lives in multiple different ways and has a different definition from everyone who creates or views it. As an artist myself, I define art as the journey taken to reach an end goal, not the goal itself. Notice how I did not specify what type of artist I am though. One might assume that I’m a painter after saying “I’m an artist” but I don’t do much painting, which proves just how many different forms of art there are. Some may even consider being a Subway worker to be an art form, because they’re making a sandwich and not just giving them one. It’s all about perspective. Anyone can be an artist, no matter the level of ability. Someone who just sketches with a pencil and sketchbook may not have the artistic ability of a painter from the Renaissance, but both still have the creativity needed to be considered an artist.
People can be an artist in many other categories as well. Personally, I identify as a music artist and music producer, simply because I have the passion to make music for people to enjoy and feel inspired by, but I do other works as well. As other hobbies I sometimes draw random (or not random) sketches, create perler bead art, work with air dry clay, paint, make digital art, or even make silly builds on Roblox games like Theme Park Tycoon 2. All of those things that I do make me an artist due to the creativity behind it and how much I enjoy it. I may want to show it to my friends and family because of how proud I am, or just keep it to myself. Despite who sees it, it’s still art!
When making my music, I rarely ever think of the goal as a priority, but rather the sound I’m producing. The way an oscillator, “a device for generating oscillatory electric currents or voltages by nonmechanical means” (Oxford Languages and Google), on a synthesizer sounds, how vocals can stack on top of one another for a fuller sound, and just the overall composition of the music is what I call art. I get a lot of my inspiration from the duo known as Daft Punk. Thomas Bangalter, from Daft Punk, spoke in an interview in Japan in the year 2000 saying, “For us, the important thing in what we consider to be success is being able to enjoy yourselves and have fun doing music…the success in itself is really more about trying to have fun, and trying to make the music you want to, and succeeding and being happy with that”. I have always believed in the same thing when it comes to the artistic integrity of the art you want to create. If you want to be a painter, be a painter! Do you want to be a musician, Subway worker, sewer, knitter, perler bead artist, clay artist, or anything else? Whatever is on your heart that you feel good about, go for it. If it doesn’t feel right to you, why continue to do it if you don’t have to? No matter where you end up, whether you’re making money doing it or not, as long as you keep your artistic integrity, passion, and determination, that is what true success is. That is what art really is.