Reconnected with a near and dear art friend recently. And wouldn’t you know it, I couldn’t help but vomit art frustrations all over him. To his credit, he patiently listened to it all and even reflected his own concerns back. And it was then that I knew I needed more like him in my life.

The artistic business, or any creative business, is a tricky one. A person invests a lot of time and effort into paintings, writings, and projects and proceeds to share. Sometimes the works are warmly recieved and other times they flop and other times ignored altogether. Usually a frothy mix of all three.

And the blame for successes or failures? Sometimes it’s the artist’s fault and sometimes not and still other times where the results aren’t known for years at a time. Again, usually a confusing mix of all factors and more.

Guess what it’s like trying to calculate whether or not due diligence is practiced. Chaos! When you are trying to make educated guesses and the scope of things is so vast, boy howdy, it’s maddening.

Which brings us round to the aforementioned art buddy. To have someone, anyone, to talk to about the process and hardships who understands. It means the world! It helps to orient self from the outside. Not to mention the therapy component.

Suddenly I can see the value in veterans sharing with veterans. The validation of commraderie. Why those people who preach so hard about surrounding yourself with the right people are so certain. Feels good man.