Discourse on Artists...

"If you practice an art, be proud of it and make it proud of you. It may break your heart, but it will fill your heart before it breaks it; it will make you a person in your own right."--Maxwell Anderson

How true that is, for all types of art--be they written, musical, visual, theatrical or otherwise. I am of the firm belief everyone that is a practitioner of the arts, be they novice or master, be they of any type, is given both a gift and a curse. A gift that they are given to hone and use for the furtherance of mankind, a curse for they are required to hone it.

An artist is surely one of the least selfish of all men, for in their craft they are both given this fire for enjoyment but, with it, is given an equal--if not exceeding portion--of pain. One might read a lonely poem, hear a heartbroken song, or see a painting of a mother bird stretched impaled before her fledgeling. They see it and it invokes an emotion within them, giving no thought however, to the emotion that it brought upon the creator of such a piece for others to see. What depths of the soul the artist must plunge in order to bring about a moment of enjoyment, a single ray of laughter that eeks forth from the audience in miserly payment for their shattered soul.

An artist is a broken man, a lonely man, one that throws himself upon the flaying board of their craft so that other might speculate, thenceforth clapping and nodding: "Well done, well done." They are the true salt of the earth that the Nazerene had spoken of, those that dissolve of themselves so thereby, because of their portrayal of that which bring inconceivable guilt and remorse, they might bring another pleasure. Their cross is a heavy one, one that is labelled "entertain" and the crowds that stand idly by throw stones at him instead of condolences and tears.

An artist will find consolidation within this though, for it is his satisfaction and his pain. His satisfaction for he knows that he has fufilled his life's calling, his anguish at knowing that none will fully be able to tell of the cross he bears.

A tribute to you, true, beautiful artist.... a tribute to you....