Lessons Learned

One of the lessons I am learning as I try to better my craft as a contemporary folk artist, is that there is a never ending need to continue being educated. Not the type of "schoolin'" that puts you back into a formal classroom, but the type that comes from a run-in with "the-school-of-hard-knocks". No matter if you are the graduate of a noted fine arts college, or the self-taught artist who learned from watching grandpaw, it is always necessary to be on a never ending quest for new knowledge.

I have been astounded (and at times overwhelmed) by the amount of time and effort that must be invested into making art. There are many hats that must be worn. Each requiring skills that can only be learned by experiencing them; researcher, secretary, custodian, buyer, marketing director, advertising executive, salesman, writer, photographer, packer, unpacker, and merchandiser... just to name a few.

The only life experience I can compare the whirlwind I have encountered in the past 48 months, was when I stepped into my first classroom as a middle school teacher. All of the coursework that 4 + years of college taught me, in no way prepared me for what I would experience in that first year of teaching. I had no idea the many roles I would be expected to fill. Each day was different, bringing with it, it's own new challenges. Eventually, as I became more comfortable with all the hats I was being asked to wear, I grew as a teacher.

This same passion that I had as a young emerging teacher is the same passion that I must now rely on as an emerging folk artist. I must take the challenges that each day presents, and learn from them. In other words, I have to be willing to "take the next step".

Lesson learned: Nothing of value comes without a price.