What Is An Artist?

An artist is fundamentally someone who notices things, finds significance in them, and then creates something from those observations. As the proprietor in a French café noted, being an artist is about being aware – noticing colors, light, and beauty in everything. British artist Grayson Perry's lecture also highlighted this, with a schoolchild eventually defining artists as 'people who notice things.' The best artists are makers; they notice, they think, they work, and they produce, turning their impulses into a consistent and thoughtful practice. This definition moves beyond popular culture's often inaccurate depictions of artists as slothful drunks or starving dreamers, emphasizing that being an artist is not just what they do, but who they are, creating meaning in the world through their intentions and choices. This is the work of an artist. Written by Crista Cloutier, artist mentor + founder of The Working Artist. (learn more about Crista here)