Art Was My Ticket • by Alisa Burke

When faced with the task of writing my art saves story, I have to be honest I was a little stumped, I wasn't really sure that art had saved me. In fact, I sort of wished I had an aha moment or a more compelling story to tell.

By the Age of 7
But if I am going to be honest, my journey with art and being an artist has been consistent, predictable, steady and even boring at times. You see I am the product of wonderful parents who are self-employed artists. They recognized my abilities and interests and supported my creative goals at an early age — so early that I cannot remember ever not knowing art.

By age of 7 I knew that when I grew up I wanted to be an artist and my parents supported this endeavor for the rest of my life. Even with limited financial resources, there were always supplies for me, drawing classes, art lessons, teachers who took an interest and opportunities to learn and grow. By the time I hit high school I had already been selling and showing my work and my identity was wrapped up in being "that quiet girl that makes art". After receiving an art scholarship to college I went on to study painting and printmaking, grew my creative resume, began showing my work and bounced from one creative job to another. Insert 15 more years of making/selling art and here I am today working for myself as an artist. Do you see what I mean about a predictable story?

Subtle & Quiet Aha Moments
As I gave my journey more thought I discovered something - while I never had what I could consider a big art saves moment, I did have lots of small, subtle and quiet moments — the kind that aren't obvious until you look for them. And while it is easy to think of art as being dramatic, abstract, expressive, whimsical and driven by emotion, all of my little art saves moments and lessons have been more about structure, discipline and goals.

Art was my ticket to a college education, it taught me to follow direction, to understand theory, to learn time management, to be loyal (even when its not fun or easy), to create even when there is no inspiration, to be patient, to take criticism, to fail and start again and most importantly to never EVER give up on my abilities. When I sit back and look at this list of all my these moments and lessons learned I am now happy to declare that art did indeed save me!

Keep up with Alisa at alisaburke.blogspot.com.

Comments

[linda]

Thanks for sharing your story...I think it's great to know that our paths are all different and unique. Love how you said "never EVER give up on my abilities"... that is something we all need to remember :)