Maybe it’s someone standing at an easel in a paint-splattered smock. A sculptor chiseling away at a block of stone. A potter throwing clay on a wheel.
When you hear the word artist, what comes to mind?
Most people picture someone making something.
And while artists certainly make beautiful, interesting, and meaningful work, I’ve come to believe that being an artist is about much more than the things we create.
Artists don’t just see differently. They live differently.
While traveling through Spain last month, I started reading Ninth Street Women by Mary Gabriel. The book tells the story of the artists who shaped the New York art world after World War II—artists like Lee Krasner, Willem de Kooning, Helen Frankenthaler, and Joan Mitchell.
At the same time, I was walking the streets of Barcelona where Picasso once lived, visiting the Picasso Museum, touring Salvador Dalí’s extraordinary home in Cadaqués, and wandering through his Theater-Museum in Figueres.
One thing struck me over and over.
When you learn about these artists as people, their work suddenly makes much more sense.
Dalí is a perfect example.
Yes, his paintings were surreal and unforgettable. But his art wasn’t confined to the canvas. His entire life became an expression of creativity. His home, the way he dressed, his famous mustache, the elaborate parties he hosted—he challenged convention everywhere he went. He believed creativity wasn’t something you turned on in the studio. It was a way of seeing and living.
That idea has stayed with me.
Being an artist is incredibly freeing.
We notice things other people overlook. We see beauty in ordinary places. Inspiration can come from almost anything.
Grace Hartigan found inspiration in newspaper stands on New York City streets, transforming their shapes into abstract paintings. Jackson Pollock turned inward, creating work that wasn’t based on the visible world at all. Walt Whitman wrote some of his greatest poetry about something as simple as blades of grass.
Artists don’t just see differently.
They live differently.
Sometimes that shows up in obvious ways. Maybe it’s the colorful clothes, the blue hair, or the house filled with handmade objects instead of designer furniture.
Sometimes it’s quieter.
It’s choosing to spend money on paint instead of expensive handbags. Traveling to museums instead of luxury resorts. Filling your home with books, sketchbooks, rocks you’ve collected on hikes, and little treasures that spark ideas.
Artists don’t have to look unconventional.
But many eventually give themselves permission to stop asking, “What am I supposed to do?” and start asking, “What feels true to me?”
That might be the greatest gift art gives us.
Most of us spend years trying to fit in. We wear what’s fashionable, follow the expected path, and make choices that feel safe because they make other people comfortable.
Artists often reach a point where that no longer works.
At some point you simply have to trust yourself.
That same trust shows up in the studio.
It’s trusting that a painting made from a handful of rocks you collected on a hike is worth pursuing.
It’s trusting the color palette that feels right to you instead of chasing the latest trend.
It’s trusting yourself enough to paint over a canvas you’ve spent ten hours on because, deep down, you know it isn’t working yet.
Those aren’t just artistic decisions.
They’re life decisions.
For me, being an artist isn’t simply about making paintings.
It’s about living honestly.
It’s about paying attention.
It’s about following curiosity instead of convention.
It’s about having the courage to trust your own instincts—even when they lead somewhere unexpected.
So paint what you want to paint.
Live the life that feels true to you.
The rest has a remarkable way of falling into place.
ABOUT ANDREA CERMANSKI
I am an artist out of Santa Fe, New Mexico who has been painting for almost 30 years. I love to teach first-timers as well as experienced painters who need a creative reboot. My work has been displayed in several galleries around the country, and I have a Bachelor’s in Art History, a Master’s in Art Education, and had my work in a show juried by Judy Chicago. The idea of getting more people painting makes me light up as I want to inspire more people to express their creative selves and tap into a place of joy and calm.
WANT TO LEARN MORE?
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