A pep talk
…with myself.
But you can listen in on it too.
So, remember that movie, In the Realms of the Unreal Morgyn told you to watch a few years ago (which you did and loved it) about the recluse janitor in Chicago, Henry Darger, who wrote and illustrated well, here, just read this…
Henry Joseph Darger was a reclusive American writer and artist who worked as a janitor in Chicago, Illinois. He has become famous for his posthumously discovered 15,145-page, single-spaced fantasy manuscript called The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion, along with several hundred drawings and watercolor paintings illustrating the story. Darger’s work has become one of the most celebrated examples of outsider art.
This guy diligently spent pretty much his whole life writing his books along with hundreds of watercolor paintings because obviously: he had to.
In 1968, Darger became interested in tracing some of his frustrations back to his childhood. It was in this year that he wrote The History of My Life, a book that spends 206 pages detailing his early life before veering off into 4,672 pages of fiction about a huge twister called “Sweetie Pie,” probably based on memories of the tornado he had witnessed in 1908. He also kept a diary to chronicle the weather and his daily activities.
4,672 pages about a tornado!
He was just an ordinary guy who, against lots of odds, made his art and wrote his stories, with from what I remember, no formal training whatsoever.
And let’s please re-read the awesome blog entry your friend Tiffany sent your way the other day from finslippy.com.
And the little movie that was attached to the blog entry that lots of folks should watch. It really is enlightening how he analyzes his own work at the end of the clip. And his honesty in the whole thing is really very reassuring in (mind you) a bummer sort of way, but hey, that’s truth if you dare to accept it.
Now.
So.
Really, there is no reason for you to stop making your items. Or feel as if you should stop working on them. In fact, it is clear you need to make MORE. Not less. In mass quantities. And at alarming rates.
The clan upstairs would have you believe otherwise, but we all know they are impostors that are jealous. Admittedly they showed up unannounced, uninvited today, and didn’t even bring snacks or drinks with them, all the while bossing you around and telling you, you are no good. They have shitty taste in art, music, food and drink (let me remind you again, none of which they brought with them) – so kick them out.
You have work to do.
End note to self.
September 3, 2008 | Comments (3) | Views (14)
