“What ‘kind’ of artist are you?”
“Ummm, well, the kind that paints, draws, plays dozens of instruments, and I’m told I really know my way around the kitchen, I’m that kind of artist.”
Laughs, “well, I suppose I should have asked, what do you paint?”
“Oh! I see! Birds, trees, Ferris wheels, chipmunks, storm clouds, teabags …”
“Thanks, Natasha, I’ve gotta go.”
I find the nomenclature maze around art to be stupefying. “How nice, you do pastel drawings!” “No, I do pastel PAINTINGS. Sometimes I draw but you asked me about painting?” OK. I do realize that we are the chosen ones, and we do this everyday, so we get what’s going on. I also realize we have an incredible opportunity to educate the poor souls that dare to ask, and I’m happy to oblige.
(pastel on board, 12 x 24 in.)
Then there are the other categories. Western, representational, expressionistic, abstract, contemporary, cubist, surrealistic, impressionistic… When I was asked to do a solo museum show in Taos, New Mexico, a couple of years ago, I was asked by the curator to identify my art in terms of category. We were on the phone, so I gave my eyes a good roll and said, “Certainly! Let me chew on it and I’ll be happy to get back to you on that.” Frantically, I contacted a couple of my collectors that had experience in that area and subsequently, Natasha Isenhour: American Contemporary Realist was born. Now, that’s all well-and-good until I break out an expressive little diddy of a beautiful landscape complete with unblended marks and gestures with some of the beautiful surface left peeking through. So, what does that make me, a liar? Inconsistent? Not yet sure of who I am as an artist? (Picture me with a whiny, squished up snarky face as I write that.)
I’ll tell you what it means. I paint what I want to and express it in the way that best reflects my observation and feelings about it. I’m happy to defy the categories, because as long as I am alive and I am able to paint, I will still be an explorer. It’s too easy to find ourselves pigeonholed into becoming a production company of something that hit the mark for a gallery, so they demand more of that and don’t allow you to evolve.
Categories can be a problem. I suggest you use them with caution lest you begin to believe it yourself. If you do, you just might find that something brilliant is stifled within your creative spirit. We must allow ourselves to discover the full breadth of our artistic selves and not let the expectation of a predetermined category hold us back.
So when someone asks what kind of artist you are, think about how you really want to answer that question, then blow their mind with your answer. Think outside of the boxes they want to put you in.
This story originally appeared on the Pastel Society of the West Coast’s blog, which features a new guest post each month. It’s reproduced here with permission.
