Is Art Worth Pursuing?
This is the first of a three-part story I originally wrote to welcome new subscribers to my Studio Letters.
In these letters, I share how I lost touch with art, what brought me back, and the deeper meaning I’ve found through my creative journey. If you’d like to receive artistic insights and creative reflections like this directly in your inbox, you’re warmly invited to sign up for my Studio Letters.
Today I will share the first part of my story with you—what makes art so important to me, and maybe to you, too. If you’ve discovered me through my YouTube content, this is something I haven’t shared there.
It’s a story about why we create and consume art, but also why art is inherently human.
Connecting Through Art
I believe that the first artworks that impress us as children leave a definitive mark on us.
I still remember hearing Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake for the first time, Joe Hisaishi’s soundtrack for Princess Mononoke, and I remember portraits my mother was painting at the easel when I was five—one of them was a pastel portrait of Amélie Poulain…
When I look deep into what art means to me, it brings me back to my earliest memories.
First picture of me with an easel.
Connecting with other kids was extremely difficult for me.
I spent a lot of time in my own world, and because my interests were so different from those of my peers, I felt misunderstood and lonely. It’s ironic that loneliness is such a common experience—and as I’m writing this, I hope it doesn’t resonate with you, but I’m afraid it might.
I was unable to share my inner world with anyone, but it was rich and deep. At times, it felt like no one else had anything similar, or felt the way I did about things—the beauty of light reflecting on moving water, through a fresh leaf, or illuminating dust like tiny floating stars...
How can you know what others feel, what’s moving them? How can you know for sure that you’re not alone?
It’s art that gave me this answer. I mostly remember music, but also movies and images. Through pieces of art that resonated with me, I found proof that other beings had felt the same as I did, and with the same intensity.
And I immediately felt compelled to participate in it.
Some of the earliest drawings I still have (around 2010).
You May Contribute a Verse
Through art, I understood that people I felt a connection with existed, and I wanted to become part of their world.
I desired nothing more than to grow up to become an artist, and surround myself with those who had as much passion as I did. To me, the pleasure of art, the desire for beauty, and the need to create go together.
There is a scene in Dead Poets Society that perfectly encapsulates this feeling:
“We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for.
To quote from Whitman,
“O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… of cities filled with the foolish; what good amid these, O me, O life?” “Answer. That you are here — that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.”
That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. What will your verse be?”
— John Keating (Robin Williams), Dead Poets Society
This is how my dream of becoming an artist was born.
Iconic scene from Dead Poets Society.
Is Art Worth Pursuing?
People sometimes wonder if art is worth pursuing, and to me the question makes no sense.
Life is here for us to pursue what matters, and it is tragically short. If you have the desire to learn and practice a craft—if you feel compelled to create—that’s the only thing that matters, and by all means, you should!
There are many things we can’t change, but we can decide what to make of the time and energy we have here.
And if you’re lucky enough to know something that gives meaning to it all, I believe this is the best thing you can do with your life.
My first self portraits, in 2016.
What are the pieces of art that left the strongest impression on you?
Why do you make art?
Despite art being such a foundational part of my life, there was a point when I gave it up—and swore I would never draw again… In my next letter, I’ll tell you how that happened, and what brought me back.
