Sharika Roland

People come up to me all the time and tell me how talented their child is and it seems like they are asking what should they do to help this kid be an artist.
Here is the truth. You are born an artist. It is not dependent on being able to draw really well. Drawing really well is nice but it is not a sign you are an artist.
A born artist does not ever ever ever ask themselves if maybe they should go into art as they have this skill and maybe they should pursue that as a career.
A born artist has no choice but to be an artist. They usually know by the time they are 6 that that is what they will do.
They are just a kid and they declare that they are going to be an artist with such fierceness that sometimes it is a little scary for the parents.
You don’t even have to have natural ability to draw. That is meaningless on its own. Most people think that is the true indicator.
Well it is not.
Here is reality. Nobody should ever have to ask” Do you think my child is an artist?”
A real artist needs no help to know that. none.
a real artist cannot do anything else. They are helpless to choose anything else in the world to do.
That said there is one thing that seems to be pretty consistant with real artists. They act weird compared to everyone else. They feel more and react more and scream more. They throw things around the room when they are mad because they have the fierceness inside of them that must come out and when you are young it is hard to identify what the heck that is.
The fierceness is the river that must flow or you will die.
raising kids like that is like trying to walk a lion. But there is a solution. give them a studio as soon as possible and let them live.
My parents did this for me even though they knew nothing about artists. My Dad put a ballet bar in my room and he also put big panels up so I could paint on them anything I wanted. He bought me paint . My parents did this because they knew I would stop tearing up my room and breaking everything in sight if I painted out the river.
When I see children that are like me I think they need a studio not art lessons. more on art lessons in the next blog…

Although I do try and not paint anything purely erotic sometimes people read into it and it could be construed that way in some cases.
There was one painting I did called French Slip, and it was only a gal in a slip and the slip turned out so pretty I had to commit to it just being a slip. It was pretty abstract too but I did get a lot of comments from people who found it rather erotic.

Well that is just too bad. sometimes it turns out that way and if it is good enough I have to leave it. Sometimes art is really messy and real and sometimes it is sexy but you still have to paint it.

I never start out that way it just sort of happens. If I tried to make it sexy I am sure it would fail.
Isn’t that the most sexy thing about anyone, just them being themselves and not even trying and it just happens?

Art is a strange thing if you think about it. How can something that someone painted or sculpted mean so much to us.
But it does. If my house was burning I would run back in and get the art first. Of all my possessions , I would run in for the art. Art is one of a kind and totally irreplaceable.
You might be able to have the very same artist do a copy but it is not the same on any level.
Art cannot be mass produced.
that is why you pay so much for a live concert. They can do the same songs but it will be a unique experience. We are constantly changing and so what is done now will never be repeated.
I remember the first time I saw a Modigiani in person at the Chicago Art Institute. The real one was nothing remotely like the images in book . the real one had a presence that was overwhelming and shocking and earth shatteringly beautiful and so full of his artist soul that is was like looking into his eyes and seeing to forever.
So in reality that is why people pay a lot of money for art. It will be the most important material thing in your house. everything else can be duplicated but not original art.

In March my brother in law gave me some seed potatoes, I had never planted potatoes before, In March it was cold and blustery and I shoved them in the ground. Then little sprouts and green plants started growing in about a week, My granddaughter monitered the growth of these potatoes and I told her they would be purple. She did not believe me. Well last week we harvested the little purple jewels in the black dirt. Such a big plant that you have to pull out to get the potatoes. Clinging to the roots were the spuds. They were just so purple and red and white too, Digging in the ground we found several big loose ones too which was a surprise. We washed them off and cooked them and then put a lot of butter on and ate them. That very act of eating something that was once a seed and you watered and now you are eating was like becoming connected to the beauty of the earth.
When you see food in stores, it is unrelated to your hands and growth and love and earth. It is passive.
I would say that those potatoes were the best I ever had. earth to mouth in about 10 minutes. quite a short time. I could feel the vitamins in them. they tasted like the earth that they grew in.
It was such an organic experience to share with my granddaughter.
It was like being Christoper Columbus and discovering a new thing.

I just thought of this and it happened a long time ago. I was painting and then I remembered Phong.
He is a Vietnamese young man who used to work at a beauty school near my house. One time I went there for a haircut just to see how it would be and Phong happened to be working when I walked in. He was very quiet and just kind of nodded to me. He did not ask what kind of cut I wanted. I just looked at me for what seemed a long time. Then he began to cut my hair. It was not like any other haircut I have ever had. It was like he was race cutting. Hair was flying all over and he just kept going. His hands flew over my head pulling and pushing my hair all over. He did not section it off like usual. He did not even use a comb. Just his fingers.
Phong could not have been more than 18. So young to go so fast.
When he finished he said ok and I paid him and left. My hair was so wonderful and it layed against my head like it was sculptured. It was fantastic. I think Phong charged me 10 dollars.
Naturally went back in a month thinking I would ask for him for sure but he was gone. He opened his own shop somewhere and I never saw him again.
That is what it is like when painting or anything else goes well. You may never have that exact experience again. when effortless and perfection meet there is a glimpse of heaven.