Art Without Rules

Ditch the textbook and pursue your passion

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I like art and artists. I want to be one when I grow up.

My fascination with art goes way back on my timeline to when I was a kid. Part of my story is how I learned to reconnect with childhood passions. And yes, I have a story that is ongoing, and I am aware of writing pages of my story every day. You should do this too.

There was a time when I thought comic book drawing was for me. It was the only job in art I knew existed, because surely someone got paid for the art I saw in those Marvel comics. Here is a confession: I figured out I was not good enough to draw Wolverine and Storm and the rest. I was right.

But I made the mistake of putting myself down; boy I was great at doing that. I reckoned that not being good enough at one type of art made you a failure in all types.

Now I know better. I have matured and seen doodles and abstractions and realized one has to find his personal style. Greatness does not only come in one form of drawing/painting. To confess once again, it took help with my mental health to see the sun through the clouds and be able to think with more optimism.

But, this story is not about drawing. Not really. This one is about art and finding your voice, your style, and/or your medium of expression.

Do not let any formalized rules dictate what you can and cannot do. Art is the kind of thing where textbooks do not apply unless you want them to.

I see lots of debate about grammar and what is or is not proper to do, and maybe I am just stubborn—but none of this interests me. For me, I think rules exist only to make something you do better, and when the rules cannot help then it is time to ignore them.

Let me summarize that and say: Grammar lessons are intended to improve your writing and not cause endless doubt in your mind. I believe in most of what is called correct grammar only because they are tried and true methods that makes writing clearer.

My guitar playing has taught me not to fret (pun) too much about what is right and wrong in art. Most of the greats we know did not learn the orthodox way to do anything. Most of them cannot read music and never took a single class in their craft.

They are the greatest because of the feel they have for the instrument and the passion that makes them play endlessly. We should emphasize the word play here, as what a child does with his toys.

Great guitarists pick up the guitar for the fun of it and do what comic book artists do when they doodle. It is about the fun of creating and messing around to find something new; something that did not exist at all yesterday or five minutes before.

Guitar players do not argue about rules in the way that we see with writers. Doing so is actually quite silly even to an amateur guitar player. What sounds good is good, and this might be close enough to the golden rule for this particular art.

I hope no one pointed out to Jimi Hendrix that he was playing his guitar too loud and upside down. I can just imagine a 1980s style nerd interjecting with: “Mr. Hendrix, Mr. Hendrix, wait a minute...” He would be drowned out by the wails coming from stacks of amplifiers.

I am spending time on music because I know more about it than other things, but the other things can be called art, too. Actually, I call lots of creative works art that are not commonly known as such.

Are you a soulful and experimental cook, ready to try new things and perfect your recipes? You are an artist.

Cooking is a very creative process. One can go a hundred different directions at any time. You have your classic styles and new, untested ones.

There are more spices than I can remember. One can combine, take out, add more, and… you get the picture.

My uncle takes scrap materials and makes tables, decorative frames, candle holders, and all kinds of stuff. This seems like art to me.

Did you discover art late in life? This is a familiar story and let me tell you why.

Tons of situations in life, and people part of your life, discouraged you from seeking artistic projects, or learning an instrument, or etc. In short, art is not encouraged by lots of people for a multitude of reasons.

Art is silly, is it not? Or, someone might not recognize your heartfelt creations as anything worth working on.

Teaching is an art, and I understand this from personal experience. I was a teacher for a long time and had other titles as well. Actually, teacher is not a title at all just one that I give myself and prefer.

I became one by accident and slowly earned an appreciation for this very important profession. Eventually, I realized I loved teaching and that I had been treating it as an artform.

My major was History and I sometimes quizzed myself on why I went this route. All the Humanities are interesting to me, after all, and most think of History as droll and anything but exciting.

One day the answer came to me: History is full of art and everything else, as it is the most open-to-create field possible for people like me. Music? Yep, it is part of History.

Every day in front of a class is a performance, and the feedback is similar to what, I am guessing, actors feel while doing their thing in a play. Even in those introductory college History courses that mandate we teach the basics, the audience dictates what is said, how, and if it needs to be repeated using different words.

There are very few limits. Just like with writing, translating a message is all that counts, and all is well as long as I can break through defenses and communicate something important. In fact, teaching invites innovation because of low attention-spans and the human want to tune out the same old thing, again and again.

Once I remarked that I would ride a horse into class if the school would let me. I meant it, even though I am a little scared of horses.

Dear readers, what do you think? Is teaching an artform? What else is an art that is rarely called an art?

I will leave you with this: Following your heart is much more important than following any rules. Unimaginative people tend to love rules more than creatives. That is all I have to say for now, and besides, sometimes I need to edit myself and write shorter stories. That is what the rule-makers say, anyway.

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