To be or not to be Artist's? eternal question

You are probably familiar with the famous quote that comes from a famous monologue of the play "Hamlet" that was said by Hamlet himself and written by the one and only William Shakespeare.

Well, to many of us it's just a dramatic question that Hamlet asks when he stands in front of a challenging crossroad in his life and doesn't know if life is worth living.

But this glorious quote was actually written from a deeper understanding of artist's way of life that stays very true to these days. No wonder Shakespeare is considered a timeless playwright, even these days, with stories that are suitable for any time and period.

To be.

Every morning when an artist wakes up and decides to go and buy new paintings for his drawings, every day when an architect shows up to his office to design the perfect house,

every time that a writer comes back home after his day job and instead of falling asleep in front of the television, sits down to write just few pages more to his new creation- it means that these artists have decided 'to be'.

The artistic process

When you see a beautiful poster with some amazing colors and stunning painting, know that

The artist invested hours or perhaps even days on this piece.

It begins with the artist having a studio or a room to work and concentrate and it also means he has to dedicate quite some time for the piece. He has to stop doing all the other things through life like going out, doing other work, meeting his friends and spending time with family to be completely involved in the process of creation.

Many artists can really create and work only in complete solitude.

They always try new materials, colors and techniques for their works.

Whether they are rich or slightly poor, they can't afford themselves to stop buying products for their works and artistic creations.

Some of them are more inspired by day, some of them by night and it means that even if they have to get up early in the morning for a meeting or a gallery exhibition, and they have a muse at 2am, they have to stay up and create.  They can't help it, it's a huge energy that has to be expressed, otherwise they can't sleep and feel moody and unhappy.

Artist's goal

It's not only their strong need to create, to design or to paint that makes them who they are.

It's their thirst for human connection through something that is larger than words. This is their real goal- to connect with you through what they do.

When you come to an art gallery and observe different artistic pieces, you can connect to each artist and to feel their heartbeat. You can tell some things about their character, their values or their lives through their art works.

When an artist realizes that a painting he painted made you think, a dress that he designed made you feel great when you wear it or a house he has created makes you feel loved and protected every day, he feels complete in a way only he can describe.

And he will describe it, probably in a new piece of art…

Not to be.

Imagine this scenario…

A painter wakes up in the morning and decides to leave his passion and pursue something else just because he was told he isn't good enough. An actor that quits theatre because he can't stand the competition and a musician who is tired to work so hard for his money, switches to study something else.

Imagine your life without Netflix, Amazon or your favorite music. Life without radio, theatre, movies and TV shows. Life without the possibility to buy a beautiful painting or a wonderfully designed costume. Imagine a parallel universe where there are no musical instruments in the shops nor painting brushes or colors. Imagine no street art, no fancy sculptures, no home decorators, no wedding photographers. And so on and on…

This is what 'not to be' means in artist's life. The question may not apply as 'to live or to die'? but rather as 'to create art or to not create art'?

Which is, by the way the real difference between life and death to an artist.

Eternal Art

Art influences our life since practically forever… Shakespeare, Anton Chekhov, Voltaire, Picasso, Dali… 70's and 80's musical artists such as Guns and Roses, Queen, Nirvana, Aerosmith and so many more. You can see many examples of art being an eternal influence in your life.

There were so many famous Jewish artists throughout history such as Marc Chagall, Amadeo Modigiliani, Sonia Deloni, Shmuel Hirszenberg and many more. Today there are many Jewish artists as well that we can feel blessed to enjoy their art masteries and works.Art is all over your life, acknowledge it and let it make your life colorful, interesting and special, also because when you do that, you allow artists 'to be'.