My dad was an artist, technically, he still is as even though he is 81 and in a nursing home, he still spends quite a lot of time painting. He has been an artist for a very long time and has been paid for his work since he was 12 and painted large billboards for new movies coming to the cinemas in Malacca.
The picture above I stole from 
He was so good that he was able to get sponsored to travel and eventually live in Australia based upon his art alone. He won some quite prestigious awards in his time and had many one-man exhibitions. He was in the newspapers, television and had work hanging in major galleries.
Today, I wrote about ideas people and my dad falls into this category in some way. He was not the flamboyant artist full of emotion and passion, at least not outwardly. Rarely did his emotions get the best of him but on the canvas they shone.
No matter his brilliance with a brush though, he was lacking in the skills he needed to take his art and make it a career. He didn't have the technical knowhow to sell himself, to get the traction he needed to really make the most out of his painting. And even though he attempted this early on, five children put an end to a promising artist's chances at financial security from doing what he loved. He just couldn't pay the bills. One day it would happen though, he told himself. One day.
But 'one day' required the space to paint and sporadically selling a piece of work here or there was not going to be enough. So he kept doing his day job as a teacher until it slowly became his real job. The idealist view of the artist was bitten by the cold reality of the world. Not everyone can make a living as a painter who spends their days in front of an easel.
As much as artists like to think that their work changes the world, more often than not, it has little effect, it is barely even seen by most and those that do see it, rarely care much about it past a momentary glance. It is a luxury item, not just for the viewers and buyers, but for the artists themselves, and anyone that can make a career out of it are the one percenters, not in earnings perhaps, but definitely out of the talented and skilled artists.
Most never have the possibility to make a living, most never even sell an item of their work. To make a living as an artist takes a lot more hustle than skill. There are millions upon millions of talented painters, musicians, designers and singers out there. Millions.
But, my dad did make a difference, he did change the world, he did make life better for many people. It wasn't through his art though, it was through his teaching. I have spoken to many of his ex-students over the years, many people who have spent time with him, many people who he affected in ways that made them think differently about life, feel better about themselves, empowered them to find discover and act from their own hearts.
As brilliant as he was with a brush, perhaps he was better at something else afterall.
Taraz
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