Confessions of an Artist in the Millenium: How My Age Effects My Art

Somewhere around January, I took a trip to LACMA, and I discovered the wide variety of artistic styles for what felt like the first time. I believe that to be the start of my artistic awakening. I loved art before that, just not in the same way. When I was younger, my dad, brother, and I would make music almost all the time. The bond between myself and music is everlasting and unbreakable. My connection with other types of art began later. Middle school was all about music, it wasn’t until 9th grade that I began my artistic journey, however cliché that may sound.

When I see somebody’s art for the first time, my eye is drawn to color. Blues, to me, signify peace, and comfort. Reds signify anger and passion. To you, it may be the other way around, or completely different. Do you think about age when you look at art? I don’t, or I try not to, at least. I recently read an article about an 18 year old who just got an original piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. When people look at her art, are they thinking about the fact that the person who made this was only 18? She made amazing art at such a young age, what other things could she create later in life? She made this piece at 18, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be her best piece she’s created. If I hadn’t told you my age, would you think of my blog differently?

My whole life, adults have told me I’m ‘mature for my age,’ then I would say things about something I’m extremely passionate about, and the adult that i was talking to would reply with something telling me that I didn’t know what I was talking about, because I was just a kid.

Just a kid. When somebody says this to a child, they’re planting the idea in a kid’s mind that, just because they’re young, their opinion doesn’t matter. This is the number one reason why, before this year, I had never shown anyone my art. Personally, I am disgusted by the amount of children who feel invalidated because some entitled adult told them that their art means nothing because they’re just a kid. Maybe somebody read my last post and thought this exact thing. Please understand that art is meant to express feeling. There is no age limit on who is allowed to create art, and sometimes a 12 year old will create something that may be compared to Picasso, or Van Gogh. Art that a person made at the age of 16 could very likely end up in a history book. The moral of today’s blogpost is: never underestimate the artistic ability of anyone. Regardless of age.