Blog #2

It is a very common occurrence for a person to look at an artist of any kind and imagine how easy it must be for them to create things. People often categorize themselves, at a young age I might add, as either being Pablo Pacasso or a chimpanzee with a crayron. And not just considering writing or drawing but dancing and making music as well. For example, when I was young I found I could not draw for shit, however my fingers danced on a piano like no one’s business. Many people have this notion that being good at art is such a blessing and a talent that comes so naturally. We call artists blessed and lucky because there is no way we could draw that or write that. Lamott is explaining to us that our perspective of artists being blessed with this gift that comes so easily, is simply not true. She calls this perception “the fantasy of the uninitiated” meaning what talents seem to come so fluidly to artists or writers, don’t always. And thats okay. Lamott is also very blunt in explaining this which helps us to relate to the idea that, although this artisicaly inclined women is doing something she loves, it’s still her job and it’s not always pretty. She describes that “We all often feel like we are pulling our teeth, even writers whose prose ends up being the most natural and fluid.” The words she uses help us to understand the agony and difficulty she experiences when she first sits down to write, something we all thought talented writers like her didn’t understand. She explains even the best struggle to get there.