Really, talent and creativity are nothing special. Everyone's got 'em. Everyone in this world has had a good idea; thought of something that really fired them up. Maybe they tried to turn that idea into reality. Make it come to life. But the pencil and paper wouldn't cooperate. The pictures weren't just right. The paint ran funny. Any little thing can discourage someone making imagery, making art.

It's the discouragement that makes artists. Image-makers. We'll describe them as carrying the torch of our cultural awareness. Changing the world. But they're not especially creative or talented; no more than every single other person around them. What makes people look upon them as something special is the ability to work and fail and work some more. And anyone can do that. Any one artist that considers themselves above everyone else; that they "get it"; they are lying to themselves, and care more about the title of artist than their actual work. And that's the kind of artist that rubs me the wrong way.

This is not a men from boys comparison; I don't want to single people out, point fingers. I have been told by countless people that they wish they were as creative as some of the artists they see. Wish that they had the talent. Goddamit, we all do. Every single one of you. Art is something that moves us; we are taken beyond where we stand, and to somewhere else with a higher awareness or understanding. The Sistine Chapel, Moser's wood engravings, Robert Frank's cowboy bars. These artists push my buttons; they get my mind working, motivated to really feel what they felt when they created their art. I hope that someday all of my work, all of my failures, successes, compromises and efforts will one day make it to that place that people are moved to. The number of artists in this world is small, but the people doing the work, moving in that direction, that number is limitless. We all contain that potential within us, believe it or not.