Ability and Passion

Self-Portrait by Isabel Bishop

“My ability is so small!
  And yet the pursuit never stops engrossing me entirely.”
                                                   ~Isabel Bishop, painter

 

This quote speaks to me of ability and passion.
I remember being a young student, reading every library book on paintings that I could get my hands on.  The painter who fascinated me most in my adolescence was Vincent Van Gogh.  It was his passion, and evidence of that passion in his thick impasto strokes, that inspired me.  I would run my fingers across the prints in the library books of his textured paintings – although only visual texture and smooth in the library books, I imagined his passion.

Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh

I think sometimes we talk ourselves out of pursuing our passions, particularly if our ability feels small.  But I would not teach art if I did not believe, too, that the combination of time with practice usually results in improvement – just as in music and sports.  I definitely did not have the greatest ability in art when the pursuit of painting really began engrossing me.  But I did not allow what seemed to be a small ability stop me.  I let myself be absorbed in the process, and engaged myself in painting as much as possible.

What passion will you allow yourself to pursue?

Mary