I don’t pretend to be a wholly accepted member of the oft misunderstood and largely enigmatic art community (my tendency towards cartooning and illustration leaves me somewhere along the outskirts of that particular, peculiar gathering) but, as a half-participating observer, I’ve come to conclude that the term “starving artist” is almost never properly used.

 

It would be an untruth to say that ALL artists and creative types find themselves accustomed to a certain degree of poverty, but to say that the majority of artists and creative types learn to live without what would be considered an acceptable degree of security is, as far as I can tell, absolutely true. Because most art is produced primarily for the producer, the artist is him(her)self fed (in a manner) so long as he(she) is actively being creative. When the artist finds that circumstances demand he(she) must set aside the paint brushes for the drudgery of a 9 to 5, that artist becomes a starving artist… or perhaps a malnourished artist.

… Now that you’ve taken the time to wade through a bit of my nonsense, I hope you’ll take a bit more time to wade through some of my work, the contents of which will say a great deal more about me than anything written in the above paragraphs. Enjoy!

 

- Nate Creekmore