Image courtesy of ESPN Making art is hard work.
Being an artist means dedication to your craft. It means waking up every morning to spend a few hours on your craft, typing until the sun crests over the distant hills. It means being there, in those magical, still hours late at night, when the rest of the world has turned in for the night and it is just you and the luminous white of the page. It means cutting out those precious few hours just before the kids get home from school to put paint to canvas or run scales on the piano.
Being an artist means devoting time to your craft every day. It’s tough business being an artist. It’s a blue collar job.
When we say “artist,” most people think Beat poets, benzedrine-fueled rants, Hemingway-inspired benders, imitative Gonzo journalism, inspiration falling from the sky, muses whispering sweet nothings that drift over the calm shores of the imagination. These people do not think of perspiration and blood, except in the most romantic of terms. Not everyone understands the tough racket of making art.
Russell Wilson knows that making art is blue collar. You may not know Russell Wilson. He is the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Next week he’ll be playing in the Super Bowl working to achieve the pinnacle of his craft.
When you hear other players and coaches talk about Russell Wilson, they talk about how early he gets into the office, how much he studies, how often he pays attention to the little things, the small details that will set him apart in his chosen profession and put his team in the best position to win. He is often described as a perfectionist, a hard worker, someone who is meticulous, intelligent, patient, committed and focused.
When you watch Russell Wilson, it’s like watching a moving work of art. He improvises, buying time in the pocket, extending precious seconds to his teammates, three, four, five, six ticks. He bobs, weaves, then throws a dart downfield. First down. The drive moves on. He writes poetry outside the hashes, paints the game in careful strokes, sculpts in moments, and plays for an encore.
When you listen to Russell Wilson, he speaks the language of art.
“There is always something I am working on in terms of my craft,” he says. “Every day, my goal is to be better than the last day.”
He talks about living in the moment, of not worrying about how good or bad things are going, but just focusing on your craft to the best of your abilities. When things are going well, he is generous, always deflecting the praise to his teammates and coaches. When things are not going well, he accepts the blame.
Being an artist means dedication to your craft. It means waking up every morning to spend a few hours on your craft, typing until the sun crests over the distant hills. It means being there, in those magical, still hours late at night, when the rest of the world has turned in for the night and it is just you and the luminous white of the page. It means cutting out those precious few hours just before the kids get home from school to put paint to canvas or run scales on the piano.
Being an artist means devoting time to your craft every day. It’s tough business being an artist. It’s a blue collar job.
When we say “artist,” most people think Beat poets, benzedrine-fueled rants, Hemingway-inspired benders, imitative Gonzo journalism, inspiration falling from the sky, muses whispering sweet nothings that drift over the calm shores of the imagination. These people do not think of perspiration and blood, except in the most romantic of terms. Not everyone understands the tough racket of making art.
Russell Wilson knows that making art is blue collar. You may not know Russell Wilson. He is the quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks. Next week he’ll be playing in the Super Bowl working to achieve the pinnacle of his craft.
When you hear other players and coaches talk about Russell Wilson, they talk about how early he gets into the office, how much he studies, how often he pays attention to the little things, the small details that will set him apart in his chosen profession and put his team in the best position to win. He is often described as a perfectionist, a hard worker, someone who is meticulous, intelligent, patient, committed and focused.
When you watch Russell Wilson, it’s like watching a moving work of art. He improvises, buying time in the pocket, extending precious seconds to his teammates, three, four, five, six ticks. He bobs, weaves, then throws a dart downfield. First down. The drive moves on. He writes poetry outside the hashes, paints the game in careful strokes, sculpts in moments, and plays for an encore.
When you listen to Russell Wilson, he speaks the language of art.
“There is always something I am working on in terms of my craft,” he says. “Every day, my goal is to be better than the last day.”
He talks about living in the moment, of not worrying about how good or bad things are going, but just focusing on your craft to the best of your abilities. When things are going well, he is generous, always deflecting the praise to his teammates and coaches. When things are not going well, he accepts the blame.
“Stay in the moment,” he says. “Believe in yourself. Believe in what you’re doing. Don’t worry about the awards or the wins. We have a great opportunity right now, today... let’s go out and win that.”
To be a great blue collar artist, you have to have amnesia and an unshakeable belief in yourself. You have to come in, prepared every day to do the work. You have to find that time to dedicate to your craft. And sometimes, when the going gets tough and people tell you that it is not worth it or that you don’t have the talent, you have to shake it off.
“Whenever you give it your all, you don’t have anything to worry about,” he says. “Only focus on success. On the positive things.”
Wilson understands the hard work that goes into making art and making something truly great. He understands that it isn’t about the inspiration, it’s about the perspiration.
“The separation is in the preparation,” he says. It’s a sort of mantra with him. Like all great artists, he understands that most success is fleeting and that real success, the success of the blue collar artist, happens in the preparation, in working toward a goal every day, in the belief in yourself and your craft, in the sweat and the blood.
“The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint. The greats were great cause they paint a lot,” raps Macklemore, another blue collar artist that calls Seattle home.
To be a blue collar artist you have to paint a lot, every day. You have to sweat. You have to bleed. You have to believe in yourself. And, more than anything else, you have to give it your all and you have to give it every day.
Russell Wilson gets this. He’s a blue collar artist.
You can follow Russell Wilson on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/DangeRussWilson
“Whenever you give it your all, you don’t have anything to worry about,” he says. “Only focus on success. On the positive things.”
Wilson understands the hard work that goes into making art and making something truly great. He understands that it isn’t about the inspiration, it’s about the perspiration.
“The separation is in the preparation,” he says. It’s a sort of mantra with him. Like all great artists, he understands that most success is fleeting and that real success, the success of the blue collar artist, happens in the preparation, in working toward a goal every day, in the belief in yourself and your craft, in the sweat and the blood.
“The greats weren’t great because at birth they could paint. The greats were great cause they paint a lot,” raps Macklemore, another blue collar artist that calls Seattle home.
To be a blue collar artist you have to paint a lot, every day. You have to sweat. You have to bleed. You have to believe in yourself. And, more than anything else, you have to give it your all and you have to give it every day.
Russell Wilson gets this. He’s a blue collar artist.
You can follow Russell Wilson on Twitter here: https://twitter.com/DangeRussWilson