Blog: Velveteen Rabbit

Featured image: Peter

If the artist’s self/soul is starved, then the artist will find it impossible to call up any kind of deep and joyous song. The soul/self needs to be found and developed. It needs to be fed. Your soul/self is a very unique independent personal thing. It exists, but not through another, only through exploration of your own personal values, and needs. If an artist does not take the time to do this, then their soul/self will be starved, and their work will be starved.

Recently when I was working on my "Rabbit” series, I was thinking about what they represented to me. The last one, "Peter,” the very last one, came alive like the rabbit in the story the Velveteen Rabbit. Remember that story?
Here is a summary from; live-happier.com:

“In a nutshell, the story reminds us that when we are truly ourselves and truly loved we become genuine and real. Usually, when I read this story, I read it from the perspective of me being the Velveteen Rabbit. Longing to be real and to have someone who loves me unconditionally no matter what.”
The story is written by Margery Williams (also known as Margery Williams Bianco) and illustrated by William Nicholson.

That is how the artist needs to think about their soul. The soul is the self and it needs to be real and genuine. The soul/self longs to be real and longs to be loved, unconditionally loved, no matter what. Once an artist exposes the self in a work, the work becomes real – and it’s no longer starved. An artist needs to remember to feed their soul.