What is an Artists Statement & How Often Should It Be Updated?

An artist's statement is a statement of ideas and thoughts that describe your philosophy, vision, and passion towards your artistic creations.

Ponder over the following questions prior to writing your artist's statement:

  • Is your work whimsical, thought provoking, or edgy?

  • Does it portray a series of stories?

  • Whom or what has influenced you the most?

  • How is your work meaningful to you?

How do you begin to write your artists statement? You could begin by writing a quote that has inspired you and your work, or you could create a strong sentence that summarizes your philosophy about your life and how art has changed your views on life in general. You could also include what type of style and technique that motivates you the most while creating your art creation.

Some artists have writer's block when it comes to putting down their thoughts on paper. I would suggest that you start with words that best describe your art and inner thoughts then go back to edit them into definite statements. Most artists know and feel what they are trying to convey to their audience, however, writing it down becomes a huge task.

Personally, I believe your artist's statement should be written by yourself because of the personal touch you would be able to provide to it. No one knows better about your artistry other than yourself. Your audience will get a feel of what your inner thoughts are and how you find this passion to be a lifestyle and not a hobby.

Make sure you aren't using too many words that only artists would recognize. Express yourself while allowing your words to flow. You are expressing your passion; so don't feel pressured to become a renounced writer.

While being an artist is a rewarding career, unfortunately, there are people outside of this industry who would say it is a hobby. So, it is very important to express how you feel about your craft through your artist's statement. Writing a one-page statement would be sufficient in getting your statement across to your audience, but if it runs to a page two, that's fine. Clearly, it shows your audience that you are vividly and precisely getting your thoughts across.

Your artist's statement should be updated as your career inspires new direction and when there are profound events that have captured new inspirations in your creative vision. Your statement could be updated at the same pace similar to updating your résumé.

If you're still unsure how to get started, here are two excellent sites that have sample statements: www.mollygordon.com or www.naia-artists.org

Your artist's statement is a very important tool. Take a block of time out of your daily or weekly schedules to create the type of statement that will allow your audience to understand how you began your journey.

About The Author

Yasmeen Abdur-Rahman, Virtual Assistant & Lifestyle Entrepreneur Coach, is the owner of a home-based business called 'The Brownstone Workshop.' If you need your artist support materials (ASMs) professionally created and updated along with other administrative, ad hoc services, or lifestyle coaching, call on Yasmeen at (919) 319-6271, via e-mail yasmeen033@aol.com or via website: http://www.thebrownstoneworkshop.bigstep.com

More Resources

Unable to open RSS Feed $XMLfilename with error HTTP ERROR: 404, exiting

More Branding Information:

Related Articles

Why Having A Niche Automatically Boosts Your Credibility - Become The Expert by Getting Focused
Yes, yes, we've heard it all before..
Brand Strategy - Brand Value - Brand Identity Guru
Developing brand strategy is extremely critical. The most important asset your company has is its brand.
Which Of These Words Attract Your Clients
Whether it's your business card, tagline, article title, web site title and description or ad, just the difference of a few words can either pull in prospects and clients or push them away. Getting it right can determine whether your phone is ringing off the hook or you are twiddling your thumbs hoping someone will call.
Brand Equity
Brand equity can be defined in many different ways. I have developed a simple, yet powerful, definition of brand equity.
How Much Is A Great Business Logo Really Worth?
A great logo can help a business project a positive image while a bad logo can bring a negative impression about a company. For many companies, a logo is the only identifiable mark a potential customer may ever see, so it needs to be memorable, descriptive and easily recognizable.
The Positioning of Success
Many businesses of today are often driven to compete striclty on price, quality, and features of their products and services.  Companies who prosper over the long term don't simply offer the best deals, the best quality, or the most impressive bells and whistles.
Importance of Business Branding
Branding is very important to a business, whether it is an online or offline business. Your brand will be the first impression the public has of your business and could very well be the most important one.
McDonalds Supply Chain of Potatoes
McDonald's buys its potatoes from corporate farmers in Idaho not the commodities market; therefore it limits its exposure to price gouging that might have occurred by using the commodity exchange to get those potatoes. Starbucks is doing the same thing, but instead of having partnerships and coffee beans, they are all of in-house.
Branding: Bring Back the Jingle!
Did you grow up in the '70s and '80s? If so, you probably have a slew of campy jingles from various TV commercials filed away in your brain. Today, advertisers still use jingles to help identify their brand, but not nearly as much as they did "back in the day.
Brand Value Plan - Brand Identity Guru
Developing brand value is critical to every organization and when professionally executed, delivers a clear and measurable competitive advantage to your firm. It does so by helping you establish a positive connection and value-relationship with your customer, which, over time, will build brand equity and increase brand value.
Brand Identity Company - Brand Identity Guru
Hiring a brand identity company is very important. In every marketing campaign, your company should have a solid brand identity on which to hang its hat.
Logo-ize For Instant Identification & Increased Awareness
The task of creating an indelible impact on the memory of your target market is arduous but can be made much easier with a well thought out logo. The word comes from the ancient Greek where it was used in philosophy and theology to mean "the divine reason implicit in the cosmos, ordering it and giving it form and meaning.
Corporate Internet Branding - Branding Your Business Online
Let me tell you a story about Pete and a pizza. After a long day of fighting uncooperative pipes and fixtures, Pete P.
Create a Niche: Stoke Your Market With Affiliate Branding
Propose success, demand performance, and brand your market with appeal. In a world of costly business start-ups, expensive design tools, and rugged competition you can still beat the system.
Branding Yourself To Increased Profitability
Successful Realtors know the importance of branding their identities into the consciousness of the communities in which they live, like the big boys; Pepsi, McDonald's, Burger King, and other companies we know and have come to trust.Why is branding important? Think about it! When you want a soda do you buy an unknown off-brand just because it's cheap?Or, do you reach for a Coke? I'm a Pepsi guy myself, but you get my drift!And why do you do that? Because there's comfort in familiarity and you know what you're getting when you buy it.
Eye On The Pie: Branding From an Investors P.O.V.
When building a business as a brand it's important to avoid a myopic view and consider another important aspect of the business game as well-- investing. After any amount of toil and hard work to create a valuable product, service or company the big game is when you go public-- when money-minded people want more, they want a piece of your brand pie.
Business Image
One of the most important things in a business is a clean image. I started a small business when I was twelve years old and built it up in a very large small business and then franchised the business.
Simple Risk Reversal Formula Will Send Your Sales Into Space (2 of 2)
Make A Bold Promise Then Back It Up With An Awesome GuaranteeWe finished the last article with a mnemonic..
Image is EVERYTHING
The absolute foundation of your small business is your image. The way potential clients and/or customers perceive your business sets the stage for the way your product or service is recognized and ultimately judged.
Brand Image - Brand Identity - Brand Strategy - Brand Identity Guru
Consumers perceive and accept many brands within a certain trade group in different ways. By personifying a brand (How would you describe brand X if it were a person?) we can find out, that for instance consumers perceive brand A as a young, impulsive, lively, attractive, energetic woman full of ideas.