"Mom, Dad, I want to be an artist."

There was a day when a declaration like this would have resulted in a *sigh* from your parents. The idea of being an artist famously went hand in hand with starving. Luckily for us creative types there seems to be a shift occurring, and it's in our favour. Hurray!


I was given a book recently that has become less of a bedtime read, and a little more like a bible. Daniel Pink's, "A Whole New Mind" brings up some surprising facts and exciting ideas as to which direction our world is heading. In a time of abundance and automation, and where many information technology jobs are being outsourced to places like Asia, we as a society have begun to put some serious stock in our creators and empathizers. Artists today are a hot commodity. As Pink notes, "A masters of fine arts, an MFA, is now one of the hottest credentials in a world where even General Motors is in the art business. Corporate recruiters have begun visiting the top art grad schools— places such as the Rhode Island School of Design...— in search of talent." Have you seen the General Motors website? If not, you should take a look, as it's pretty spiffy. When asked what would set them apart from their competitors, an anything but artsy fartsy Robert Lutz responded, "...I see us being in the art business." This is because he saw a gold mine where others didn't yet. Think about it— now, when there are over a hundred different salad dressings lining supermarket shelves, and coffee shops every few metres peddling essentially the same product, it has become not only valuable but necessary to find a way to stand out. That my friends is where we, the artists come in. No longer the underdogs in the professional world, this "conceptual age" as Pink puts it, is our time to shine; to put our mark on things. 


So mom, dad, as it turns out, there's never been a better moment to get into the business of creating beautiful things. I hope that for those of you who are studying, or practising that this adds some wind to your sails; I know it did mine.    


(Also I'd advise picking up my new bible aka Daniel Pink's "A Whole New Mind"— you won't be disappointed)