I was recently contacted by someone who had found my work online and had been following it for a while now. They commented that they liked the honesty in my work and noted that I seemed like an earnest person and painter. I was kind of taken aback by the word earnest. I mean, I thought I knew what it meant but I had never been called earnest and was not sure if it was indeed the compliment intended. But upon checking an online dictionary and discovering that there was no hidden meaning, nothing derisive, I decided that it was indeed a compliment.
I should be proud to be called earnest.
But this also made me think about how we are perceived by others. I somewhat know how my work is perceived, online and in the galleries. At least, I think I do. But personally, do I truly know how I am perceived as an individual? Do we ever know? We may know what people feel comfortable in saying about us to our faces but do we ever get the full view, especially from those who might not see us in a favorable light?
Is the person in the mirror that we see the same person that the outer world sees?
I suppose the answer should be that it doesn’t matter, that we should simply live in a way where we can look in the mirror without guilt or remorse for our actions. If we can do that, what the outer thinks is moot.
So, I proudly carry the word earnest with me now, as a doctor might wear his PhD.
Signed– GC Myers, Earnest Painter.
Redtree Times 