Redtree Times

Student and Master— At West End Gallery

One thing: you have to walk, and create the way by your walking; you will not find a ready-made path. It is not so cheap, to reach to the ultimate realization of truth. You will have to create the path by walking yourself; the path is not ready-made, lying there and waiting for you. It is just like the sky: the birds fly, but they don’t leave any footprints. You cannot follow them; there are no footprints left behind.

― Osho, Indian Mystic (1931-1990)

I’ve always said that one of the hardest things about pursuing a career in art is that there is no professional path or training that guarantees the artist that their work will find an audience.

You can try to travel the career path of other artists that came before you but it will inevitably end in disappointment. Every artist’s path is very different, with completely different influences, tastes, people, places, and circumstances.

Every artist walks their own path, much as Osho points out above in reference to those who seek enlightenment. And maybe the artist’s path is just that– a path to enlightenment.

I think the painting shown here, Student and Master, represents this idea well. You may begin by following a well-trod path but sooner or later, if you desire to be more than a traveler on someone else’s path, you have to go off that path and make one that is your own.

One that goes where no other have gone.

One that others may someday try to follow only to realize that the footprints on this path will soon fade.

This lack of a path to follow creates an uncertainty that can be daunting at first. There is no roadmap and few rules to follow. And there are even fewer markers along the way to tell you if you have went the right or wrong way on your path.

But though these things might seem like negatives, they are also the strength of choosing to go your own way. You are free to move in any direction in any way you wish. You don’t have to follow any rules but those that you make for yourself. Perhaps no rules at all. You can push yourself as far as you wish on your path. Nobody can tell you when your journey is over.

Realize however that this may not guarantee one success in the traditional sense. People may not necessarily love, understand, or accept what you do. Your path might well be lonely and filled with hardship at times.

That is a small price to pay to travel the path to authenticity. That is what is at the end of the path of one’s own making. Ultimately, that is the destination every artist seeks.

And you can’t find that on someone else’s path.

Here’s a song in the same vein, sort of. It’s a version of the great Mamas and the Papas hit, Go Where You Want To Go. It’s a performance from a few years back from Jakob Dylan and Jade for a tribute album, Echo in the Canyon, celebrating the music of L.A.’s Laurel Canyon in the 1960’s which consisted of artists like Buffalo Springfield, the Mamas and the Papas, the Beach Boys, and the Byrds.