evolution of an artist through generations

I read this a couple years ago and wish I could find it again so I can attribute it to the correct philosopher:

The farmer works hard so his child can become a shopkeeper
The shopkeeper works hard so his child can become a teacher
The teacher works hard so his child can become a lawyer
The lawyer works hard so his child can become a doctor
The doctor works hard so his child can become ... an artist

I love this bit of wisdom and have seen this play out throughout generations and throughout history.

Artists, you have a responsibility to your ancestors to create art!

Philosophers, artists, scientists push a culture to evolve

I am reading a book about the history of philosophy, something I didn't know anything about and always felt intimidated by -- no more. In a nutshell, philosophy is about wondering, especially wondering about the big picture. As an artist and poet I feel I am a natural philosopher just because of the nature of creating. It always starts with wondering or as you read in many art articles the common term is "what if....".


Artists in all forms, poets, philosophers and I would add scientists, begin with nothing, get an idea, investigate it, create it. I could be talking about a poem, a piece of artwork, a dance or a scientific experiment. The end result is more things are explained, more things understood, more thinking is being done by society. As thinking happens a culture evolves, led at the front or pushed from behind by these "creatives", these artists, scientists, poets, philosophers. I would argue the leaders of evolution of a society are these 4 professions and they should be valued as such, if we are in a society that wants to evolve. Are we?

I haven't been blogging lately because I have been working on my visual art. I have several new pieces including a trio of Rosebud, Snowdrop and Petal. The new work can be viewed on my website www.juliamillies.com or on my facebook fan page Julia Millies, Fiber Artist. I'm also trying to figure out twitter. I'm working on balancing the business of being an artist with the actual creation of art. I can feel now I need a break from creating and am actually enjoying figuring out the ways technology can complement my art practice. It's exciting! I'll keep posting and exploring and creating.

My new website!

I've finally done it -- I have a website for my artwork -- juliamillies.com It was fun to set up and I feel like it was such a natural step to create it. My web hosting company fatcow.com was helpful and walked me through some of the tricky spots. Take a look at it and let me know what you think!

My first blog post!

This is a poem I wrote several years ago that won an honorable mention at the Village Fine Arts Association PAN show and a picture of the work that inspired it.

I Protest With My Clothesline

To hang up clothes
on the line
in October
for one more
free load
feels like stealing.
What a thrill!

I protest
in the form
of hanging up
my laundry
on a clothesline.

If you look closely
you will see the protesters
in your neighborhood
who dry their clothes
on the heroic and humble clothesline.

My clothesline
that hangs so silently
so unassuming
so minimal and diminutive
is a powerful
tool of protest.