When you first saw “The Artists’ Hearth” you might have been expecting to see beautiful paintings. Or sculptures perhaps? Line drawings at least? It does say “Artist” after all.

It does say “Artist”, and any of those forms of art may indeed appear on this blog at some point. But those are not the only forms of art. There are so many more. Go ahead and think of a few . . .

Did you think of music, or acting? Maybe graphic design or woodcutting? Then you would have been right, but there is still so much more out there.

Anything that you create, from drawing, to singing, to writing, to baking, can be art. This blog could have been named The Creators’ Hearth” but that just doesn’t quite fit the vibe that I’m going for. The same goes for “The Makers’ Hearth.” So I settled on Artist, with the broadest possible definition of what an artist can be. An artist is a creator, a maker. An artist is anyone who uses their skill and imagination and creates something where before there had been only individual elements of a thing and potential. Even if you are building robots for arena fighting, you are an artist. You have to come up with the design, how it is going to be individual and unique. How it is going to stand out. Yes there is a whole lot of engineering that goes into robot building, but who ever said that engineers couldn’t be artists?

“Ok, so a maker or a creator can be an artist. Fine. But why is “Artists” plural?” I named this The Artists’ Hearth” rather than “The Artist’s Hearth” (note where the apostrophe sits) because there are so very many artists out there, and so very many of them are far better at their art than I am. I wrestle with allowing myself the identity of being an artist. (A good many artists will understand the doubt, the “am I good enough” question behind claiming the title of Artist) Yet if this space is not just for myself, but for any artist who wishes to come and linger a while at my hearth, and share a bit of their art while they’re here, then it will have earned its name. Even if no other artist comes, having the plural there stands as an invitation. Come. Come sit a while at my hearth, and rest for a spell. The chairs are comfortable and the crackling fire is warm and cheery. You are welcome here.