Art and Fear response

"The oarsman, only recently learning his skill, nervously maneuvers to avoid the one and only rock breaking the surface downstream, dead center, smooth current to either side."
This quote directly reminds me of my experience while white water rafting. i had just learned how for my first time with less than 5 minutes of explanation before heading off on the raft. I didn't know what to do or how to keep my family from tipping over. there were rocks in every direction and we had to manover ourselves around them without hitting the tip. It was in a river and we were extremely oblivious to the fact that white water rafting is extremely dangerous but we went through the obstacles and conquered the river.

"Fears about artmaking fall into two families: fears about yourself, and fears about your reception by others."
I relate to this quote with open arms. I constantly second guess myself throughout the entire process of making art. I try to make decisions with colors, materials, mediums, ect...based on what i think or hope will turn out well. This forms a constant sense of questioning myself because i am alwys afraid of ruining a peice because of one little detail that i know others probably won't notice but i will and it bothers me. I am very self conscience about my arwork and sometimes work off of the advice and feedback of others. I think that this quote explains what almost every newcoming artist goes through at the beginning of their journey of finding themselves and what type of artwork they produce.

"Fear that you are not a real artist causes you to undervalue your work."
I look at myself as a new commer to the art "world." Although i have been playing with coloring books and crayons since before can remember, i don't think of myself as an artist. I remember when i was in the portfolio development class first term, half my class asked me what i was doing there because none of them knew i had a passion for art, let alone any artistic skill. Having my classmates question my ability and my desires made me think, wow all i want to do is prove them wrong and show everyone my inner passions. Most look at me as an athlete or a writer due to my insecurities and lack of artistic promotion. Now that i have created a portfolio and shown my classmates what i like to do in my free time has allowed me to further my work and eagerness to commit myself to becomming an artist.