I’d like to talk about judgement for a moment. Truthfully and openly.

This is not judgement of me, it’s judgement by me, in the past.

When I trained as a photojournalist, it gave me confidence. It was like a strong wind at my back pushing me forward. I trained in essence to ‘do a job’.

And yet, as I journeyed out into the world I was alone to build my business. To work as a storyteller, trained in news, sports and the capturing of demonstrations. However, I knew deep down that I was a gentle nurturer of narrative and not a hardcore journalist. I was brave, prepared but fragile. 

In my newly trained years I thought that my knowledge and skills needed protecting, it needed armour and sometimes even to fight. In the ugliest moments that armour turned to hurtful judgement, sometimes in my head, sometimes that I shared. 

As an artist, judgement can be the cruelest of weapons and I realize now looking back how truly misplaced it was. How unnecessary. How damaging, mostly to me. 

Creating art is a joyful and liberating, but often challenging process. It comes from within the individual, not the knowledge of shutter speeds or composing to the rule of thirds. Beginning to share our work can be the bravest step an artist will ever take. Selling it, that is a whole other level of vulnerability and unknown. 

In the years since I’ve come to realize how the judgement of art truly is about us, not the artist. It’s about fear and sometimes a lack of understanding. We judge art because it makes us feel in ways we don’t enjoy, physically or emotionally. We react to the actual art piece in content or form and sometimes we respond adversely because we feel the work overshadows or compromises our own work. It’s not about the artist, nor the process. Unless there’s plagiarism involved and well that’s a different conversation.

As artists, we are all at different stages of our journey.

And there are so many aspects of that journey which take time, that take chance, that take the artist to realize what’s happening and surrender to it. To channel it, embrace it and grow from it.

One thing I know now, one of my greatest lessons of being a photographer over the past twelve years while putting my work out into the world, sharing it, selling it, being hired to create it, is that…

‘We can judge the finished result, if we choose to, but we should never underestimate the spirit within.’

It’s that spirit that finds the way. 

It’s that spirit that keeps us going.

It’s that spirit that wakes us in the night with an idea.

It’s that spirit that realizes the power of possibility.

It’s that spirit we break when we judge, 

our own and those we judge.

There are 200 billion trillion stars in our sky. There is room for them all to shine, some are more visible than others, some are obscured by weather or distance, most we may never see. But there IS room.

Judgement is fear. 

Don’t be afraid today.

Protect the spirit of artists.

Make art, shine in your own space, at your own pace.

‘A Love Affair with Light’ is my new space. I’m so excited you’re here. How I write and what I will be sharing is to nurture artists’ spirits across the globe, not break them.

From the words in my book to expansive art exercises.

Stories from my art space and anecdotes of my process.

From the ground up fundamentals and tales from my global lives.

Let the dance begin,

Chloe, Creative Warrior x