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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Silver Griffon" data-source="post: 634368" data-attributes="member: 9425">Excellent replies, Thank You!Excellent! Some people noticed from the way that I began and ended my post that it was not entirely serious. But this topic is serious. Here are some replies that should help you see what I was trying to do.I agree with your sentiment about character here completely. I was going for an emotional response with my previous post, as I hope will become clear. I never said that "anyone" could become GOOD at these professions. Someone who is good at their job should always be lauded regardless of what that job may be. To put my strongly worded ravings in context, though remember that this thread is about the percieved value of art and what people are willing to pay for an artist's work. My intention here was twofold. First, I am pointing out that people are more than willing to pay as much as hundreds of dollars an hour to a doctor, lawyer, etc. even if they are NOT particularly good at their jobs. Even if they only meet the bare minimum required competency to work in their field. And most of the time, the minimum for any profession is pretty minimal. By contrast, even some REALLY GOOD artists have people constantly questioning the value of their work. And not everyone can be an artist. Some things you either have or you don't. Now, does that make an artist's work more valuable than someone elses? Maybe, maybe not. Many endeavors require traits that cannot be learned. Secondly, I wanted to get an emotional reaction. I wanted people who have worked in all these other jobs to feel what we are talking about. In short, I wanted to hear from someone like you. That "any bum could do that" attitude that you are talking about is exactly what artists face all the time. That is the problem.By the way, I was an art major. Never finished the degree because I saw early on that it would probably never pay off no matter how good I was. It was a hard choice to give that up. Certainly a pessimistic attitude, but was I wrong? I don't know. I have been a salesman, carpenter, fry cook, and many others. I am currently an IT analyst. And every one of those jobs was important in their own way. I wouldn't trade the experience of working at any of them.Yes. But again, many people seem to percieve that the work of the best artists is not worth as much as the work of even a mediocre "professional".I know that I was opening myself up to slings and arrows, but it was worth it to participate in such a lively debate.<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />Thanks. I wouldn't want to get that stepped on <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />I hope this post sheds a little light on my true motives. My previous post was intentionally over-the-top. It was meant to elicit strong reactions. It was meant to be evocative. That's what artists do.I admit that this was an underhanded way to make a point and I sincerely apologize to all whose buttons I pushed. But when you got mad it was probably because you percieved an attack on the things that YOU do for a living. I made certain traits seem more important than others. Maybe more important than your own personal strengths. Emotions are hard to quantify. No amount of discussion can make you know what they feel like. But if your one of those people who took offense, than I know you understand. Artists pour their soul into their work, too. Telling them it isn't worth that much is like telling them their children are not as good as the other kids.Whether someone is an artist, a doctor, or mechanic, think twice before you set a value on what they do. Would they really understand how much goes into what you do? Then maybe you don't know everything about what they do.</blockquote>

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