She assumed art was just a hobby, or something that kids did after school. She didn’t see applying her creative side as a “real” vocation. During college she found otherwise. She graduated as the “go to” costume designer for Hampton University, then took unpaid offers and pro bono jobs, eventually moving to LA to ply her passion for design in the arts world. She was plucked from obscurity in 1988 by Spike Lee when he asked her to design for his upcoming film School Daze. Ruth E. Carter has proven since then that costumes make the characters. She is the first black woman to win an Academy Award in costume design, for the 2019 film The Black Panther. She credits her success to studying her passion, which was fabric and design. Not bad for a girl who thought creativity was only something you did after school.
It is amazing how we make life changing decisions on partial information or assumptions. All too often we move forward with little or no thought for how our next step will impact our lives for years to come. How blessed we are when life gives us a chance to correct our errant assumptions and change direction. Which means we have to admit we were wrong, change direction and move forward with gusto….no matter what the current trends are pushing. Others may still see things the way we did, they may not have “seen the light”. So we must push forward no matter what other people think.
“You can’t make money in a creative field.”
“You’re not good enough to make a living being an artist (teacher, dancer, musician, seamstress, etc.)”
“Talented people are a dime a dozen, what makes you think you can do it?”
Often it is the naysayer within ourselves that prevents us from taking that first step. Especially if that first step is a poorly paid, or pro bono seamster job like the ones Ruth took on early in her career. People will call us crazy. “Go get a real vocation.” Sound familiar? Not everyone has the insight, understanding in themselves, or belief in their passion to dare to take a risk. It is the courageous few who break down barriers in their own life first, which opens the door for us to share in the benefits of risk taking in our own lives. Hooray for women like Ruth E. Carter who leaped big, believed in her passion and studied it long and without pay until she had someone open the door….then she ran with courage and hasn’t stopped running since.
No matter what it is you are passionate about, study it. Become an expert. Keep working hard, learn everything you can, and let life know you mean business. The money will come if you keep working to build your knowledge, your brand, your foundation of work. Not everyone can SEE things until they are right in front of their face. Those who keep working and producing creative work eventually get noticed and THAT is when the real adventures begin!
Ann Art Gallery Blog 