I was reading an interview done with designer Rachel Roy, about her collections and designing clothes. She was visiting Valencia at the time, and was featured in Diario de Mallorca.
One of her remarks rang so true, for any artist. She said, "The positive thing about art is that you need to know how to tell your own story, always respecting what you are doing and as well, what others are doing."
I thought it was so simple an observation and so accurate. It goes back to the issue of one's own personal style as a visual artist, how to achieve it by being true unto oneself, and yet being aware of what one is doing, or trying to do, at the same time as keeping one's eyes open to the world, and art in particular, around one. She went on to say in essence that one should also be fair to oneself, and basically not worry about criticism too much.
Certainly, if one is working seriously and thoughtfully, keeping one's focus on what matters personally and what one is trying to say in the art - or letting the art say things for one - then that is telling your own story. As Picasso remarked, "Painting is just another way of keeping a diary." I think that the "diary entries" and our stories become universal many times without one realising it, and they thus resonate with others, often in ways that the artist cannot foresee.
Pablo Picasso
In these times of angst, it is interesting to see how many voices are raised about the importance of art - of all kinds - that helps engender curiosity and expansion of the human spirit. Since each of us is an individual, with individual experiences, those personal stories enrich everyone's life and widen each person's optic on the world around us.
Rachel Roy gave a timely reminder of how positive art can be for us all.