Doing Something Everyday For A Year Can Lead To Your Breakthrough

Last week I mentioned the traveling art exhibition that is currently in Detroit, showcasing among many other artists, Lorna Simpson. Another artist part of that exhibition in Nina Chanel Abney. Abney is known for her vibrant coloured pieces that often surround controversial topics. 

Courtesy of Shane LaVancher via Vanity Fair

A collection of her recent art aims to keep the "Black Lives Matter" discussion going, and although much of Abney's work are "hot topics" brought to life, Abney wants her work to speak for itself. “I’m not going to give you one story, because I’m more than one thing. Whatever I feel like painting, I just paint it. For me, nothing is off-limits,” she told Vanity Fair. 

Image courtesy of Nina Chanel Abney's website

Abney who always wanted to be a famous painter although not knowing what that fully meant, started painting at a young age. She told Vanity Fair that class mates used to ask her to draw portraits of Tupac in high school. Her large scale painting, part of her thesis at Parsons School of Design, titled Class of 2007, depicted her as a white prison guard, and all her fellow white classmates as black inmates. The piece was bought by Don and Mera Rubell, from whose collection the traveling exhibition "30 Americans" actually consists of. Well, parts of their collection rather. (More about the exhibition in the video below) 

But how did Abney get from the point of knowing she wanted to be a famous a painter, to actually becoming one? After graduating with a dual major in studio art and computer science from Augustana College in Rock Island, Abney worked the assembly line at Ford Motor Company. After witnessing a co-worker get her leg crushed in an accident, Abney painted everyday for a year, which eventually led to her acceptance at Parsons. And the rest as they say, is history. 

Lesson: Be so committed to something that you are willing to put in the work, even on a voluntary, free basis, until you get the recognition that you're after. Change won't happen unless you actually change. To get different results you have to do something different. Einstein said that "if you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got." Hence, if you want something you've never had, you have to do something you've never done. 

I know that I want to be a voice within the black female community, exactly what that entails, only God knows, however I am committed to blogging everyday for a year (and this was prior to me reading Abney's story, which served as confirmation) to put myself out there. I am 100% assured that something great will come out of it. Why? Because I believe it will. Belief + Action = Results!

Nina Chanel Abney - Courtesy of Parsons alumni profiles

Don Rubell told Vainty Fair in a phone interview that “Nina is well on her way to becoming a great artist. The level of development is astonishing. It’s a prophecy that speaks for itself.” Being committed and consistent will lead to your self development, which then becomes your self-fulfilling prophesy. There's no way you do something consistently for a year and you don't get better at it. So whatever that goal is that you have, I challenge you to commit to it for 1 year. The time's gonna pass anyway, so if you don't do anything, you'll likely be exactly where you are today, but if you do...who knows. 

Be blessed!