I am Nat the Maker. I am an artist. 

And I have been reluctant to call myself one.

 

Since my sophomore year of high school I have been a theatre professional. Carpentry, electrics, props, scene painting, puppetry, and even sound. And for those almost 40 years, I have referred to myself as a theatre artist. For whatever reason I never thought that qualified me for the title of “artist”

 

The word artist to me felt like a title for the fine art masters of long ago, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Rembrandt, da Vinci, etc etc. And more recently Pollock, Frankenthaler, Krasner, Johns, Rauchenberg, Basquiat, etc etc. And now, Leonardo Drew, Ai Weiwei, Nathan Terborg, Ty Nathan Clark, Iren Gedeon, and many, many more. Too many to count.

 

I have used all of the tools of the artist to make puppets, to make scenery, to make props. I have told people, “I sculpt, but I’m not a sculptor.” Always qualifying, always downplaying my abilities. Maybe to keep expectations low, and avoid critique.

 

I have been experimenting as an artist, building up my confidence. I am also driven to make, to create. Maybe it’s my ADHD. I have so many thoughts and ideas I feel that I need to get out. I am doing it. Working on making the images, shapes, textures, colors I see in my mind. Harder than I thought it would be. My hands are not as talented as I think my thoughts are. That’s ok.

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This is site is mostly to share my art with a little activism.

Artist and activist Ai Weiwei says that art should be activism(paraphrasing badly) and I agree.

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This is my story,

Nat