A few years ago, I had an epiphany. This realization of sorts led me to an interesting analogy, which I hope you will entertain today with a little generosity.
Here’s the realization: Spinach is like art.
This realization first dawned on me as I sorted through a box of spinach to be cooked. The box reassured me with all sorts of words that the spinach was perfectly fine: “fresh,” “triple-washed,” and “organic” chief among them. But those words did not guard against the mangled, torn, and even the occasional wilted spinach leaf.
So it is with art. Why? Just because something is labeled as “new,” “best-selling,” and “original” does not guarantee that what is contained within is true art. It may imitate art, as a wilted spinach leaf imitates a fresh one, but if you know what true art is, you can sniff out the bad art.
Determining which art is good art and which is bad art is a tricky subject and a source of much debate. There is much room for subjectivity in determining the quality of art, but it is often art to draw a definitive line between art that is objectively good in quality and art that is objectively poor in quality.
All art must be beautiful, that is a given, but then is everything that is beautiful then art? Beauty is said to be in the eye of the beholder, but there are some things—like mountains aflame with autumn foliage—that are beautiful no matter who you are or what you think.
And how can something reflect the brokenness of this fallen world while still being beautiful? The simple answer, perhaps, is hope. When trying to determine what true art is, you will find a world of wonderful contradictions.
As we create art, we are again confronted with a box of spinach. Whether you find that your artistic ideas come rushing like a mountain spring or small trickle, you will have some good ideas, some ideas that need improvement, and some simply bad ideas. Some will need to be rejected, others worked upon, and still others will be set to work.
For the ideas you set to work, you must decide how you will execute them. The realm of art is wide—encompassing a plethora of mediums. For example, if you work with words in the world of fiction, you must decide how long your idea will carry you. Will it be for a short story, a novel, or something in between? On and on, the decisions you must make will carry you the end product, in the same way as when master chef goes about crafting a new spinach salad.
Another thing about spinach—you don’t get it right on the first try. How many times do you think a master chef makes a seemingly simple, yet complex spinach salad before serving it at his restaurant?
Art works the same way. Persistence is required to hone your craft—no matter what discipline you belong to. Think of your favorite authors. They all had to practice before they were published, and even before they were published, most of them were rejected countless times. But because they persisted, they enjoyed the fruit of their labors.
There is yet another way that spinach relates to art. (You never knew that leafy green vegetables were so applicable to the artistic realm, did you?) Think about it—how do you get spinach to begin with? Well, you have to go the store and buy it. But go back even further—someone (likely involving many people) had to plant, grow, harvest, pack, transport, and store that spinach long before you even thought, “I want some spinach salad tonight.”
So it is with art. As many have articulated before, artists do not create in a vacuum. We all are influenced by the art around us, and we build on the foundations laid by the many artists who came before us. No artist can create art without drawing from some other art created at some other time. This drawing from others does not constitute plagiarism—rather, this web of artistic creations can make art richer as more connections are created.
Maybe you are a beginning artist, or maybe you are a long-time artist, or somewhere in between. Though I don’t know everything about creating art, I do know that it helps to remember that discernment, discretion, and persistence are all required to produce art. Strive to create true art, remembering that spinach is like art.