At least one weekend night at home usually ends up as a movie night for Mr. F and I.  While we love comedies and well told drama, we like to mix in interesting documentaries occasionally.  After hearing about it on NPR, we sat down to watch Twenty Feet From Stardom a few weeks ago, a film chronicling the stories of the backup singers who literally stand behind some of the biggest names in popular music.  After watching, not only did I have He’s a Rebel stuck in my head for days, it also prompted a good many thoughts on how we define artistic success.

The film follows several back-up singers and their stories, the most interesting aspect to me being how they each defined being successful.  I think most of us might assume that the “star” is the pinnacle of success and what all are striving for.  But I found it interesting that in the case of one singer, Lisa Fischer, fame, fortune and all the trappings were within reach, yet her idea of success was more in dedication to her art than in becoming a household name.

Recently, while working on art direction with an artist ( I do that ya know, among other services for artists! ), I asked her to define what success as an artist meant for her.  Before we could go further, I needed to know what her goals were for her artistic career– selling work through galleries?  Being her own boss artistically and selling directly from her studio?  Having work accepted into juried exhibitions?  Having work shown and sold to museums?  Simply making work that makes her happy regardless of whether anyone else cares about it or buys it?  All legitimate measurements of success.

Some artists may have a firm idea of what success is for them from the very start.  For others of us, our ideas of success may grow and evolve over time.  As in the Lisa Fischer’s career, sometimes a taste of what could have been changes our ideal of what we want to be.

How do you define artistic success?  Has your idea of success changed over the years?

Image above via the Twenty Feet From Stardom website.