art vs. cheese

As an artist there are many paths one can walk down in life. At various times in my life I had opportunities to make a lot of money doing various things that artistically didn't "feel right." I always had trouble sitting with myself when I attempted to "sail the seas of cheese" I never felt right when I turned my back on myself and what I believed art could be or should be. Idealism is a single man's game and a family often changes that perspective. Part of the reason I have traveled on my own for most of my life is that I knew that if I answered to myself alone I would never have to "prostitute" myself to support others. I never understood those people and artists who jump whole heartedly into a commercial-crap lifestyle and milk for all its worth and then one day find themselves in some identity crises because they never followed what rang true to their own hearts. I can understand a family man doing whatever he has to do to survive but Icannot understand a man who doesnt at least have a "go at it." In so far as what really rigns true to them, artistically. I have done my fair share of hack work and bad paintings but for the overall sense of what I am after and what I have done I can sit with myself. I look to those who came before me to keep my spirits up and even though I sometimes think about the monetary gold versus the alchemical gold of the spirit. I can say that I kept the course and paid a lot of dues and I have a lot of funny stories about the stairs I have fallen down. I think the illustrations for this rambling are self explanatory.