Welcome to Artists, a public journal about my journey building a global artistic venture.

Art first, technique second. Most of us were taught the other way around.

An interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed over my many years of playing piano is how many people quit once they reach a certain age.

While it’s due to many reasons (e.g, performative culture, extrinsic motivation, etc.), a large part has to do with our approach to teaching art. Many spend years climbing the technical ladder but never break through the threshold into artistry, leading them to believe that art is just a series of boring, repetitive tasks.

And by the end of it, they’re fluent in the craft. But what they haven’t yet found is soul.

Technique is quantifiable and easily measured; art, however, is not.

Thus, mastering technique is a great start. It’s true – telling beginners to find “meaning,” “emotion,” and “character” in art is a herculean task.

But art is innately philosophical. Art is akin to a journey of understanding oneself, of tuning into one’s inner heartstrings.

At a point, technique must be “dropped.” Not for it to be forgotten, but to be utilized as a vehicle for producing great art. The persistent idolization of technique has rendered many to produce robotic, soulless work.

How do you know when you’re actually creating art?

It’s simple. Are you breathing life into the work you’re creating? This doesn’t have to be creating something from scratch; it can be as simple as interpreting and expressing something differently.

So here’s the difference between art and technique:

Art is taking the essence of who you are and bringing that outward. Technique is the vehicle that gets you from A to B.

When the art finally breathes on its own, you stop thinking about how to play it. You just listen, you just surrender, you just dance with the flow.

That’s where technique dissolves – and where art truly begins.

If you’re curious to learn more about my artistic philosophy, you can read all about it in my updated “About” page on my website.

Until next time.

Be musinary,

Jeston Lu