so you want me as a mentor

It happened this week.
A young artist approached our friend Art Burshy.
The young man showed Art some of his beautiful art works
And just at the moment that Art wondered what the talented young man wanted from him...the question came...
"would you please be my art mentor?"

Art was completely flabbergasted
Silence
    while Art was thinking...
   Was this a joke...?
           What could he possibly teach this guy?
       How did the boy find him?
               Why did he choose Art as a mentor?
  There must have been better artists available? More famous, more influential, more connected, more sane...?!

Art had never been a mentor and wondered what the key role would be of a mentor.
Sure he could give it a try and teach this talented creator one or two things:
- he could be cynical about the boys art works, stimulating him to prove himself
- he would be happy explaining why he (like many others) would have a 0,0001 % chance of being successful
- and if successful he would have 0,001 % chance of making a living of his art works for a longer period of time
- that 80 % of the art works never reach the price they get sold for; so not really a safe investment for buyers
- show the destructive effect of alcohol on the art work results
- how to successfully grow a lack of inspiration
- he could in fact explain a lot of what he knows that doesn't work;
   - how not to make main stream art
   - how not to please the audience
   - how not to have a consistent portfolio of paintings and a distinctive personal style
   - how not to make enough paintings to satisfy your agent
   - how not to spend time marketing and selling your art

Art had been silent during all these reflections, and the face expression of the young man had become less optimistic, in a sort of silence, afraid to breathe, while waiting for Art Burshy to react to his question.

Art decided to challenge the young artists motivations: "why me?! a dysfunctional, grumpy, lazy, cynical and mediocre artist..?"
The boy was persistent and actually seemed to know quite a bit about Art Burshy; his paintings, his concepts and recent exhibitions (the last not being so special as Art did not have a lot of exhibitions the last years).

Anyway, in the end Art actually got inspired, and he could see himself working with this young and enthusiastic 'pupil'.
Not necessarily teaching him a lot.
But maybe more focusing on some key questions that probably any artist should answer on his personal path:
- what does my art mean to me, what makes it so relevant, and how can I make it more relevant
- what is the purpose of art;
- what is good art, and how does it differ from beautiful art or aesthetics
He would need to find his own way anyway, and it was clear he had talent and skills...

And Art actually felt energy coming back...
And sure, Art did not have all the answers; he did not have the illusion to understand the purpose of art.
But somehow this student gave Art himself a renewed purpose, which was quite inspiring - that is, after the initial cynical reflexes that have been carefully nurtured over the years.