Dear Readers,

When I started writing as opposed to making art, there was a lot of disapproval from my friends and colleagues. I was thrilled with my new creative outlet and found it to be more gratifying than painting. One comment from an editor was a little puzzling. He practically growled, “I thought you were an artist.” I responded, “Can’t I be both?”

I wondered why my writing instead of being just an artist bothered him. Might he be even a little jealous? It doesn’t seem fair that one person can do two art forms, and do them well (if I may be so presumptuous). So, do artists feel a little jealous when they see a celebrity’s work in a gallery, or a museum? There are times when that particular thought does enter my mind: Isn’t it enough that you’re famous, do you have to be a talented artist too?

Admittedly, I often groan out loud when I read about celebrities showing their artwork, especially when it’s at a blue-chip gallery. The effortless way they seem to be escorted to the top—without an education or even an exhibition record—is simply annoying. An artist’s life is a struggle, and making it in the art world is extremely difficult, whereas it appears to be smooth sailing for a celebrity if they happen to have a body of work and want to show it (and let’s not forget the opportunistic gallerists here—they are not so innocent).

But let’s look at this impartially: When someone is artistically gifted, it’s not unusual for them to be multi-talented. Should they be punished for that? Being an artist doesn’t mean you have to limit yourself to one medium, so I can accept that an actor or musician might know how to paint, draw, sculpt—sometimes even with undeniable ability. With all the celebrity artists out there, we decided to take a closer look. Take for example our cover artist: Martin Mull is one serious painter. And in this issue we discover that Jemima Kirke can really push a brush, David Lynch filters his filmmaker’s eye into other mediums, and Dennis Hopper knew just when to click the shutter. A person can have many talents, and that includes celebrities (they are people, after all).

The artists we feature in this issue are celebrities that seem to put more time into their art than the work they are better known for. And just for kicks we threw in a few celebs who appear to be truly amateurs, but charming nonetheless: Phyllis Diller, Drew Barrymore, Dr. Kevorkian. But we focus mainly on celebrity artists who have had multiple shows and have been making art most of their lives—some even with college art degrees. We’re looking at the product, and trying to avoid name association—and yep, that’s hard to do.

It must be tough being famous. And I mean that sincerely. We all want recognition, even if we don’t always admit it to ourselves. But it also sounds like a lot of freedom is sacrificed. It’s like when I wasn’t allowed to write, because I was a painter first. I didn’t like being pigeonholed, and being famous for one thing seems to fall into that category. I wouldn’t mind trying it at least once though.