artistic rowers

Steph mentioned this artist who was speaking in metaphor about the existence of artists. Imagine the ocean filled with rowers of a certain kind; boatloads of artists. This artist--let's call him Mika, after the golden retriever dog we met on DeKalb--was speaking about how artists need to find comfort in chaos. Some artists swim way out, but find the need to come back to shore eventually.
Steph said she's in the shallow shore, that is directed toward the deep blue sea. But she only has one oar in; therefore, she is spinning in circles.