This paper is an autoethnographic exploration of the topic of artistry in the author's work as an educator and what it means to be an artist and practitioner researcher, given his own history with the concept of art as a strained one. In this paper, the author discusses how his struggle for an identity as an artist in research has led to personal insights about who he is and how he has evolved as a practitioner researcher. He suggests that personal meaning is generated through the process of resolving particular paradoxes that appear as conflicts, and that the resolution requires a form of artistry that utilizes attention to emotions, reflexivity, and consciousness as educators make better sense of the complex aspects of their situation with the goal of better serving their people and communities through education.