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Archive for "Nov 30 2009"

Does Creativity Dry Up?

Unfolding (working title) 36 x 24 inches acrylic on canvas

This is the final product of the WIP in the previous post.  While it is not the main series I am working on at the present, it clearly informs that work and allows me the opportunity to keep questioning as I move the main series forward.  Do you work on multiple challenges in parallel?

I wanted to share this article with you from the Wall Street Journal. Terry Teachout talks about how many artists go through periods when their creativity wanes.  Of course, we are all familiar with the term “writer’s block”, and I dare say many of us have experienced it.  I am not talking about not having the time to be creative but about not having the inclination to be creative.  In this article, however, Mr. Teachout does say visual artist do not experience this as much as other creative types.  He attributes it to being encouraged to work in series until a particular subject is exhausted (which might be years or a lifetime).

The thing is, I also found this quote from Maya Angelou: “You can’t use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”  As you probably know, Ms. Angelou is a writer, so there is a conflict of opinion between her and Mr. Teachout on this subject.

This all has me thinking here.  If working in a series works well for the person who is visually creative why would it not work for someone who is creative in another way?  I know the more I journal, the more I am able to write blog posts.  Are visual artists the only ones who create in a variety of ways in order to influence their ongoing work shown to the public?  I doubt that!

For me, the challenge is not finding the creativity but finding the time to create along side all of the other influences in my life!  I suppose I could be wrong – it has happened before, you know – however it seems as though I will never run out of inspiration to create.  I do know, though, if I don’t use all of the opportunities which present themselves to me as I move through each day then my creativity will not be as informed as it should be.

It seems to me we all have so much to learn from each other and one of the things we might learn here is life is what informs our art.  If we do not utilize other methods of creativity, then we are not going to inform our art and truly the creativity might dry up.  If we only work on a single series and only paint, then I think the creativity block will probably happen from sheer burnout.  If the writer doesn’t do other things to inform the words, then those words very well may dry up.

What do you think?  Have you ever experienced a creativity block? What do you do to avoid them?  You can find some of my techniques for avoiding creativity loss in the Pages Section of this blog.

Thanks for Your Patience!

WIP Testing Ideas

I want to thank you all for hanging in there with me over the last month or so (really, over the last year).  While I am not ready to delve into all that has been happening around here – and it has been good – let me say I have been kept busy with family, holidays, the flu and good old life balancing.  I have been journaling a lot through all of this and continued to paint as often as I can.  The main thing, for now however, is I am trying to get back to the blogging, because I have missed everyone!  Check back later for a post with some substance.