A lot of crappy information goes around about what it means to be an artists and the nature of creativity. Artists, the people in an excellent position to set things right, will often join in on this crappy info distribution. Consider this quote from Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
“I did not write it. God wrote it. I merely did his dictation.”
When Lincoln met Ms. Stowe he is reported to have said this is the woman who started the civil war. It may have been, for its time, a powerful book, but dictated by God? Ms. Stowe was clearly spreading crap about the creative process. Artists do that. It adds to our mystic. It sets the artist apart from the common folk. When artists make statements that imply that they are gifted by some higher power, or born with some gift of talent they are actually marketing their artistic products. If you non-creative types believe that this object, or poem, or novel, or song is created by someone with an unusual, special gift that is not available to you, then if you buy the painting, or book, or CD you will have something special. Anyone could have a gold coin, but I got a golden egg laid by this artistic goose. Such notions are crap. The myth of a muse, the idea that there can be no creative effort apart from inspiration, the commonly accepted lie that some are blessed with artistic ability while others are not, is a way for the artist to promote his or her work, and becomes a block to creating art for the masses. After all, if you don’t feel like God has taken over your motor movements and forced your hand to write out a novel, wouldn’t it be silly to try to just do such a thing on your own?
I believe creative ability is as common as freckles. Artistic potential is as widespread as fingers and toes. It is a fundamental characteristic of being human to be creative. We do millions of things every day that are acts of art, but discounted by most of us because we know we are not artists, and have no artistic ability.
“I did not write it. God wrote it. I merely did his dictation.”
When Lincoln met Ms. Stowe he is reported to have said this is the woman who started the civil war. It may have been, for its time, a powerful book, but dictated by God? Ms. Stowe was clearly spreading crap about the creative process. Artists do that. It adds to our mystic. It sets the artist apart from the common folk. When artists make statements that imply that they are gifted by some higher power, or born with some gift of talent they are actually marketing their artistic products. If you non-creative types believe that this object, or poem, or novel, or song is created by someone with an unusual, special gift that is not available to you, then if you buy the painting, or book, or CD you will have something special. Anyone could have a gold coin, but I got a golden egg laid by this artistic goose. Such notions are crap. The myth of a muse, the idea that there can be no creative effort apart from inspiration, the commonly accepted lie that some are blessed with artistic ability while others are not, is a way for the artist to promote his or her work, and becomes a block to creating art for the masses. After all, if you don’t feel like God has taken over your motor movements and forced your hand to write out a novel, wouldn’t it be silly to try to just do such a thing on your own?
I believe creative ability is as common as freckles. Artistic potential is as widespread as fingers and toes. It is a fundamental characteristic of being human to be creative. We do millions of things every day that are acts of art, but discounted by most of us because we know we are not artists, and have no artistic ability.
Hide not your talents. They for use were made. What's a sundial in the shade? ~Benjamin Franklin
Yes, it is true that there are some among us that seem to have a greater attraction to creative pursuits, but it is an assumption to believe this person is attracted to artistic activity because he or she is gifted. There are other factors at work that turn one child into Mozart, and another into Michael Angelo, and yet another into Ted Kooser. The same kinds of activities that turn one child into an athlete turn another child into an poet or sculptor, or musical phenom, blah, blah, blah.
If I am right, if it is true that the creative being is cut from the same cloth as the rest of us, or at least most of us, possess creative ability. The difference is that some of us do creative stuff, and some of us do creative stuff less often.
As a kid I noticed something that set my little mind to ticking. As I read about the impressionists, I noticed that most of them were French, and most of them, even those from around Europe and even from America, all ended up in Paris and they knew each other. Then I noticed that there were tons of artists in Italy and many gravitated to Florence, and Michelangelo and Leonardo De Vinci knew each other. How did that happen? Why were some many artists found in one specific geographic area, and among people within the same country and culture?
I believe the answer is that art exploded in areas where the people recognized, honored, and encouraged art. We do the same thing here in the USA, but with sports rather than art. A kid throws a rock in the playground and some father, uncle, teacher, neighbor, etc era will say, “you should try playing baseball. You got a great arm.” A kid runs from the playground when the lunch bell rings, and teachers say, “you should play football. You could carry the ball better than anyone.” In Florence, a kid would draw something on the sidewalk with a piece of chalk, and adults walking by would say, “You gotta good eye, Leo, you could be a great artist.”
I believe that if you aren’t an artist it is because you have chosen not to be an artist. That is the long and short of it. Becoming an artist is not a gift from God, (or it is a wildly disseminated gift of God), and art is not dependent upon some Muse, it is something that exists within most of us, and perhaps all of us. Christy Brown showed us that being handicapped was not a block to creativity. With only the use of his left foot he painted hundreds of pictures and wrote several books. The mentally disabled have artists we unfortunately call idiot savants.
One thing is certain: we are not creating artists in school. Schools are producing athletes, but few schools can take credit for producing artists. What happens more often than not, is that schools end up discouraging artistic pursuits. Eric Hoffer said,
When it comes to creativity, we are still in the food-gathering stage. We don’t know how to grow it.”
As a teacher with 25 years experience in public and private schools, and I say with confidence that teachers do not teach anything. All education is self-education.
Teachers make assignments, and explain concepts, and this is similar to what a coach does with his or her athletes. If the pupil is motivated, learning takes place because of what the student does. If the athlete is fired up, then points will be scored. The success in the classroom, or on the field, or in the studio depends upon the motivation of the student, the athlete, and the artist.
When people find out I write poetry the often same the same thing, “I write poetry too, but only when I’m inspired, and that only happens to me once in a great while.”
The problem with such a statement is that the person has linked artistic actions to inspiration. Perhaps a better way to put it is that writing poetry is linked to that person’s feelings. If they don’t feel like writing they don’t write. The difference between them and me, is that I write almost every day. I rarely miss a day. When I feel like it I write. When I don’t feel like writing, I still write.
Consider the athlete. Do you think that the kids on the football team only practice when they feel like it? Will a couch keep a kid on the team if they attend practice only when they feel like practicing? The team practices daily. Rain, shine, hot, cold, feeling good, feeling bad, whole, or wounded, holidays, and weekends, the team will show up and practice. If a kid links his or her athletic activities to feeling like it, that kid is not going to be on the team, and is unlikely to become a professional athlete.
The job of the coach is to teach the skills, and plays, to set the practices, and to motivate the team to practice, to dream, to try as heard as they can to win. If a coach is fired after a losing season, it isn’t because the coach failed to score. It is because the coach failed to sufficiently teach and motivate his or her team so that they would score.
In the classroom the same sorts of things are at work. The teacher makes assignments (sort of practice) and the teacher does his or her best to motivate the students, but if learning takes place it is the student that learns from his or her doing. If the teacher fails to sufficiently motivate the students they will talk, sleep, clown around, disrupt, argue, and superglue a penny to the top of their desk. If the student isn’t motivated to do the things that cause them to learn, then it doesn’t matter how well the lesson was explained, or how cleaver and thought out the assignment was, the students will not learn unless the student does the assignment.
Everyone has a body, but everyone is not an athlete. Everyone has a brain, but high level thinking is not practiced by every student. Everyone has creative ability, but not everyone will create art.
What most people call inspiration is the feeling one gets when he or she is motivated. If you believe that motivation is linked to feeling then you will be motivated less often than if you link motivation to commitment. The committed student will study even when they would rather not. The dedicated athlete will practice even when they are tired, or stressed, or would rather be doing something else. The artist is different from the non-artist because they practice their art because they have decided to practice their art regardless of how they feel.
Even the occasional poet can write a good poem occasionally. The guy who plays touch football 6 or 8 times a year might, occasionally, throw a fantastic pass. A student who paid attention in class only one time during the semester, might get one answer right on a test, but the rarely motivated people are rarely successful people; the occasionally motivated will only achieve their goal occasionally.
If you want to be a painter, poet, novelist, sculptor, singer, guitar player, etc era, then you must bind yourself to regularly practicing your art. Practice your art on a schedule. The artist does not fit practice into their life, they fit their life into their practice. The artist decides to make the practice of his or her art a priority in their life. You must decide to allow your art to dictate how you will spend your time, energy, and money. The success with your art comes later.
Do you think the first time Michelangelo’s first try at painting resulted in the Sistine Chapel ceiling? Do you think Babe Ruth hit every ball out of the park his first time to try batting? Most of us can walk, but how many of us walked perfectly the first time we tried? IT takes a lot of practice to become a successful _____________________. Fill in the blank. It takes a lot of practice to do anything well.
My wife watched me draw a picture on the back of a place mat in a restaurant, flipped her paper over, and tried to do a drawing of her own. Her effort was crude and to be honest, it looked like it had been drawn by a 4 year old. (If I want her to know I said that I’ll tell her myself.) My wife was immediately frustrated that her drawing did not look “as good” as mine. But she did not do what I have done. I have drawn thousands of pictures. I drew all day in every class. I made Cs and Ds in my school work, but by golly I learned to draw. It isn’t fair to compare your first artistic effort to the work of someone who has been working daily at their art for many years.
Ability does not exist first and then motivation and dedication follows. The motivation and dedication has to be there first and the ability comes later. You can want it to be the other way around, but it isn’t. I wish it rained beer. It’s America. You can want whatever you want to want, but if your wants are unrealistic all you get for your effort is frustration.
If I am right, if it is true that the creative being is cut from the same cloth as the rest of us, or at least most of us, possess creative ability. The difference is that some of us do creative stuff, and some of us do creative stuff less often.
As a kid I noticed something that set my little mind to ticking. As I read about the impressionists, I noticed that most of them were French, and most of them, even those from around Europe and even from America, all ended up in Paris and they knew each other. Then I noticed that there were tons of artists in Italy and many gravitated to Florence, and Michelangelo and Leonardo De Vinci knew each other. How did that happen? Why were some many artists found in one specific geographic area, and among people within the same country and culture?
I believe the answer is that art exploded in areas where the people recognized, honored, and encouraged art. We do the same thing here in the USA, but with sports rather than art. A kid throws a rock in the playground and some father, uncle, teacher, neighbor, etc era will say, “you should try playing baseball. You got a great arm.” A kid runs from the playground when the lunch bell rings, and teachers say, “you should play football. You could carry the ball better than anyone.” In Florence, a kid would draw something on the sidewalk with a piece of chalk, and adults walking by would say, “You gotta good eye, Leo, you could be a great artist.”
I believe that if you aren’t an artist it is because you have chosen not to be an artist. That is the long and short of it. Becoming an artist is not a gift from God, (or it is a wildly disseminated gift of God), and art is not dependent upon some Muse, it is something that exists within most of us, and perhaps all of us. Christy Brown showed us that being handicapped was not a block to creativity. With only the use of his left foot he painted hundreds of pictures and wrote several books. The mentally disabled have artists we unfortunately call idiot savants.
One thing is certain: we are not creating artists in school. Schools are producing athletes, but few schools can take credit for producing artists. What happens more often than not, is that schools end up discouraging artistic pursuits. Eric Hoffer said,
When it comes to creativity, we are still in the food-gathering stage. We don’t know how to grow it.”
As a teacher with 25 years experience in public and private schools, and I say with confidence that teachers do not teach anything. All education is self-education.
Teachers make assignments, and explain concepts, and this is similar to what a coach does with his or her athletes. If the pupil is motivated, learning takes place because of what the student does. If the athlete is fired up, then points will be scored. The success in the classroom, or on the field, or in the studio depends upon the motivation of the student, the athlete, and the artist.
When people find out I write poetry the often same the same thing, “I write poetry too, but only when I’m inspired, and that only happens to me once in a great while.”
The problem with such a statement is that the person has linked artistic actions to inspiration. Perhaps a better way to put it is that writing poetry is linked to that person’s feelings. If they don’t feel like writing they don’t write. The difference between them and me, is that I write almost every day. I rarely miss a day. When I feel like it I write. When I don’t feel like writing, I still write.
Consider the athlete. Do you think that the kids on the football team only practice when they feel like it? Will a couch keep a kid on the team if they attend practice only when they feel like practicing? The team practices daily. Rain, shine, hot, cold, feeling good, feeling bad, whole, or wounded, holidays, and weekends, the team will show up and practice. If a kid links his or her athletic activities to feeling like it, that kid is not going to be on the team, and is unlikely to become a professional athlete.
The job of the coach is to teach the skills, and plays, to set the practices, and to motivate the team to practice, to dream, to try as heard as they can to win. If a coach is fired after a losing season, it isn’t because the coach failed to score. It is because the coach failed to sufficiently teach and motivate his or her team so that they would score.
In the classroom the same sorts of things are at work. The teacher makes assignments (sort of practice) and the teacher does his or her best to motivate the students, but if learning takes place it is the student that learns from his or her doing. If the teacher fails to sufficiently motivate the students they will talk, sleep, clown around, disrupt, argue, and superglue a penny to the top of their desk. If the student isn’t motivated to do the things that cause them to learn, then it doesn’t matter how well the lesson was explained, or how cleaver and thought out the assignment was, the students will not learn unless the student does the assignment.
Everyone has a body, but everyone is not an athlete. Everyone has a brain, but high level thinking is not practiced by every student. Everyone has creative ability, but not everyone will create art.
What most people call inspiration is the feeling one gets when he or she is motivated. If you believe that motivation is linked to feeling then you will be motivated less often than if you link motivation to commitment. The committed student will study even when they would rather not. The dedicated athlete will practice even when they are tired, or stressed, or would rather be doing something else. The artist is different from the non-artist because they practice their art because they have decided to practice their art regardless of how they feel.
Even the occasional poet can write a good poem occasionally. The guy who plays touch football 6 or 8 times a year might, occasionally, throw a fantastic pass. A student who paid attention in class only one time during the semester, might get one answer right on a test, but the rarely motivated people are rarely successful people; the occasionally motivated will only achieve their goal occasionally.
If you want to be a painter, poet, novelist, sculptor, singer, guitar player, etc era, then you must bind yourself to regularly practicing your art. Practice your art on a schedule. The artist does not fit practice into their life, they fit their life into their practice. The artist decides to make the practice of his or her art a priority in their life. You must decide to allow your art to dictate how you will spend your time, energy, and money. The success with your art comes later.
Do you think the first time Michelangelo’s first try at painting resulted in the Sistine Chapel ceiling? Do you think Babe Ruth hit every ball out of the park his first time to try batting? Most of us can walk, but how many of us walked perfectly the first time we tried? IT takes a lot of practice to become a successful _____________________. Fill in the blank. It takes a lot of practice to do anything well.
My wife watched me draw a picture on the back of a place mat in a restaurant, flipped her paper over, and tried to do a drawing of her own. Her effort was crude and to be honest, it looked like it had been drawn by a 4 year old. (If I want her to know I said that I’ll tell her myself.) My wife was immediately frustrated that her drawing did not look “as good” as mine. But she did not do what I have done. I have drawn thousands of pictures. I drew all day in every class. I made Cs and Ds in my school work, but by golly I learned to draw. It isn’t fair to compare your first artistic effort to the work of someone who has been working daily at their art for many years.
Ability does not exist first and then motivation and dedication follows. The motivation and dedication has to be there first and the ability comes later. You can want it to be the other way around, but it isn’t. I wish it rained beer. It’s America. You can want whatever you want to want, but if your wants are unrealistic all you get for your effort is frustration.
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