Creative Energy
“There is no ‘must’ in art, because art is free”
Wassily Kandinsky
What motivates people to create fine art? This is a question that has fascinated me over the years. Being an instructor, it is a question that I have to ponder frequently. For me it has always been a part of my life. It is like breathing.
I see something that touches me and I need to capture it…not just the picture, but the feeling it evokes in me: the hope found in a sunrise,the warmth of the setting sun. There will never be another moment like that one. By recreating it, whether realistically or abstractly it puts it indelibly in the memory bank. The best part for me is I can capture it realistically or abstractly depending on my mood.
There seem to be times, that one medium speaks more than another. That a feeling is better captured abstractly than realistically, or vice a versa. People frequently ask me why I do both? Shouldn’t you commit to one style over another, or one medium over another? That would be like eating pizza every night for dinner!
However, it’s not totally about capturing a moment. There is more to my motivation process than capturing a feeling, even if that is a big part of it for me. It also has to do with playing, and letting the inner child out. Its seeing patterns and shapes in nature, and an innate need to capture them: rearrange the patterns of lights and dark, stretch the lines, integrate forms, and reproduce the textures that intrigue me.
Each day dawns, and provides an opportunity to experience something new, capture something new, share something new. Please share what motivates your creative spirit.
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Your blog is off to a fabulous start!! Your writings describing your feelings as you paint, what draws you to paint your beautiful scenes from nature, will touch every artist that reads this page.
Carolyn, the blog is a beautiful expression of your work and your spirit. A wonderful start to a new chapter in your artistic life.
Carolyn,
Everything you have written shows such an artistic depth in you. After reading what motivates you I realize how superficial my approach to art has been…just making a pretty picture. I need to try to dig deeper!
Carolyn, I love your ideas of creating beyond the superficial. I sometimes stop painting because in my mind I don’t measure up or my negative self talk says, “Who are you kidding.” Then in stillness something awakens the creative mind and “I must paint” like Masefields, “I must go to the sea again.” When I shut out the ego and listen to the self – all is right with the world. Thank you for the wake up call.