Creative Process: Another View
Another view on the creative process I like is the one by Alex Gray, whose writings on art I enjoy immensely. Currently I am reading his book ‘The Mission of Art’.
Creative, non-fiction, content, poetry, marginalia
Another view on the creative process I like is the one by Alex Gray, whose writings on art I enjoy immensely. Currently I am reading his book ‘The Mission of Art’.
What are the stages of the creative process? Many models exist to illustrate the process which goes on during the act of creativity.
The one I am most familiar with is the Wallas Model.
Preparation
Incubation
Illumination
Verification
Another model which expands further on the process is by Robert Fritz.
Conception
Vision
Current reality
Take action
Adjust, learn, evaluate, adjust
Building momentum
Completion
Living with your creation
I was subject to a certain chain of events recently, which has really jolted me into some sort of surreal reality. It seems as though in the upper echelon of art circles, non-representational art is considered to be the creme de la creme.
The people I spoke with, familiar with the art world, expressed the opinion that other forms of art, seem to be a stage that the artist is going through. I wonder if this means When my art matures, I too will be creating non-representational pieces?
Continue reading Non-Representational Art: An Inevitability?
Human beings are creatures of habit, or so it seems. Yet we are told the only thing that remains constant is change. Just the sound of the word makes me want to dig in my heels, and come to a screeching stop.
Changing can be a choice. Change is a verb. Effecting change is just that. One has to take the first step. Beginning can be, often is, the difficult part. Choosing change requires empowering oneself to explore new worlds, while letting go of the old. Once the decision is made, a chain of events will be set in motion, taking you to a new time and space.
A friend sent me these lyrics this morning. I found them uplifting and I hope you will too. Leonard Cohen is one of my absolute favourites.
I believe he speaks the truth.
Walking down the street, lately I have noticed most people cannot look you in the eye.
Some do not even say hello in their own neighbourhood.
I could hear the phrase ‘fear based society’ echo through my brain.
Fear seems to dominate our society these days. I see it everywhere.
At the top of the list, fear of not getting your share, fear of terrorism fear of people, fear of death, fear of speaking or hearing the truth . . . the list is endless. I am speaking of this as a condition of the human race, from a cultural perspective, not as an over generalization.
I have always danced to the beat of my own drum, as the saying goes. Although I have had some successes, there have also been low points. Some of my difficulties have arisen, from being unable to conform. Society does not support non-conformists.
Extinct, as of 65 million years ago, ammonite fossils, like this one from Madagascar, can be up to 400 million years old. It closely resembles, it’s ‘still living’ relative, the chambered nautilus.
Ammonite
I was attracted to this ammonite, by it’s spiral pattern, and the mystery of the divine proportion, or golden mean. Symbolic of the beauty and harmony of the universe, representational of the golden mean number, known as “Phi”, it can be found in all of nature and it’s living forms, in everything from sunflower spirals, to the solar system, to DNA structure.
To try to figure out this mystery of nature would take many life times, yet it is inspiring to me, to see in small things, the order of the universe, unfolding everyday around us. I cannot even pretend to try to understand the mathematics of this concept, so I opt instead to attempt to attune myself intuitively to the rhythm of nature, while creating.
Much talk has surrounded the paintings of Leonardo Da Vinci, and the evidence of this concept in his painting, especially with the popularity of the work of fiction by Dan Brown in “The Da Vinci Code”. I prefer to think that Da Vinci did not plan to include this in his paintings consciously. Instead I imagine that his masterpieces were a result of intuition, combined with a lifetime of observation.
In my experience, my best pieces of art have been done intuitively, without intellectually planning each and every detail, instead allowing myself to be an instrument of the divine. Allowing that which is greater than all of us, to flow through ourselves, from the hand and brush onto the canvas.
Perhaps then, the job of the artist is to keep the channel open, stay atune to the higher vibrations, and to the harmony or discord surrounding oneself. If that can be achieved, the work often comes effortlessly, and is often completed much more quickly than some.
Yet it would be overly optimistic to assume one can be inspired at all times, and so we move with the ebb and flow of life and that which is all encompassing. It is something to aspire to, while on our journey, a way to finding a purposeful existence.
Other Places: Find Out More
Read More Here
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