Saturday, August 14, 2010

A painting is a poem without words...

I found this quote today on Facebook, and I started thinking... Why do we create? I'd love YOUR thoughts on the subject, and I may add a few of my own...

10 comments:

Michelle said...

I haven't been creating much lately, but I've been working with the book The Artist's Way to get unblocked. I think I'm going to work on my blog again. I tried today, but every sentence I typed seemed terrible - still blocked, I guess. :(

Natasha said...

Such an age old question, with so many different answers. I create, I think, to lie, to heal, and to bask in the joy of making something out of the muck that is life.

***Interesting, that "to lie" was supposed to be "to live" and yet, I think that both are probably true. Typos are apparently very Freudian these days. :)

Girlsinthecraft said...

Not to get too philisophical but, I believe that we are all 'here' to create (make something from nothing). Look around at all the people you know: some create joy, some create food, some create a mood, some create art, etc. With art, it is more literal. What we create is less abstract (even if we are an abstract artist, ha!) because we present it as art/a creation. Creating is what gives us our essence. It connects us to the universe. There is such an intrinsic payoff to be creative that it creates passion in ourselves which drives us to create even more. So, enough of my perspective on the subject. Would love to see what everyone else has to say on the subject......

Judy Wood said...

Here is one of my favorite quotes by Abraham Maslow: A musician must make music, an artist must paint, a poet must write, if he is to be ultimately at peace with himself.

Pablo Picasso said this: Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.

And this: Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.

Scott Adams: Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.

Albert Einstein: The monotony and solitude of a quiet life stimulates the creative mind.

I saw an angel in the block of marble and I just chiseled 'til I set him free. Michelangelo

If you are seeking creative ideas, go out walking. Angels whisper to a man when he goes for a walk. Raymond Inman

Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous. Bill Moyers

Creativity takes courage. Henri Matisse

I saw as a teacher how, if you take that spark of learning that those children have, and you ignite it, you can take a child from any background to a lifetime of creativity and accomplishment.
Paul Wellstone

Please add your thoughts...

sharon said...

i create because my body just isn't big enough to contain my soul.

sassycat said...

I create to get all the stuff that is stuck inside me out - it could be in the form of food or words or sometimes when Im really brave pictures, its calming to follow the lines of colors in a photo or painting.

inge said...

Hello Judy

actually I don't know... it's an urge I have to put my own personality in something, no matter what it is...

I've been busy for years renovating my house and make it really me, making clothes for my children so they look one of a kind, now I make books and cards with stamps...
Without having to tell something about me, my creations tell for a big part who I am.

intriguing question...
greetings from Belgium
Inge

Judy Wood said...

I'm enjoying this conversation, I hope you are too... A few years ago, I was a part part time art teacher at a little school by my house. I was teaching a class on the earliest artwork in Lascaux France. It dawned on me that one reason for these early cave paintings might have been just to let others know the artists existed. I remember saying to the students "think about what these early artists were thinking when they left an arrow or a handprint or a drawing of their daily activities, they might have been saying "I WAS HERE!"

I've wondered about my own artwork lately, and now a little poetry, maybe its MY way of saying to the world, not LOOK AT ME, but I WAS HERE! I made a difference! I can draw/write! I matter! Leaving a little piece of myself behind for my family and future generations to enjoy.

I've enjoyed your comments, please feel free to continue the conversation. Whether you write, or draw, or paint, or stamp, or have a creative system to pay the bills, I want to know more about YOU!

David said...

Creation is a remnant of God, the fragile winding of threads that connect us to the Devine.

It is a path to things greater than ourselves, a glimmer of things unseen, a chance to peer beyond the veil.

The colors of the world blind us, but we can still sense that spark/soul/essence that lies beneath the surface. It is here that inspiration begins, in that place beyond the world, in that realm of genesis where everything is possible.

We each find this place in our own way. Sometimes it is just a glimmer in the distance and sometimes the gates of Heaven open wide to flood us with insights so powerful that we cannot contain them. Try as we might to capture the word to paper, the image to canvas, the sounds to song... they are but a shadow of the infinite glory.

Still... our muse beckons, and we must follow.

sharon said...

bravo, david! well said!