The Creative and The Artist

I do not know where to start to write about creativity and art. So, let me start with the reasons why I want to write about them: every time I hear the two words used interchangeably there is a part of me wanting to call for time-out.

A former mentor of mine urged me to pay attention to those triggers: signs of my young genius (as the Roman intended the word - all people have a guiding spirit that attended them throughout their lives) wanting to talk. I learnt to pay attention and instead of repressing that trigger or finding a rational explanation for it I learnt to listen to the young genius. What she has to say about creativity and art isn’t an assessment or a definition rather a quality I want to live by and an expression I want to nurture.

To me, creativity is about bringing OUT a solution to something. We create something to solve a daily challenge, to put together an outfit, to speak, to cook... and to make artworks.

We are all born creative and remain creative throughout our life.

Our creative expressions and manifestations change, evolve with us. Creative is not a job title, it is our innate ability to create the mundane as the extraordinary.

Art is about taking IN something or someone which transforms our relationship with them. It is a way of sensing, feeling, being in relationship with ourself and the world that transforms us from within. It is a way of learning and knowing about the big questions of life and humanity. To be an artist we don’t have to “produce” an artwork admired by the masses. To me, we are all artists. It is art that pulses in our hearts.

It is by evoking, listening and expressing the artist within we live wholeheartedly .

Both, creativity and art, are interconnected. We cannot touch one without being reminded of the other too. Both might be considered hobbies or just for children. Both are relegated at times only to professions, skills and tools which of course they are but there is more.

They are “biologically essential to our survival” (Ellen Dissanayake). A biologically essential to survival that as children we intuitively express and nurture. Think of young children, what they do all day long? They draw, they build sand castles, they dance (even with no music)… Then we condition them with appreciation (or lack of it) and we tame the sensibility of their (ours) inner compass for survival. A sort of domestication of a living and evolving quality that loses its essentiality. It is like domesticating a wild animal. The domesticated wild (creative + artistic) nature we then experience as “circus performance”.

When we say we are not creative or are not an artist we deny our right to exist as we are.

I certainly did, all the years I believed that to be successful, loved, appreciated I had to forget drawing, poetry … the truer, most tender part of me.

For me listening to and learning from the artist within (or as I call it heartist) changes what I create, changes why and how I manifest my creativity (either I am painting, writing a poem, delivering a learning program or making a chemical reaction). A question I ask myself constantly: “When we evoke the artist within which depth of our nature can we access?”

The artist’s call to harbour the art-craft, our creative labor.

The practices and processes we go through to create, to transform a mental image, a feeling, an insight into something physical, is a reflection of our identity. We learn to refine our identity as we refine our expression. We learn to refine our expression as we embrace the fullest of our identity. We learn to refine our creativity as we learn to express our artistry…Our identity, our nature is both creative and artistic. We cannot separate (or deny) the creative and the artist without fragmenting our identity. I often say “It is like asking a rainbow to pick one colour and be just blue”.

There are many ways to define art and creativity as there are people in the universe, and each definition is influenced by the unique perspective of that person, as well as by their own personality and character. What you have just read is my personal experience of creativity and art. I know it will evolve as I evolve as human being. I know that I have left out (for now) the whole conversation on mastering creative and artistic skills and abilities. I know that there is a whole dialogue around “what makes great art”… Just for now let’s find ways to enter in dialogue with the artist and creative within so that the creative and artist out there can express and work from a place of trust and acceptance.

May we gather a chorus of creatives and artists who desire to renew our relationships with creativity and art from deep within their hearts.

If you’re interested to learn more about our knowledge and experience and discuss how we could help through our consultancy, workshops, and talks, drop us a line at fateme@rnewb.com.

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