Inspiration
Where does inspiration come from?
Some Thoughts Not Resolutions
Agnes Martin in her studio (1960); photo by Alexander Liberman
“Inspiration is there all the time for anyone whose mind is not covered over with thoughts and concerns, and [it is] used by everyone whether they realize it or not.”
From The Reconstuctionist on Ray Eames
“Build pockets of stillness into your life. Meditate. Go for walks. Ride your bike going nowhere in particular. There is a creative purpose to daydreaming, even to boredom. The best ideas come to us when we stop actively trying to coax the muse into manifesting and let the fragments of experience float around our unconscious mind in order to click into new combinations. Without this essential stage of unconscious processing, the entire flow of the creative process is broken. ”
“Don’t restrict yourself to your own medium. It is just as possible to be inspired by a film-maker, fashion designer, writer or friend than another artist. Cross-pollination makes for an interesting outcome.”
“I don’t have a clue. Ideas are simply starting points. I can rarely set them down as they come to my mind. As soon as I start to work, others well up in my pen. To know what you’re going to draw, you have to begin drawing… When I find myself facing a blank page, that’s always going through my head. What I capture in spite of myself interests me more than my own ideas.”
“If you want to be creative: you’re better off doing things than waiting around for inspiration to strike.
Too many people say they want to think more creatively—they want to have ideas for making money, turning their art into their livelihood, or how to have an impact—but end up doing little to nothing because they wait around for inspiration to strike. If you wait for the perfect idea you’ll end up with nothing.
Doing nothing teaches you just that: nothing. But when you try something, when you dabble and experiment, you learn. You learn what might not work and what makes you feel good. You learn where creative energy might come from and what pulls it out of you”
Further Reading:
Lewis Hyde’s 1979 classic, The Gift: Creativity and the Artist in the Modern World
Ignore Everybody: and 39 Other Keys to Creativity
Ten Learnings From Ten Years Of Brain Pickings
From The Guardian: Top Artists Reveal How to Find Creative Inspiration
How to Unleash Your Creativity - Psychology Today
More thoughts from Tanner Christensen's Blog
Featured
