Creativity Enmeshed

Inspired by Nature

One of the things that have caused me to block creatively is envy, I am not proud to admit. Most of the time I absolutely love looking at others work, for my own interest and pleasure but also as an important part of my job as the curator and manager of an art gallery. However sometimes I find myself so awed by someone's work that I shut down and disconnect from my own creativity.


It is a complex thing being a creative person. I feel that it makes one vulnerable to being knocked sideways, being open as we are to the world as it feeds and sometimes steals our souls.


Personally I need to be connected to the rhythms of nature and the seasons, in conversation with friends and fellow artists, stimulated by books and art in all its forms to be fully connected to my own creative self. Therefore my eyes and heart are wide open as I seek both a visual and an emotional stimulus to what's around me in my quest for inspiration, sometimes too open.

This is why I think that certain harsh criticisms from teachers have caused a much greater wounding than perhaps they warranted. So too I believe, it is understandable and natural to admire an artist's work so much that you wish you could have done it yourself.

The key is to not get too enmeshed in that 'other', whoever or whatever it may be. To try and find a balance between protecting ones creative core and connecting with your own creative source. The only thing that really helps though is a deep understanding that You are uniquely who You are and that only You can create what You do.  So I remind myself to revel in that and enjoy others work for their uniqueness too.