May 30, 2021

 Today’s musings on creativity and what creative people do to make art out of ideas.

I have always said that the most important characteristic that any artist must possess is tenacity or pigheadedness (no offence Wilbur).  We can’t decide to paint a wonderful painting or to write a wonderful book, we just have to start and invest our time with work  to try to drag an idea forward.  Creativity  is never easy.  I am convinced that the challenge is part of the process.   Just because there may be no money, or accolades from others doesn’t mean that the work isn’t worthwhile.  In fact, often it is the need for money or at least an end product that destroys the nebulous germ of a creative idea.  The freedom to mull over something and then to “play” with the ideas is where all art begins.

I have spent the past week sitting out by our small pond.  While Fen dug and ate the violets, I have tried to capture the beauty and abundance of the violets in watercolour.  The day I began this pond painting, I started  with the hosta  because it wasn’t quite fully out and I liked the tight shapes.   For many years, I thought that especially with watercolour, the entire plan of a painting should be decided ahead.  Now after experiencing the spontaneity and the ability to go backwards while working with oils and acrylics, I am using this approach in my watercolours as well.  By being willing to use my tiny scrubber brush and occasionally some white opaque paint, the creative decisions can be decided as the painting develops.

This morning, on our ramble with Fen, I was gobsmacked by the transient beauty of apple blossoms.  At the top of our path are three wild apple trees.  One was full of intense magenta pinks, another had buds that were subdued pale pink and the third was all white flowers with no hint of any colour.  When we returned from our walk, I was still thinking about apple blossoms. I gave myself permission to scrap what I had planned to work on today. Since apple blossoms seem to be calling out to me, I decided to listen and to try to capture their elusive beauty.

(This morning while painting these apple blossoms, I listened to Mary Haynes interview Amy Shearn on CBC Tapestry.  I agree with everything this author said.  If you are interested in the above thoughts on creativity, you might also want to listen to this podcast which is the first thirty minutes of Tapestry from May 21.)