all is creative: about creators.

‘We are all artists.’ this is a statement of truth, but society does not label each and every person as an artist. society tends to do this only when two main conditions are met, a) a person has created something that contains more beauty, more of themselves than the majority of creations around them and b) enough of the society has reached a level where they are able to perceive that beauty in said person’s creation. so if, deep down, we are all artists then that begs a couple questions: what do all creators have in common; and what can make one stand out or raise up or achieve more than others around him?

“I don’t paint nature. I am nature.” – jackson pollock

all creators have in common, a connection to something higher . call it whatever you want, god, the universe, mother nature, the soul, dreams, imagination, spirits, demons; the name does not matter for our discussion, all that is important is acknowledgement of something greater than one’s self, one’s mind, one’s ego.

some people say their art is inspired by god, such as this young girl, akiane kramarik [beautifully pronounced: ah-kee-ahn-nuh].

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whether you agree with her interpretation/beliefs or not, hopefully you’re able to appreciate her art, and appreciate the honesty and enthusiasm behind her eyes and words when she talks about it.

some artists explain that their art is inspired by spirits or ‘the land’, such as inuit artist alec lawson tuckatuck [another wicked name eh?]

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again, the honesty and sincere vibe of the artist comes through to us. my own work over the years has felt inspired by almost all of the above list at one point or another. when i was young, it was ‘my imagination.’ when i went through dark times, it was ‘demons.’ lately its been god / the universe / life. all these words and labels we have don’t really matter, the key point is that this ‘inspiration’ many artists speak of, is simply their best articulation of a connection to something higher than the self, which brings us to what sets an artist aside or ‘above’ other creators.

“The real artist’s work is a surprise to himself.” – robert henri

the process of creating art can be said to be more of a success, the more the artist surprises himself. when the ego is dropped and the creativity and inspiration truly comes from beyond, and the creator can look upon his creation in awe, then the creation is more obviously beautiful. an artist is only as strong or ‘impressive’ as his connection to the higher. in fact, some artists have such a strong, powerful connection to the universe that their art is shunned and mocked during their time as their society is not ready to accept their beautiful creations.

many of these artists are channeling beautiful, poignant, universal truths or pure, honest, unadulterated emotions and are still poorly received. vincent van gogh for instance was destitute and extremely under-appreciated in his time, but now, years after his death, his works are prized and valued as society has evolved and is able to perceive the beauty in his work. his portrayal of stars as huge blobs in the sky, not as tiny specks was looked upon as madness and foolishness initially, but now astronomy tells us that stars truly are of massive proportions and are often ‘spirals’ similar to what van gogh painted.

when radiohead released the albums ‘kid a’ and ‘amnesiac,’ their fan-base responded less enthusiastically than previously, why? is it because radiohead broke out of their comfort zone and experimented with something new? there is no verse-chorus-verse radio anthem material and there are hardly any guitar parts. perhaps they are reaching new levels in the manner of van gogh and their contemporaries were unable to appreciate the beauty? perhaps it was a growth step for them? whatever the case, their efforts towards electronic experimentation surely shows through in their latest album, in rainbows, which was incredibly well-received and may possibly be pinnacle of their career.

these creators, reaching out for inspiration and creativity from something higher than themselves, still somehow all produce vastly different iterations of universal truth, each one coloured by their uniqueness of being. lets take a look at some exceptionally successful artists and note how their works embody very powerful, and often similar themes.

if we look at select queen lyrics for example. in bohemian rhapsody we can notice how strongly our attention and emotions are drawn to the ending stanza “nothing really matters / anyone can see / nothing really matters … to me.” — all of us born with phsyical bodies die a physical death and of everything in between well… doesn’t really matter– living brilliantly and growing while holding this knowledge, is beautiful.

a related personal experience was a nine inch nails concert i was fortunate to get free tickets to recently, where trent had re-interpreted some of his earliest songs for performance, and though i’d heard them thousands of times before, i was at a point in life where i was able to appreciate the truth behind what once just seemed like ‘angst.’

head like a hole / black as your soul / i’d rather die than give you control – took on a new meaning and connected with me on a deeper level as i realized that huge portions of our society give control away every day, and are miserable for it. to their boss, they may allow control and bullying. to their spouses or their kids they may cave time and again, when their true nature is guiding them elsewhere, and their feeling deep down is to behave differently. so often so many give in to what they don’t really want, because they are afraid they ‘won’t be able to survive;’ that they will basically die if they don’t put in that overtime or ‘get him/her that valentines day gift.’

bob marley‘s words, sometimes dismissed as the ramblings of a buzzed stoner, are touching and true. one love! / what about the one heart? / one heart! / what about? / let’s get together and feel all right… we are all one, all connected, all one heart and feeling good, joyous, content is what we are rewarded with when we behave true to our natures.

tool‘s deep, metaphysical, philosophical style is appreciated by a whole different crowd but again they touch on similar universal truths. this body / this body holding me / feeling eternal all this pain is an illusion. [editors note: clicking tool's youtube link is highly recommended as they have some of the most astounding and impressive visuals to accompany their music i have ever seen.]

even pop, main-stream stuff, that i personally don’t tend to seek out so often, can’t help but touch on this, at whatever level of creativity they happen to be at: christina aguilera‘s song ‘beautiful’ is a) just that, and b) filled with wisdom.

every day is so wonderful /
and suddenly, i saw debris /
now and then, i get insecure /
from all the pain, i’m so ashamed / i am beautiful no matter what they say /
words can’t bring me down /
i am beautiful in every single way /
yes, words can’t bring me down.

beauty is in everything. the whole process of life, of constant creating and re-creating, is pure beauty.

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not to mention the beauty of her voice. she uses this gift and strengthens it throughout her life. were they contemporaries, a duet of freddie mercury (of queen) and christina aguilera would not be out of the question. they both sing phenomenally, and could very possibly connect. also interesting to me, is that she and nine inch nails both have a song called ‘hurt.’ they very different songs touching on different aspects of the same topic, but all differences aside, both tug at people’s emotions in a similar way.

“The artist in his work [is] like God in creation, invisible and all-powerful; everywhere felt but nowhere visible.” – gustav flaubert

when one is creating, one is mirroring a powerful aspect of ‘god.’ we can often hear a piece of music or look at a piece of art or read a piece of prose and somehow ‘know’ the artist that made it. we phrase it in ways like ‘i can recognize the artist’s style’ — but of course styles can be mimicked or altered or deviated from and often times still we have the ability to tell. this is usually stronger the more of the artist’s presence is in their work. when they lose themselves more in their creation, that makes their creation more powerful.

since we are all creators and this connection to the universe is available to anyone , we can choose at anytime to access it. if one’s mind/ego is getting in the way, or smaller steps are preferred, then there are ways to increase the strength of this connection in steps such as: gratefulness, breaking out of one’s comfort zone, meditation, and a ton of other avenues; too much for this post, maybethat’s for later.

i hope this has shed some light on creativity for you guys.

much love,
-j.