Where does creativity come from? I often look at people who are creative and wonder where they get it from. I think of myself as creative. But if asked where I get it from I probably couldn’t answer.
Sir Ken Robinson, would suggest that all children are creative and that it gets educated out of us. I am not sure I entirely agree. While children might be imaginative, I don’t think that is the same thing. One of my earliest memories is of smashing small rocks with Darren Wilson on the pavement with larger rocks. We were making gun powder, or looking for gold or something. While imaginative, it wasn’t necessarily creative.
I often think that creativity comes from making connections or juxtapositions between things that do not necessarily go together. Good stories weave seperate storylines into a cohesive whole and bring them back together; the juxtaposition of stories giving new meaning.
Two colours placed next to each other can vibrate, and different colours create different vibrations. Take Barnet Newman’s “Voice of Fire”. Many Canadian’s were upset that the National gallery would spend so much money on a single painting. But this painting is a thousand blues vibrating against a thousand reds and the line in between hums like a plucked guitar string.
Is it any less creative than say Tom Thompson’s Jack Pine? One could argue it is more creative since Tom was only representing a tree, a landscape. I watched a program where the narrator worked to find the exact spot Thompson was on when he created a painting by matching the stars and horizon line. You cannot do the same think with the Newman.
I am happiest painting. It is a combination of play and prayer. It creates a state of openness and exploration that is very tough to find doing something else. Painting and really any form of creativity allows one to give voice to their experience, to share those thoughts and emotions that are impossible to give words to. (unless it’s creative writing, but that is a different process all together)
So get out, experience something wonderful today and then create something to share that experience.