"A painting is music you can see, and music is a painting you can hear."– Miles Davis
Recently I wrapped a client project where I worked closely with a creative director to help visually bring to life ideas they had for branding a particular aspect of their business. In most cases brainstorming and presenting ideas within this context will follow an analytical process. Still, the actual conception of ideas you conjure up will often follow no structure, flow naturally, and appear out of nowhere.
So, that leads us to the question, where does creativity exist, and how can you access it when needed. That is difficult to answer because everyone interprets and processes the world differently. People have diverse experiences and can see things in varied colors, patterns, shapes, etc. But in general, you can break genuine creativity down in the following ways:
1. Technical skills and education in the context of the whole.
With this, there is really no compromise. You need to know the technical aspects of your craft inside and out. BUT you also need to understand how to use those technical skills and education in the whole context of what you're creating. Amateurs often mistakenly equate being technically sound with artistic creativity. All the flash and tricks mean nothing if they don't organically fit into the whole of the idea. It's like someone playing an instrument. The dynamics of how you play a music note matters, not just banging on your instrument making noise.
A visual example can be - Architecture. Any architect can design a standard structure by the book in a traditional way that is fully functional. A different architect can take the same education and technical know-how, apply it with a poetic vision of the whole, and learn to create what they imagine. That is precisely what Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava does when designing his beautiful structures worldwide, wanting them to resemble living, breathing organisms.
2. Intuition
What are you naturally drawn to, and what feels right? Kids fearlessly gravitate towards their natural inclinations and tendencies, but as we get older, we tend to get further away from that endless source of inspiration and happiness. If you can learn to create from within, ideas and inspiration flow in abundance.
3. Life experience
The world needs and wants what you have to offer. In the same way, no two leaves in all of the world are the same; your inner perspective and experience of the world around you are unique only to you. How you nurture and grow your gifts, allowing them to manifest into what you create and contribute, depends entirely on your vision, goals, and motivations. The beautiful part is no one can do it quite like you. Own that power.
4. Spirituality
Creativity operates in and out of the conscious and subconscious mind. It's a blending of facts and faith, known and unknown, instincts and intelligence. When things align in just the right way, creative work has the power to stimulate every human emotion we have that's transformative.
Elite example of putting it all together.
Pavane pour une infante défunte (Pavane for a Dead Princess)
In 1899, French composer Maurice Ravel described this song he wrote for solo piano as "an evocation of a pavane that a little princess might have danced at the Spanish court." He also stated while writing the song the image of the princess dancing (imagined in his mind) looked like she came from a Diego Velasquez painting.
So, he had the technical skills to brilliantly execute a concept he saw/heard in his head. He could translate it onto the piano and be pulled forward by images that only exist in his mind/dreams. He found inspiration in works of art from other mediums that contributed to his beautiful interpretation of what that title should sound like based on his inner world/feelings.
Pretty cool how the spirit and energy of something created over one hundred years ago can still flow through us today.
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Hope you all have a productive week. And in the wise words of Wooderson from Dazed and Confused, Just keep L.I.V.I.N.