There has been almost no art action this week, not through a lack of a desire to paint, but rather due to spending my day time working in an office. Unsurprisingly, spending a large part of one's day in an uninspiring environment is not condusive to creation. The freedom and space needed to create art is effectively destroyed, not just be being in this environment but also by the regimented hours required in attendance.
It proves that making art is not simply a case of simply turning up and getting on with the work. Art needs space, more than anything. What may seem to others as an artist flitting about and not actually working, is the necessary time needed to recharge one's creative batteries, the time needed to find the moment when creation can occur. Locked into the daily grind, this process atrophies.
No truer words may have ever been spoken of the creative endeavor. "Art needs space, more than anything." Working outside of this space is sometimes a necessary avenue, and watching the process atrophy is more than unpleasant. It's horrific, especially when one allows years to pass in this atrophied state.
ReplyDeleteI believe 'the space' you refer to is about time/energy (or lack thereof), but you also speak of physical space, no? I have struggled for many years with this physical space part of the equation. Even when I have the gift of time, I do not allow myself the space. What is the problem? I must paint. And yet I don't.
I do indeed mean both time/energy and a physical space. Without a permanant physical space, I've found painting almost impossible. When the urge to paint arrives, it can easily be killed by spending half an hour trying to find materials and clear somewhere to work. I am lucky and was recently able to turn my living room into a studio. It helped enormously.
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