Ever wonder about this thing called “creativity?” How people actually get ideas, do the work, and share it with others? Today I came across this blog post that has some spot-on daily-living advice for creative people. It’s by Austin Kleon, and it’s worth a visit.
Here are a few quotes from it:
An artist is a collector. Not a hoarder, mind you, there’s a difference: hoarders collect indiscriminately, the artist collects selectively. They only collect things that they really love.
Your job is to collect ideas. The best way to collect ideas is to read. Read, read, read, read, read. Read the newspaper. Read the weather. Read the signs on the road. Read the faces of strangers. The more you read, the more you can choose to be influenced by.
Step one, “do good work,” is incredibly hard. There are no shortcuts. Make stuff every day. Fail. Get better.
Step two, “put it where people can see it,” was really hard up until about 10 years ago. Now, it’s very simple: “put your stuff on the internet.”
So let me (and AK) know what you think about what he has to say.
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Katharine Houk ~ 
Well that was a wild post! His, not yours. But something has happened recently that may make me disagree with some of what he says. I love to share. I love(d) putting up almost every single thing I was making. But I’ve been in a state of high creativity lately, and it seems the more creative I become, the less time I have to share. I have so much I need to photograph and put up, but often I feel no one is looking. Of course I understand the concept. If you’re busy, you can’t post. If you’re not, there’s little to post. It’s a conundrum. But here’s what I think. You don’t have to show all your art. Sometimes art is just fun to DO. Even if it doesn’t turn out….I enjoy the process. Some of the most fun I’ve ever had creating produced a product I wouldn’t show to anyone….it turned out so badly. In fact, I don’t feel I’m very good at making anything in particular, but for the life of me I can’t find anything I don’t love to make. Thanks for the fun read….both of them.
Patsye,
Thanks for your thoughts. Consider the audience: the Austin post was a lecture presented to college students. You and I are on the other end of that – not necessarily eager to be noticed, but still we enjoy sharing with others. In one sense we are not “beginning” in the big wide world as the students are – yet in another sense, we are constantly beginning, each day. I think that’s why I found inspiration in Austin’s post.
You wrote: “it seems the more creative I become, the less time I have to share.” I hear you! I’ve been posting less frequently over time, but not because I’ve been idle. When I close the laptop, I have more time for the studio.
Please let us know how your shop/booth is developing.
Katherine, I LOVE your work. I’ll link to your blog in my blog roll. I don’t have a large following but every little bit helps boost your readership!
Thank you, Judith! I’ll try to get some new items posted soon.