Let’s discuss the last quote of the week….

“I don’t believe in total freedom for the artist. Left on his own, free to do anything he likes, the artist ends up doing nothing at all. If there’s one thing that’s dangerous for an artist, it’s precisely this question of total freedom, waiting for inspiration and all the rest of it.”          ~Federico Fellini

Hmmm…ya know I think I completely agree with this idea. 

While artists , myself included, should have total “artistic” freedom, we should not necessarily be given “total” freedom.  It does tend to be true that if left, literally, to our devices, artists will become so flaky and internalized with our “creative muse” that we will eventually end up creating nothing.  Oh…we may start a million new pieces….but the muse will leave as quickly as she comes and that will be the end of that.  Oh and when she returns it will be with a brand new idea that needs our immediate attention….and so the previous unfinished piece shall have to wait until our muse is in the mood to finish it, which of course will be never.  Muses NEVER give us inspiration for the same piece more than once…it’s not their job.   They come. They inspire. They leave. 

Those of us who are able to reign in our creative ADHD riddled muses and conform to a schedule and deadlines of some sort or other are the lucky ones.  The rest, and sometimes the most creative, may find themselves in desperate need of some time management skills and an intense study on discipline. 

Sometimes I think that the most ingenious artists are the ones who can force themselves, if necessary, to finish a piece to the end without “Charlie Brown”-ing around.  Of course there are always going to be those “epic” works that may take us sometimes years to complete, but that is not what I mean.  The art that comes in steady streams and will make up the majority of a collection.  That’s the work I’m talking about.  The work that can mean the difference between paying the rent or dodging the landlord for another month.  The stuff that really matters.  And because it matters financially, it can be sometimes be some of our best work as well. 

You can save your fits of “Sybil” for those once in a lifetime pieces.  The ones that keep you up at night and alone in your own world during the day.  Those are the ones that are great. 

But we cannot create those everyday…so get back to work and stop procrastinating ….till next week when you yet again will have an excuse to be here rather than creating something beautiful.

Lori B.