Mike Williams, an established Australian poet and writer spent some time with me at my art studio last summer. We shared ideas about creativity and  artistic cycles and how to keep the energy alive. Mike's a quietly spoken bloke who has an effortless writing style and the ability to tell a story drawn from a life of rich experiences. Mike commented that as he gets older his writing gets deeper and more enjoyable.

I have been reading some interesting research about the subject of creativity in  'Late Bloomers' and there seems to be two schools of thought. One thought is that artists tend to do their best work early on in their careers. Picasso's early work, paintings produced in his 20's, still demand the highest prices even today, whilst on the other hand, Cézanne reached his artistic excellence in his mid-sixties. I have been thinking about how my own creativity has manifested during my later years and how it has become a driving force in my life. I believe creativity is rooted in one’s own belief systems; the influence of society and family conditioning can delay or hide latent talent. So far the unfolding of my creative journey has been rooted in breaking old and limiting thinking.

To help me understand this process I have been reading an excellent book titled 'Old Masters and Young Geniuses; The Two Life Cycles of Artistic Creativity' by David Galenson. The book offers the idea that there are two very different types of artist; a 'conceptualist', who has a very clear idea where they want to go and how they will execute the idea. The other is an 'experimentalist', the intuitive artist that allows a spark, an inspiration to reveal itself in the painting.

I think that as I get older and gain more experience as an artist, I will develop both set of skills which, I hope, will strengthen my work. Yet my very first paintings remain a reference point where the enthusiastic journey into the image is always a source to draw strength from.  I believe that those paintings came from an inner part of me unaffected by anyone or anything and they are very precious. return to home page