John O'Hara

"They say great themes make great novels, but what these young writers don't understand is that there is no greater theme than men and women."

— John O'Hara

American Novelist

1905 - 1970

I just finished Andrea, a short novel, by John O'Hara.  It is the tragic story of a 20 year love affair between a man and a woman.  I also recently finished the Good Earth by Pearl Buck.  The key relationship in the novel is between a man and his wife — a relationship the man did not appreciate as much as he should have.

The best stories are about relationships.  And the best of the best stories are about the relationships between men and women.  What makes those relationships work?  Why do the relationships fail?  Think about your own life.  What relationships are the most important to you?  What relationships are you exploring in your writing?  What relationships are you exploring in your paintings?  

Wallace Stevens

"A poet looks at the world as a man looks at a woman."

— Wallace Stevens

American Poet

1879 - 1955

What a powerful statement of love and lust!  Do you lust after your creative expression?  Do you lust after the physical world?  For some creativity is a form of sexual expression.  Do you have love in your heart when you create?  Do you make love to the infinite when you paint, or write, or dance?  Are you inspired by the beauty surrounding you?  Does your creativity give birth to your greatest desires?  Are you passionate about the work you do?  Do you dance with your muses and sing songs of love and lust?

Do you look at peaches with lust and love?  Here is a poem by Wallace Stevens.

A Dish of Peaches in Russia

by Wallace Stevens

With my whole body I taste these peaches,

I touch them and smell them.  Who speaks?

I absorb them as the Angevine

Absorbs Anjou.  I see them as a lover sees,

As a young lover sees the first buds of spring

And as the black Spaniard plays his guitar.

Who speaks?  But it must be that I,

That animal, that Russian, that exile, from whom

The bells of the chapel pullulate sounds at

Heart.  The peaches are large and round,

Ah! and red; and they have peach fuzz, ah!

They are full of juice and the skin is soft.

They are full of the colors of my village

And of fair weather, summer, dew, peace.

George Bellows

"The ideal artist is he who knows everything, feels everything, experiences everything, and retains his experience in a spirit of wonder and feeds upon it with creative lust."

— George Bellows

American Painter

1882 - 1925

Dempsey and Firpo
(1924)

Do you experience the world in a spirit of wonder?  Are you surprised by the things that happen or have you become cynical and negative?  A creative leader must be like a young child soaking up life and enjoying every moment of it.  Everything that happens to us — good, bad and indifferent — is fuel for our creative lust.  I don't believe artists and writers experience the world at a deeper level then other people.  It's more they have learned to use that experience to feed their creativity.

Creativity is both sexual and sensuous.  When we are painting and writing, we have a deep desire to create, to give birth.  We can feel the lust in our loins, the joy in our hearts.  How powerful is your desire to create?  Can you feel it deep within your body?  Does every part of you tingle with excitement?  Can you taste the lips of your lover?  

Jackson Pollack

"Every good artist paints what he is."

— Jackson Pollock

American Artist

1912 - 1956

Painters and writers are attracted to the subjects they are supposed to paint and write about.  Are there certain themes that run through your work?  Do you paint the same type of picture over and over?  I paint, draw and sculpt lots of masks and it does not matter what medium I  am working in.  In my poetry you will find the themes of God, death and sex.  Pretty boring, right.  Every writer talks about God, death and sex, but what makes us unique is our approach to the subject.  I have never met a writer who talks about God in the way that I do.