Pierre Auguste Renoir

Self-Portrait
(1875)

"It is not enough for a painter to be a clever craftsman; he must love to 'caress' his canvas, too.

— Pierre Auguste Renoir

French Artist

1841 - 1919

For some people the process of creation is painful and difficult.  They struggle to put words on paper or paint on the canvas.  They let their fear of failure or their drive for perfection prevent them from working.  Others love to work.  They are happiest standing before a canvas or sitting before a computer.  Work comes easy for them.  Which person are you?  Do you love your work?  Do you enjoy painting?  Can you get lost in process of painting?  Do you enjoy writing?  Can you write for hours and suddenly stop and realize how fast the time has flown by?  Or do you procrastinate and look for ways to avoid working?  Do you tell yourself that you have to clean the house, wash the dishes or pay the bills instead of working on your art or writing?

Umbrellas
(1981)

Read my poem, Indecision, inspired by Renoir's painting, Umbrellas.

Charlie Parker

"Music is your own experience, your thoughts, your wisdom.  If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn.  They teach you that music has boundaries.  But, man, there's no boundary line to art."

— Charlie Parker

American Jazz Saxophonist, Composer

1920 - 1955

Our art comes from our experiences, our thoughts, our wisdom and our dreams.  If we don't live life, art won't pour out of our brushes, our pens or our voices.  We need the experiences from life to generate our art.  We need to have loved and had our hearts broken.  We need to face failure and survive.  Art comes from our imperfections, not our perfections.  If the world was perfect, we would never create.  There would be no reason to create.  We would be happy and satisfied.  Art comes from our discontent — our unhappiness, our loneliness. 

So if you have been fired from your job, write a story about the experience of being fired.  Paint a picture of the boss that fired you.  Recreate the world the way you wish it would be.  If angel of death visits those you love, find a way to turn your grief into art.  If the person to whom you gave the best twenty years of your life leaves you for a younger person, create a painting of your feelings.  Anything that happens to you is fodder for your creativity.  Absorb the experience and re-imagine it happening to one of your characters.  Did you have an unhappy childhood?  Alter the past by changing the story.  Your life is the fuel for your art.  So live life to the fullest.

Take a few minutes and listen to Charlie Parker and be inspired.

Weldon Kees

"Modern society pushes people in the groove.  Although I was always interested in music and painting as well as poetry, at first I thought I had to concentrate on writing. . . one thing only.  But then the urge to paint was so strong I just went ahead and started oils.  And I didn't give up my writing — one did not exclude the other."

Weldon Kees

American Poet, Painter, Composer, Short Story Writer

1914 - 1955

As a creative leader, do you limit you creative expression to one type of art?  The common myth is that people can only do one thing.  Write poetry?  Paint portraits?  Compose music?  Write novels?  The myth is that we should focus on only one form of expression; otherwise, we will dilute our creativity not not do anything well.  We have become a society of specialists.  Painters should not write.  Writers should not play a musical instrument.  Actors should not write.

Kees believed that he could both paint and write.  "He said, "Shifting from one to the other I don't get into periods of absolute sterility that are often experienced by writers who just write, or painters who just paint."

Are you suffering from writer's block?  Pick up a paint brush and explore the world of color. Are you bored with painting?  Pick up a pen and write about your feelings.  Flipping back and forth between various art forms will keep you and your ideas fresh.

Here is a poem by Weldon Kees.

The Upstairs Room

It must have been in March the rug wore through.

Now the day passes and I stare

At warped pine boards my father's father nailed,

At the twisted grain.  Exposed, where emptiness allows,

Are the wormholes of eighty years; four generations' shoes

Stumble and scrape and fall

To the floor my father stained,

The new blood streaming from his head.  The drift

Of autumn fires and a century's cigars, that gun's

Magnanimous and brutal smoke, endure.

In March the rug was ragged as the past.  The thread

Rots like the lives we fasten on.  Now it is August,

And the floor is blank, worn smooth,

And, for my life, imperishable.

The Power of Words

Do you believe in the power of words to change people?  Watch this.

Rabindranath Tagore

"Faith is the bird that feels the light and sings when the dawn is still dark."

— Rabindranath Tagore

Bengali Poet, Novelist, Musician, Painter, Playwright

1861 - 1941

Do you believe in your artistic talent?  Do you have faith in your creativity?  Do you let your creative light shine or do you hide it under a bushel basket and refuse to share it with the world?  Creative leaders need to have the faith that they are on the right path.  Even in those darkest hours before the dawn, you need to understand the sun will rise again — that your creative work is important.  Don't give up on yourself.  Don't give up on the work you do.  You are unique and special.  No one else can create the paintings, the poems or the novels that you can create.  If you don't use your creative gift to produce art, the world will have lost much.  So pick up your pen and write.  Pick up your brush and paint.  Pick up your guitar and sing.

Here is a poem by Tagore:

My Song

by Rabindranath Tagore

This song of mine will wind its music around you,

my child, like the fond arms of love.

The song of mine will touch your forehead

like a kiss of blessing.

When you are alone it will sit by your side and

whisper in your ear, when you are in the crowd

it will fence you about with aloofness.

My song will be like a pair of wings to your dreams,

it will transport your heart to the verge of the unknown.

It will be like the faithful star overhead

when dark night is over your road.

My song will sit in the pupils of your eyes,

and will carry your sight into the heart of things.

And when my voice is silenced in death,

my song will speak in your living heart.

David Campbell

"Discipline is remembering what you want."

— David Campbell

Creative leaders sometimes struggle with discipline.  They procrastinate.  They know they should pick up the pen and write or pick up the paint brush and paint, but they find excuses.  This quote hits the nail on the head.  If you are procrastinating, remember what you want.  What is your dream?  What is it you want to accomplish?  Why are you here?  Focus on your goals and you will have the discipline to do what you need to do.

Henry David Thoreau

"The world is but a canvas to the imagination."

— Henry David Thoreau

1817 - 1862

What we create in the world and how we live begins with our imagination.  We can create the life we want to live by simply applying our creativity.  So pick up your paint brush and paint the beauty of your life.  Pick up your pen and write the story of your life.  Your mind is fertile soil for your imagination.