Pursuing Inspiration

The ancient Greeks saw inspiration as goddesses that visited humans and moved them to create based on the specific muse. It was not only about art but as a form to express human experience and knowledge including science. There was no differentiation in terms of intellectual value between art and science. Science is and art, and art is a science. For both a constant exploration is necessary to discover new things, to enter into a new revelation that can change preconceived ideas. Interestingly in art, as it happens with science people don’t necessarily agree on the results. That is a subject worthy of exploration in the near future. For now I want to focus on the visitation of the muses and those mental blocks we artists experience.

It is not a rare that artists sometime experience a lack of inspiration. Feels like ideas don’t come or simply can’t find how to get in ‘the zone’. I believe that’s the best time for pursuing inspiration instead of just waiting for it to come. It is the best time to study your craft, understand and evaluate your technique, experiment with materials, plan for the future, and prepare yourself. That is part of developing discipline. We should work at our craft even when we are not working at it.

Read previous posts about these subjects:

The Discipline in The Discipline
Studio Time: Work on Something or Nothing
Experimentation and Discovery

I get a brain cramps when an artist says that there is no technique to work on or that ‘studying’ what they do is not necessary. What chef doesn’t want to try new spices? What dancer doesn’t want to learn new moves? Your passion guides your efforts to become better at what you do. Your passion also guides your interest in learning more about what you do. As I said several times before it has nothing to do with ‘formal institutional education’. There are libraries and there is the internet. Leonardo da Vinci was autodidact. No excuses are valid.

One way to begin is to look at previous work and compare to more recent ones. This comparison allows to evaluate your progress, what changed, and what needs change or improvement. Looking at your own work is a platform for inspiration. Bring back those old sketchbooks. Experiment with old and new materials or simply play with them. Plan and prepare yourself for the future. Visualize how would you like your next exhibit to look. Walk around the exhibit in your mind and look at the pieces you would include in it. That could ignite new ideas. Draft your ideas. Doodle what could become your next masterpiece. Don’t wait for inspiration to get to you. Pursue it!