We are all wired to create art

We experience the world around us and we respond by creating and making art.

So many of us yearn to be more creative but we might stop ourselves from creating. 

What if the beautiful idea we envisioned doesn’t translate to the page? Does that mean we’re not as brilliant and talented as we imagined? Rather than face ourselves, we stop ourselves. And we miss out on the creative experiences that await us.

Many successful artists have written words of encouragement for creatives. Here are five takeaways.

1.Use what you have.

Red Hong Yi studied architecture--a discipline that’s based on problem-solving. The author of How To Paint Without A Brush, says her architectural training made her more aware of materials and textures that she now incorporates into her creations. She makes art from everyday objects: tea bags; eggshells; flower petals and matchsticks. 

Of course, Red Hong Yi has elevated the ordinary, but the fact remains, you can use everyday items to make your art.

2. Don’t judge.

Once we make the decision to create, we need to push past fear and embarrassment and the fear of being judged and found lacking. Process over product.

Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear says it’s essentially our job to find the strange jewels buried deep within us. She urges her readers to go ahead and create whatever causes a revolution in their heart. The rest will take care of itself. 

3. Do it often.

Famed dancer and choreographer Twyla Tharp in her book, The Creative Habit writes that creativity is borne out of routine. Creativity is a habit. She also believes to be creative you have to know how to prepare to be creative. 

You can prepare to do it often by having a small set of supplies in a small case or box that makes it easy to make art not just whenever you feel like it, but rather every time you feel like it.

4. Nurture your creativity.

Author Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity offers advice to access creativity:

First, write morning pages. Three, stream of consciousness handwritten pages each morning about what you think and what you need, your dreams, hopes and irritations. Take yourself on an artist date. This is a block of time, maybe two hours, each week, that you set aside to nurture your inner artist. 

5. Feel better.

Susan Magsamen of Your Brain On Art: How The Arts Transform Us explains that “Interacting with the arts, as maker or beholder, sparks a dynamic interplay of neurotransmitters, triggering billions of changes that shape the way we feel, think and behave.” 

Art shapes how we move through and experience the world. It promotes better physical and mental health and stronger communities. 

The art that we make, reflects our individual experience of the world and connects us to each other.