by Marty Coleman | Oct 2, 2012 | Creativity - 2009-2013 |
Creativity Within
I come across a lot of people who, when I say I am an artist, say in response, ‘Oh, I am SO not creative.’ My usual response is ‘You are probably more creative than you realize.’ But in truth often times I am thinking, ‘Yea, that is probably true.’ Why would I think that? Because anyone who says they aren’t creative obviously thinks they aren’t. And guess what? Those who say they aren’t something very seldom become it.
The Grand Mystery Illusion
The other reason people say it is because it is they think it is something you are born with, something ingrained, mysterious. Not something you can learn. But that is not true, you can learn how to be creative. You just can’t learn it from someone else very easily. You have to learn it and practice it with yourself. So, if that is the case, how can you become creative when you aren’t creative enough to teach yourself.
Talking to Yourself
The key is in talking to yourself. The talk is not of the ‘do this, do that’ variety. it is of the ‘hmmm, I wonder what would happen if’ variety. It is the voice of fearlessness, the voice of curiosity and the voice of joy. If you are willing to talk to yourself, encouraging yourself to try something, something a bit off the wall perhaps, you have a way to bridge that gap.
But, this is a case where you really do need to take your own advice and say, ‘OK, I’ll try it.’
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Drawing by Marty Coleman. It is the second drawn interpretation of this quote. You can see the first drawing, from 2009, here.
Quote by Arthur Koestler
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 28, 2012 | Texas, Travel, Travel Napkins |
I went to Dallas, Texas for a few days this week to visit my daughter. I did this drawing while at Starbucks one morning.
Haley Being Drawn
I hung out at Starbucks yesterday morning and did a drawing of a woman having what seemed to be a mentoring time with someone who might have been a family friend, maybe a past professor, who was helping her talk through career ideas. I drew her as they talked. She stayed on to work after the gentleman left. After I showed her the drawing a guy came up behind me and said how good the drawing was, how beautiful she was and how the drawing didn’t really do her justice. He went on about her beauty and the drawing and I had a feeling the double attention was making her uncomfortable. Knowing a guy had been drawing her was probably awkward enough, but another guy coming along and focusing on her looks as well was a bit too much. I gave her my card, told her where she could find the drawing later and went on my way. As I went outside, the guy who had said something about the drawing came up to me and said ‘we have the same taste in women.’ I simply said, ‘She is beautiful.’ and went on my way.
Paying Attention
It bothered me though that he would say that. It’s like my deeper appreciation of her was sullied by his shallow response. Then again, his comment wasn’t offensive really, or tacky, trashy or rude. It was just a pretty average male comment. But it bugged me nonetheless. I sat down at that table because I saw her there and was hopeful she would be there long enough to draw her. She was interacting with someone so she had her head up and I wanted to take advantage of that instead of another person who might have been looking down and a book or computer. I also was hopeful I would have time to get the person she was talking to into the drawing, which I did, just barely. And yes, I thought she was beautiful and I wanted to draw her because she was attractive and well manicured in hair, makeup and dress.
How I See
So, why did that guy bother me? Were the two of us that different? Is the fact that I used my time viewing of her by doing a drawing better than the other guy just staring and doing nothing? In the end, what I love about drawing or photographing people vs just staring blankly at surface ‘beauty’ is that in my creative act I feel I am discovering the person to a much deeper degree. I am seeing the outer shell, true. But I am also investigating, paying attention to the tones, shapes, colors, expressions, style, body language, feelings, etc. I am interpreting and exploring who the person is and how I see them. I am making something of the encounter. Something that says more than just ‘she’s pretty’.
At least that is how I see it. What do you think? Do you think I am any different than that other guy?
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Drawing by Marty Coleman at Starbucks on Greenville in Dallas, Texas
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 25, 2012 | Anonymous |
Happy Home, Unhappy Home
This is sometimes why home isn’t always the happiest place in the world. We go there to let off steam, to let pretenses and expectations fall. It’s where we can be ourselves. It is where we find out whether that self is really all that nice or not.
But what happens when you can’t be yourself at home? What if you have to hide some secret that would ruin your life if it got out? What if you can’t behave naturally due to another person in the home being judgmental or abusive or hurtful? It seems that when you are hiding, protecting yourself or fearful, that anxiety is going to come out somehow. Internalized it might become illness, addiction, self-loathing. Externalized it might become abusive, meanness or confusion. Whatever it becomes it will likely show itself in the home, and it won’t be pretty.
Are you able to be yourself at home?
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Anonymous
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 21, 2012 | Apelles, Judgment - 2013 |
Your Area of Expertise
What do we know? And what do we know we don’t know? That is key to successful (yes, successful) judgment. The problem is we think we know more than we know. Do I know shoes? I am not a shoe maker so I can’t judge the excellence of shoes in a technical sense. However, I am a long time shoe wearer and a shoe looker so I feel competent to judge in those areas. The problem is that can easily spill over into judging the technical construction of shoes, of which I know nothing. Obviously, if my shoes fall apart or I have some shoe needle still sticking out of the sole I can judge the making of that pair of shoes as being faulty. But that doesn’t mean I actually know what goes into making an excellent pair of shoes. But I sure can sound like I know if I get going.
Painting the world with Judgment
So, I don’t like this one particular pair of shoes. That then can translate into recommending to a runner I coach that they avoid that brand. All of a sudden I have taken a specific issue with one specific pair of shoes and painted an entire company with that judgment. That is how it goes in many things, isn’t it. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? Judgment can’t, and shouldn’t, be avoided. But it should be implemented when you have knowledge, not when you are ignorant. If I hear enough stories of bad shoes coming from this one company then perhaps I have some reason to judge the company. but to just have a single isolated pair? Not such a good reason to judge anything bigger than that pair of shoes.
Paying Attention
One of the reasons I love going to museums is so that I keep up with my expertise. I can’t very well judge my own artwork, or others, if I am not practiced at viewing and exploring art work out in the world. If I want to be a helpful, competent judge for a fellow artist on whether a certain piece is up to snuff or not, don’t I have to have a good foundation AND a current, fresh understanding of art in the world? Otherwise what can I really offer?
Hip as Hip Can Be
It would be as if a man had never moved beyond his 1970s clothing style. Would you trust him to advise or help in judging your fashion choices? Probably not.
Or a woman who has never done her own make up and hair beyond the 80s style she used in High School and then felt competent to judge her friends attempt at contemporary hair or make up circa 2012. Would she be a trusted advisor and judge? No, she wouldn’t be.
Judgment requires both foundational knowledge and contemporary knowledge to be trustworthy.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Apelles, 4th Century BCE, Greek painter
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by Marty Coleman | Sep 20, 2012 | Judgment - 2013 |
Raising Kids and Others
One of the big elements of raising healthy kids and helping others grow up into adulthood is to help them understand the true nature of judgment. Kids learn about judgment early on. After all, school is actually more about judgment and placing people in slots of acceptability than it is about formal education.
Consider the Source
I mentioned a number of months ago that my ex-father in law, Dwight Johnson, passed away. I went to the memorial service and spoke briefly at the reception about what he meant to me. One of my favorite lines he used to say was, ‘I just consider the source.’ He was usually referring to me having said some sarcastic remark at his expense. It was his way of saying, ‘Marty’s judgment says way more about him than it does about me so I don’t worry about it.’ He was a wise man.
Are You Vulnerable?
I have a friend who is very, very modest. She is working through why that is, and basically it comes down to feeling vulnerable. Now, my definition of vulnerable is about being at a high risk of something bad happening. She feels that the bad thing that might happen is that someone might say something negative about her body. And the truth is, there is that risk. She is sensitive and it hurts when it happens, whether the person is a jerk commenting on her appearance or figure, or an innocent family member who isn’t even old enough to know how to hurt someone on purpose saying something funny in her bedroom as she changes into her work clothes. So, how does she overcome that? I would tell her to contemplate the napkin quote. Is the comment exposing something about the person saying it, not the person it is directed to? The first person can be blown off as a jerk, easy enough. The second person’s comment, while not being blown off in the same way, can be at least understood as not being purposely hurtful. And think about it, aren’t most judgments coming from one or the other, either a jerk meaning harm or an innocent meaning no harm? If that is the case, then the only ones you really need to worry about are the judgments in between.
The Judgments in Between
What judgments are in between? What judgments are left? Maybe ones you can contemplate and decide for yourself if you agree with them. For example, someone says, ‘That hairstyle makes your face look long.’ Consider it. Does it? Do you mind that it does? Do you see something you hadn’t realized before and maybe agree with? No, you don’t? Then easy enough, you disregard the judgment/comment and go on your way. You do agree? Then easy enough, next time you change your hairstyle you consider styles that don’t make your face look long. In other words, it really becomes your own judgment, your own observation. It’s no longer seen as something hurtful or mean or anything like that. It’s just an observation, neutral in judgment, that you can consider as if it were your own observation.
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Drawing and commentary by Marty Coleman
Quote by Anonymous
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