FIVE STAGES OF CREATION
There is no doubt that the many stages of creation can be and are different with every artist. For me, there seems to be five stages.
INSPIRATION. Sometimes I will hang-on to an idea for months or years before the idea is revisited. One example is my sculpture, “Corvus”. I saw a huge, black raven eating a small, dead “something” in the road. I loved the way it was pulling at the carcass trying to yank away a tiny piece of meat. I thought, “what a cool sculpture that would make”. That idea remained tucked away in the recesses of my brain, waiting for that certain inspiration, the right time, the right place, and the right medium where it all could be nicely applied. Then, no less than 10 years later, I saw a new sculptural technique by Clyde Oishi that used common electrical wire and solder. I couldn’t wait to try it out on something. I practiced the technique by making a simple feather and I loved the look. Then it hit me, the raven! The 10-year-old “idea” met the proper “medium” as a vehicle and the “inspiration” was born.
THROES. When I write about art, I often use the term “throes,” meaning “struggling with great effort.” This stage of creation is very vulnerable and can be prone to failure. Here I take the mental “idea” that has been spiritually “inspired” and attempt to cross dimensional boundaries to create a tangible object. Sounds hard … and it is! This is the point that I, in beginning a sculpture, am nearly frantic. As Michelangelo said, “ The sculptor’s hand can only break the spell to free the figures slumbering in the stone.” In that first hour of “breaking the spell,” I think my pants could literally be on fire, and I wouldn’t even notice.
DEVELOPMENT. IF — and that is a BIG “IF” — my creation makes it to this stage, I can relax a bit… I sit next to it and rotate the piece in an attempt to resolve any “dead” angles, or crudely gesture any shapes that “work” while I lop-off those that don’t. It is at this development stage that my inspiration either burns white hot, or fizzles like a spent sparkler. Oddly enough, I don’t get depressed or doubt my abilities should it fizzle. I am happy that I tried and I know that at any given point, the leaps from “idea” to “inspiration” to “object” might not always work out. But when they do, it is a good thing and it is on to the next stage in the creation process.
COMMITMENT. OK, now this is when it starts to get difficult for me. The original “idea” managed to survive the various stages of creation that delivered it to this phase, and now sits propped up right in front of me. In its gestured and often crudely strong shapes, I rotate it and decide if it looks good from every angle. I present it to my peers and loved ones and get their opinions and reviews. The reason this is such a critical point for me is that it is here that I am ventilated. I got it here; and it looks pretty good. Do I want to spend the “who knows how many hours it will take” to finish this piece? If it happens to be a clay piece, that means laborious processes in making the mold. This is when I wish I had an apprentice to “take it from here” because, unfortunately, I am racking up quite a collection of my “ventilated,” unfinished pieces.
REFINEMENT. Those precious few pieces that make it all the way to the completion stage are to me the purest expression of an inspired idea that pushed its way through the throes of creativity, managed to work through development, which gave way to commitment, refinement, and completion. Once I resolve to refine a piece, my patience becomes boundless and it is a time for relaxation and contemplation. If a feather, lock of hair, or a fold of material needs 10 minutes or a half hour, I am there and good for it. At this point I find it best to be well rested as it is here that those last minute refinements can push a piece of artwork from satisfactory to exceptional.
HOW MUCH REFINEMENT? Once an artist has perfected the ability and mastery of a medium enough to achieve realism, “realism” should no longer be the goal. If an artist is blessed with a long life and career, there is often a shift from “pushing the medium” or “realism” to a bold and more expressionistic stroke. I, in my sculpture, know that I can be realistic and detailed, but am becoming less interested in the “refinement” stage and now lean towards a slightly refined “development” stage. The strength of my sculptures is more often in the gesture and less in the surface detail. Although I am confident and comfortable with surface details I will see if, in the coming years, I can push myself towards that goal of a bolder expression.
There was, is, and will always be great sculptors and artists. The world does not need my art as much as I need to do my art. For me, to create a sculpture is to caress, cajole, manipulate and even spank it thru all these stages of creation. And there is no better feeling than to put a completed sculpture on a pedestal and just “let it be” in my living space and watch it as the changing light moves across all those lines and shapes that I was blessed to be able to move through all the Stages of Creation.
Hey ! BIG THANX for all the “Red Flags” suggestions … looks like I will be busy cartooning for quite a while. I have actually lived this one ! …