Going with the flow (a rant)
by Owen Garratt | The Art of Being an Artist
Get Your FREE eBook!
You hear it all the time. People who want to be seen as free-spirits, or open minded or “spontaneous” describe themselves as going with the flow. No plans. No worries. No imposed structure. “Just whatever comes my way…”
Spontaneity is the single most overrated, misunderstood and poisonous quality possible, yet 99% of artists consider it as necessary and important.
Sure it makes sense at first glance. Let’s start by looking at the opposite: what connotations do we get when we think of someone who’s NOT spontaneous? Imprisoned, inhibited, limited, soul-less.
Who wants that?
Everyone has the image of the artist feeding off of their inspiration, living uninhibited, ecstatic with freedom and vitality, and creating mind-blowing and significant artwork that resonates will all.
It’s just an illusion…and a myth.
Spontaneity is not creativity. Creativity is the act of solving problems. Period.
Check out The Fast Start Art Marketing Primer!
Get Yourself The Fast Start!
Who We Are
Get Your FREE eBook!
Check out the Fast Start Art Marketing Primer!
“Just a note to say thanks to Owen for his courses. It has already changed my whole concept of marketing my work and makes me actually feel in control of my future. Thanks Owen!”
Tony Alderman
Durham, NC
“I’ve gotten great value out of this course. It really speaks to the artist in a no B.S. way that clears the mental clutter, and gets you to pay attention to what you really need to get the ball rolling.”
Fay Wyles
San Clemente, CA
“It was light-hearted, it had charm and humour and kept me engaged the whole time! I loved it!”
Suzi Campbell
Melbourne, Australia
“The first or second lesson got my money back in multiples already. So brilliant…you shook me!”
Marta Spendowska
Domino, OK
“Owen’s course literally saved me from a slippery path that I would probably have never recovered from.”
Gregg Arnold
Kingman, AZ
That makes perfect sense… the seed of a new idea might appear in spontaneity, But in order for that tiny seed of an idea to grow and evolve into something meaningful and worth pursuing and creating, it takes strict diligence, work, research and a whole lot of effort to turn it into that. Most folks may not see or recognize this resulting Thing as having been borne out of all that work and effort and perseverance, they only see the end result and think it just… happened. Kind of like success.
And I encourage artists to share that journey of diligence, work, research, and effort into their stories about themselves, and their art! The clients NEED to understand exactly what has gone into the creation of each piece…
I could not agree more with you. The artistic choices I make while I work are grounded in knowledge and experience as they”flow”out of me!