Chapter 3 of potential hindrances to our creative development: **00III: You need to know the rules before you break them** I hesitate to corral this chapter as I am very aware of so much of its extensive complexity that I have left untouched. It’s pretty easy to get fogged in with the specifics so I’m going to… Continue reading →

As I was sweeping up notes to wind up this chapter, it occurred to me that all I’ve been saying may provoke a common debate about whether A) the artist as the individual is at the centre of everything or B) the artist is a part of a collaborative system of information and influence. I like… Continue reading →

I ended the last article with a sense of possible potential behind breaking or forgetting the rules in a creative essence development context. Quite often, the surrender of rules gives the impression of ‘anything goes’ and this can be thrilling and also really get some hackles up. It tends to raise a heavy defensive position… Continue reading →

00III of potential hindrances to our creative development continued… Up to this point, I’ve been skimming some potential motivation behind the attitude that we need to know the rules before we break them. We’ve considered the value of rules as helpful contributors in the form of technical skills/craft and the limitations of rules as attempts to locate our creative… Continue reading →

I just spent the last entry reaching for a possible broad understanding as to why some authorities or instructors are hell-bent on us following their rules (obviously, individual people have unique and complex reasons for trying to control other people or outcomes). I also discussed how adhering to someone else’s methods and tastes may have… Continue reading →

I just left off exploring how being influenced to ask first might be a subtle reason we first look to others to show us how to be creative. That isn’t to say it’s a limiting choice to look to others for guidance or to dabble in some established ideas or methods and I’m not referring… Continue reading →

In the last post we were searching for a way to think about how rules connect to creativity. We considered rules as components of a structure that gives shape to the abstract impulse that needs to be expressed or experienced in the physical world. That is to say, if I’m a painter, I may consider… Continue reading →

00III of potential hindrances to our creative development continued… You may have noticed that I’ve been stalled out on this chapter for a while. It’s an umbrella assumption that has a way of instigating exponential second guessing. It’s the one that comes charging at me in my  ‘teacher’ role the most. There is this foremost expectation to learn ‘proper’ techniques first…. Continue reading →

Chapter 3 of potential hindrances to our creative development **00III: You need to know the rules before you break them** What would you think if I told you that in order to learn to drive a car, you must first master riding a horse then proficiently drive a horse and buggy, next a Model-T and continue on… Continue reading →

Here’s the re-cap for the last five posts that offered several lenses to how creative expression may be headlocked by the idea that some of us have the creative spark and some of us don’t. I’ve attempted to derail some suggestions that may have steered us to the conclusion that we are spark disabled: We’re not… Continue reading →