I often study and watch many artists’ and designers’ careers. Over the years, their thoughts have resonated and shaped my own. Studying other creatives’ work, no matter the medium, feeds and inspires my design and artistry process over and over again.
An appreciation for Picasso, who I tried so hard to understand during my early days of education, eluded me when I read about his tumultuous relationships with the women in his life. Knowing aspects about his personal life made it difficult to find respect for the man professionally. It wasn’t until a visit to see a retrospective of his artwork in Paris in the late ‘90s that I was finally capable of seeing beyond his lack of skill in relationships. Almost 25 years later, I vividly remember seeing a sculpture with a boot mixed in with other seemingly cast-off and reclaimed materials, all enveloped in clay and magically formed into an uncanny-looking goat. His inventiveness with materials was boundless. I was finally able to embrace the swirl of appreciation for his creative and artistic genius from art connoisseurs.
A recent exhibit at the Frist Art Museum in Nashville brought all of these ideas home for me again. Picasso drew, painted, printed, collaged and sculpted. He used oils, house paint, metal, wood, clay, sand, coffee grounds, and whatever else suited him. In his early days, his work exhibited literal representations of his subjects, but eventually moved to the Cubist period of the entirely abstracted representations he is best known for. It was sometimes hard to decipher what he was communicating through his art, but whether he liked, loved or detested the female subjects he painted became more clear over time. Some responded with admiration while others simply didn’t get it. His work has endured because he continued to feed his creative spirit despite the praise and criticism. Regardless, his creative expression was boundless.
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). Portrait of Dora Maar, Paris, November 23, 1937. Oil on canvas, 21 3/4 x 18 1/4 in. Musée national Picasso-Paris, Pablo Picasso Acceptance in Lieu, 1979. MP166. © 2021 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau
Pablo Picasso (1881–1973). The Supplicant, December 18, 1937. Gouache on wood, 9 1/2 x 7 1/4 in. Musée national Picasso-Paris, Pablo Picasso Acceptance in Lieu, 1979. MP168. © 2020 Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York. Photo © RMN-Grand Palais (Musée national Picasso-Paris) / Mathieu Rabeau
Last month, the world lost another great artist: Chuck Close, who died at 81. First recognized in his early days of fame as a hyper-realist painter, his works were created on a massive scale. I was in awe of it at a formative time of my creative explorations in realism, learning that it wasn’t always so popular stylistically. His work gave me the permission I needed to keep at it.
Close’s creativity of course wasn’t just applied to his artistry. When he was paralyzed following a seizure in 1988, he put another kind of creativity to work. He began the process of learning to move again, remaining in a wheelchair for the rest of his career—but continuing to make art. His work evolved to a more abstract realism during this time. Said to have suffered from prosopagnosia, also known as face blindness, he painted giant portraits throughout his career in order to recognize and remember faces. Talk about innovative creativity.
Close also had issues with women later in his life, but his life’s work remains masterful to my eyes. Sadly the art world can be very fickle but fortunately artists keep creating all the same. He continued to hone his craft and the art world bought it.
Chuck Close, Big Self-Portrait, 1967–1968, 107-1/2 x 83-1/2 x 2” unframed, acrylic on canvas, Walker Art Center
Chuck Close, Self-Portrait, 2004-2005
These are just two examples of artists that have taught me how boundless creativity can be. I reference their insights quite regularly to help keep my own creative wheels turning in my career and personal work. Their words of wisdom sometimes even make it onto my bulletin board or memory bank. These are just a couple of them:
From Picasso: “If you know exactly what you’re going to do, what’s the good in doing it?” This idea helps keep me open to the boundless creativity that can come when there’s no predetermined plan. It’s a brilliant approach that feeds the creative process over and over again and helps keep it fresh.
And from Close: “Inspiration is for amateurs. I just get to work.” This is such well-founded insight! I would imagine that, when Close was bound to a wheelchair after moving about so freely most of his life, it required a lot of self-motivation to get back to work. And boy, did he ever! Whenever I’m feeling uninspired and I reference this philosophy, his wisdom always rings true. It’s also very humbling to consider what he had to overcome to continue to make art.
One of my earliest paintings from high school was an attempt at realism and cubism all at once. Not a masterpiece by any stretch but evidence of my early influences for sure.
Before learning to appreciate Picasso’s work, I adored drawing portraits. His face was undeniably magnetic with its strong, expressive features. As part of an undergraduate college project from (ahem) years ago, I referenced a B&W photo to create a colored pencil drawing while also using various color photos to get the skin tone just right.
The details of artists I’ve studied have continued to influence my work ethic. Many people often think that the creative life is for the freest of spirits and comes relatively easy. It’s true that many among us are free spirits and that we love the spirited and creative life. But to succeed long term, this same creative spirit nearly always has to be nicely balanced with the hard work and determination to maintain healthy business relationships alongside creative exploration.
A creative career gets inspiration from many places. It often starts with a spark of curiosity which then morphs into inspiration to keep going with a theme. It can come from clients, nature, a good night’s rest, or simply unknown realms of awareness. If it’s a worthwhile pursuit, artistry culminates into something that may have meandered in many directions, ultimately reaching a destination that wasn’t even fully predicted at the start. Sometimes it starts with a bang and sometimes it feels like a long slog through mud. (Fortunately I don’t mind getting messy!)
I’m so grateful and proud to have had many wonderful clients, customers and friends throughout these past 25 years and it’s not lost on me that our work together has been the reason for my business’s success. I’m also grateful for the inspiration from others living a creative life. Creativity is boundless and I sure do love to explore it!
SAVE THE DATES!
Speaking of creative exploration: the Master Artist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) that I participated in with Jeanne Brady (thanks to Tennessee Craft and Tennessee Arts Commission) was completed this past June. I continue to apply what I’ve learned from Jeanne and you can see some of this work on my Instagram page. Jeanne and I will be demonstrating the process of block printing on textiles at this fall’s Tennessee Craft Fair, held October 8-10 in Centennial Park. Come by to say hello and see some of what I’ve learned and how it’s been applied over the past year. Jeanne will be there on Friday, October 8th and I will be there the remainder of the weekend.
OTHER NEWS
Lastly, since I am creating so much textile work these days, it was getting a little confusing on Instagram. I now have two accounts. You can now find my illustration work at @christa_studiohaus_illustrator and my textile work @christa_studiohaus— I’d love to have you follow along! Cheers!