Responses to correspondence with the poet/collagist Maureen Alsop, PhD
It would be nice in a way to be given a template of all these “what to dos” to step by step one’s way, though in my experience sometimes there seemed to be random joys rather than calculated outcomes… the effort and stick-to-itiveness is much more powerful than any plan.
Hi Maureen, Thank you for these questions! I lay out a 10 step plan in the link below. But yes, ‘the effort and stick-to-itiveness’ is the main ingredient but this requires relentless commitment. According to my way of thinking for anyone seriously intending to pursue a creative life, a life in the arts, the fastest way to get there is to make a ‘burn the boats’ commitment to it as early as possible. This assumes that you are inwardly very clear that this is your path in life and nothing else will satisfy you and you are willing to do whatever it takes to get to your goal. Is there fear and doubt? Yes. Is there sacrifice and deprivation? Yes. Is there any guarantee of success? No. So why do it? You do it because you are not going to do anything else. Once that is settled, then all of your attention can be put on solving the problem, the problem of being an artist.
The upside is you become internally settled and one-pointed, you have overcome internal division and thus eliminated cognitive dissonance and the resistance that goes with it. This allows you to focus your energy and move in one direction instead of taking two steps this way then two steps that way then three steps backwards. That is not a journey. The journey starts when you pick a direction and start walking and don’t look back. That seems scary but it is also exhilarating and freeing even though you are walking toward a destination as yet hidden and unknown except by rumors and reports from other travelers. Every creative journey is an inner journey and unique in how it unfolds. There will be impossible mazes, scary monsters, insurmountable obstacles, disciplines that must be developed, skills that must be honed, mistakes and shortcomings that must be learned from, gifts from the gods, help from unlikely places, insights, epiphanies and subtle realizations and above all, the eventual wisdom and confidence. All the makings of a great story and the grist for a lifetime of works.
https://touchonian.substack.com/p/developing-your-creative-lifestyle
I used to wonder too about “holding standards” to me that was like waiting to die. If I waited too long I would lose momentum. Now I have a slightly different vision/understanding, certainly no regrets, but more patience. I also have more hesitations.
Yes, I mentioned this issue in https://touchonian.substack.com/p/making-art-that-sells-vs-art-that
Where I said:
“My own tendency early on – mostly from impatience - was to work on a piece of art up to the point that I could see where it was going and to answer my question but not bother to finish it as a whole statement. After exhibiting a few things in group shows I decided that it would be to my benefit to be more finished with the works and polish things off with the idea of exhibition. This meant taking into account the public space, unknown viewers and hence possible buyers. I needed the work to be acceptable as ‘professional’ work. So, I started working that way; that everything I did needed to take professional standards into account. The standards in visual art are very flexible but it boils down to how art functions in an exhibition environment.”
Depending on your medium; painting, collage, music, poetry, writing, etc. the sense of ‘Standards’ can be very high and even become stifling. Stifling yourself, your creativity, is definitely NOT the right approach to a standard.
HOWEVER, striving toward professionalism, I believe, is a good thing and I suppose those are standards to be held. But those standards do not need to be perceived as working at standards you think are the equals of the greatest masters of all time. There is no reason for any of us as creatives to make works that meet other peoples’ standards or institutional/academic standards.
We, the creatives of any generation, ARE the standard. We set the standards among ourselves and we are the standard bearers of our generation. Everyone else just has to deal with whatever we decide.
It is easy for artists to be intimidated by the established standards because those standards are fabricated, established and promoted with institutional power by those who surround the creatives not the creatives themselves. This includes critics, publishers, curators, collectors, dealers, historians etc. who are trying to make their own names in history through promoting certain small numbers of creators who have a ‘glow’ around them which they hope to share in. This is why an artist like Pablo Picasso, over the last 100 years has, I believe, the most library shelf feet of published books about him of any artist in history. This is so the authors can stand in his light that all of them together have created around him. It is almost comical in a certain way.
I talk about this under one of my pen names in preposterously long sentences in the 1994 article ‘Avante Garde?’ (1994) – Ceciliano Touchionini - https://postdogmatist.com/avante-garde-1994-ceciliano-touchionini/
So, this is to say that you or I or any of the rest of us creatives are the ones who, through our work, propose what the standards are or should be. If we are looking to our predecessors from past generations, it is up to each of us in the present to give the thumbs up or thumbs down on their work. We might develop a consensus among ourselves that other less celebrated creators from the past are more relevant to our times than the ones proposed by the above-mentioned cadre. The creative community as it exists at any given moment IS the standard. I think artists need to keep that in mind when they are working. We call the shots. We are dreaming up the future, that is our job. Everyone else is mulling over the past that’s their job.
How has your outlook and energy changed over time as an artist?
I would say that over the years of ongoing activity an artist will undoubtedly broaden one’s outlook which is extended by discovering and appreciating the views of the other artists one associates with. One’s energy becomes more focused and deployed more efficiently over time. Certainly this is the case for myself.
How did you answer all your questions as you grew?
I believe I answered this question here: https://touchonian.substack.com/p/answers-are-everywhere-it-is-a-good
You mention too the importance for creating time, like a 9-5 scenario for the work. Not everyone can do that which means losing time with others. Friendships and mentorships are important along the way, but how does one balance the necessary isolation?
The 9-5 scenario is mostly to encourage others around us to accept that we are at work. It is just mimicking the accepted work hours. It is totally arbitrary for the artist. You can, of course, work any hours you like that suit your own needs. If you study up on the work habits of a lot of creatives some of them only work 3-4 hours a day every day and the rest of the time is for everything else. That seems like a short day, but once established they are depending on Rule no.0012 - Things Accumulate.
Another way some artists fulfill their various other obligations is to ‘steal time’ so to speak which is that quiet time when the world is not placing demands on you, like keeping ‘baker’s hours’ getting up at 3:30am or 4:00am and working till 8:00am – 9:00am or at night 9:00pm to 12:00am or 1:00am. During those hours, even with a busy life, one can work in the quiet hours of the day. I have done that many different times in the past.
What if you find you are not in a community of like-minded creators? That is a strategy in itself… important beyond the arts!
Yes, you are right. I discuss this in this article: https://touchonian.substack.com/p/finding-your-creative-voice
“There is a lot to discover and to sort through in the art world or world of literature or music. Each is its own territory with its own tribes and villages, traditions, customs and languages. Among them there is a home for any of us. Once we find our ‘people’ so to speak, then we will immerse ourselves in those groups and gradually figure out the subtleties of it. In this way, we become a traveler through the realms or a hunter/gatherer looking for what will nourish our mind and creative spirit. In that process we find our voice and our community.”
With the internet we currently have the great privilege of finding our community in real time on an international scale. Once found, we can then share and participate in the ongoing conversation of that group of creatives with whom our work resonates. Through these associations we will often end up having opportunities to have our work seen in the context of this community through published anthologies, exhibitions, projects, etc. which can be very rewarding and inspiring. The more one participates and develops relationships with the other artists, the more of a core figure we gradually become within our chosen groups. What greater honor can there be than to be accepted among one’s own chosen peers?
You need to visit Maureen Alsop’s website
Also visit: https://kolajmagazine.com/artistdirectory/maureen-alsop
addendum:
If you think of any more good questions about creative lifestyle I would love to hear them. It is hard for me to dream up problems that other creative people are thinking about or dealing with. But the chances are I have dealt with or pondered them at some point and figured out some solution, strategy or way of thinking that worked for me.
In the last month or two I decided to see who else is out there talking about this problem of being an artist and almost all of what I am coming across are writings by people who are not 'in the trenches' visual artists. It usually seems to be writers or therapists. So, I want to provide that 'in the trenches', get your hands dirty and your boots muddy angle. The sitting in front of a canvas for hours or at a collage table gluing paper detritus together perspective while your kids are running around and the rent needs to be paid and you're still trying to figure out if you should buy a pound of hamburger or a tube of paint.
It took me till just a couple of years ago for me to realize that the hardest realization to come to as a younger artist is making your creative life into a conscious, committed lifestyle choice even though that is what I have been figuring out my entire adult life. But I feel like I was missing the conceptual clarity to do this in a conscious, intentional way. It just never crystalized in my head as a foundational strategy for some reason. So that is why I am trying to codify it in a way that other artists can use. I spent many years just trying to fit my personal creative life into the rest of my life. Now I am thinking of it as the core principle around which the rest of one's life must be prioritized and structured. Maybe I am just a slow learner or something. After about another year or so of trying to cover all of the bases then I will try to figure out how to get these articles cleaned up, edited properly and published by somebody so it gets wide circulation. (as opposed to my typical down and dirty self-publishing approach)
I am trying to talk to my 25-45 year old artist self. What did I wish I had known then? What would have gotten through my thick skull when I was busy flailing around?