After years of a relative creative drought, I suddenly find myself working on several creations at once. How can this be? Why can't my creativity be more evenly dispersed throughout my life, to give me a chance to be consistently productive? Honestly, it feels almost as if I'm suddenly in a mild manic state (although that particular diagnosis has been officially ruled out, thank you very much!) and I'm just trying to keep up with all the ideas that are suddenly pouring out of me. Where were these ideas 10 years ago, when I had more energy?
I really did think that I had become a boring slug who was destined to be an Art Appreciator for the remainder of my existence. And, in most ways, I still am an Appreciator, because nothing I've done has seen the light of day yet. But, this feeling of finally creating again, even if it's still just in private, is wonderful! I feel useful and interesting and vibrant again. It's my second wind.
I've always been curious about the creative processes of artists and how they work. I remember hearing a writer say that he wrote every day for several hours, often in the nude. He said it took away distractions and obstacles to the creative process. It seems to me that being naked at a computer would be more of a distraction than wearing clothes could ever be, but maybe it's a gender thing.
Apparently, Jack Kerouac wrote most of On The Road in 20 days of writing, using multiple pieces of paper that were taped together and fed into the typewriter so that he wouldn't have to stop to change the paper. His wife fed him pea soup and coffee to keep him going. It took years, however, to get it published.
Keith Richards has said that writing "Jumpin' Jack Flash" with Mick Jagger took about 30 minutes. You could argue that they should have quit after that. Instead, they've gone on for years, grinding out song after song of mediocrity.
It took Alexander Calder about a year to create the Cirque Calder after starting the project by doing illustrations of the Ringling Brothers Circus. He created miniature sculptures of animals, circus performers, and apparatuses from wire, wood, and found materials. He carried them in suitcases and gave "performances" with narration (in French) while he was living in Paris. After that, he had years of productivity, resulting in many sculptures, mobiles, drawings, and paintings.
Why are some artists creative throughout their lives, at a fairly even pace, while others have one or two spurts of creativity and long periods of producing very little?
