Happy first Friday of June, lovelies, and welcome to the Open Mic!
With the close of my recent writing workshop, I’ve been pondering the impact of creating with others (as opposed to creating alone). I’ve heard it said that writing is a lonely task; no matter how many groups you join, ultimately it still just comes down to you and your pen (or keyboard). But the rapid, communal character of the eight-week IWL workshop has definitely given me new inspiration and momentum.
Tell us about your experience: In whatever type of creating you do, do you feel your work is more a solitary act, or an act of community? And do these two necessarily have to be at odds?
Note to non-artists: If you are not an artist, but do regularly check in at this Open Mic, I’d appreciate you saying so in the comments. Lately I have been wondering whether to focus my “you talk” mics exclusively on questions for artists, but I don’t want to exclude anyone. So non-artist readers, please raise your hands!
And for you artists and friends of artists, I am now seeking Open Mic guest posts for the second half of the year. If you’ve been considering it, or know an artist who could use a new audience, I’m waiting to hear from you!
satsumabug.com | Lisa Hsia 
Hi Lisa, this is a very good question. I find creativity to be both highly personal and dependent on all sorts of other relationships whether they are knowingly creative or not. I often feel the need to discuss ideas with close friends, ask them to read stuff I’ve written, and get their feedback. It is encouraging and instructive.
Having said that, at other times I need to be quite alone and undistracted in order to distill an idea, and almost channel the work. And sometimes I just know something is good because it really thrills me and I don’t need others’ affirmations. At least I know it’s good for me, which often means there is an emotional content, I mean definitely it means that. It may not ring others’ bells, but experience shows me that a natural audience for me tends to be women though not exclusively, who may be somehow similar to me. I’m not about trying to please others, but do need steering sometimes if my work is Too personal. Bouncing ideas around of course stimulates gestation and absolute regeneration.
In terms of drawing/painting which I am new to as the artist, for me it seems to be a great deal about relationship. I am inspired to draw those close to me, but less so people who work as life models as I do! This means that the model for me is best as a muse, who very much contributes to the work.
As for writing, I haven’t yet found a group/partner, though I have enjoyed some workshops. I think I prefer doing this alone.
Thanks for asking 😉
Thank you for your thoughtful comment, Esther! What you’ve said about the various sides of creativity/community — highly personal as well as dependent on connection, the need for alone time, strong instincts that render others’ opinions superfluous — resonates with me as well.
Curiously, I’ve never felt much connection to a muse, which makes me wonder what that says about my creative process!
I love creating with inspiration from a group. Something about the pressure to put out and get it done. I especially like free writing, and the immediacy of reading what’s been written.
I’ve also done group art projects. Now, collaboration is a different beast altogether. In collaboration there is the whole group thing – storm, form and whatever the other stages are. And there’s a need to figure out how you will make decisions, meet each others’ expectations, and do the work. But there is something amazing about the power of the unified hive in creating a work that is from all of you. Powerful, often frustrating, often revelatory.
I like being able to do group and individual work and to work in group doing my individual thing with some witness/feedback aspect.
Thanks for asking!
Jenny
Jenny, so good to hear from you here! I hear you on inspiration in group writing, especially as related to pressure and immediacy. I love the freewriting (and reading) we’ve done together and hope we can keep that up!
It’s really interesting to hear your take on collaboration. I don’t think I’ve really ever creatively collaborated with others, and while I love the concept, I do expect I’d have a hard time with it. But you describe that as part of the process, which is good to know!
i’m a non-artist! over here! *raises hand* 🙂
Thanks! 🙂 *waves*
Non-artist here too. I think you should follow a forum that suits you. This is an art blog afterall. If I have something worth contributing, I will. Though probably, often, I won’t. That’s fine. I can catch up with you sometime during the week! Works for me…..
Thank you for the helpful reassurances as always, Sherry! Sometimes when I’m thinking of things to write for this blog, I kind of miss having both an art blog and a personal blog. Most of the time it doesn’t feel like a division to me, but sometimes it does, and then I don’t like the split. So I guess there is a part of me that also isn’t sure I completely want art-centered questions on the Open Mic!
Checking in sometime during the week works for me too. It’s how I read most of the blogs I follow, as well.