Inspiration: a functional approach to creative practice.

6. Introduction

This thesis looks at the issue of the creative process that operates in the mind and the heart of artists, which was developed following my background as a graphic designer in Israel and in the UK.

In the field of graphic design one is expected to create works within limits of time and budget, where inspiration is not allocated time for. Design works are fast and demanding, yet creative and innovative. To be able to continuously create within those limits I have noted the benefit of exploring how artists can better connect to the intuitive and impulsive nature of the creative work. It is then that I started to write short-verse spontaneous poetry (in the style of the poet Rumi, see Green & Bark: 1999) which was inspired by an inner impulsive force producing fast results, without consciously sitting and analyzing what I create. I almost never edit these poems. These poems produce words as well as symbolic images in a creative flow of verbal imagery – both are necessary for graphic design, using short catchy slogans with imagery. I first published a short-verse poem in an anthology of North England’s poets.

As part of the creative flow of verbal imagery I also combined photography images I created by going to nature, and produced a self-made book. Selling this book I then realised that success can be found in the simplicity of actions, the spontaneous of creation, and the flow that was not effort bound. I noted that spontaneity and images of nature from within re count as appeal to the public.

Then I developed the imagery in public exhibitions. I first exhibited in the UK in Leeds city art gallery, among other artists, where I could contextualise my work as an artist. I then realised that there is a need to learn about the process of being inspired to cerate art so that I could share it with other artists and non artists, helping to promote the creative work and the connection between art and the wider public. It is then that I came up with the initial idea of this research, focusing initially on images and words in my proposal. I was dealing with the opposition of image and words; the tension in the juxtapositions of the two in art work.

As my research developed I noted that both images and words share the same core source, which is emotion coming from within the artist. I see images and words not in juxtapositions, but rather as two tools working together, expressing the inner emotion. I now set out to examine this inner emotion, in the following thesis.

The aim of this research is to look at the inner states of being inspired, and not to discuss the final result. There is a vast literature that focuses on the final choices of colours or shapes in art works. The following research focuses on the experiential knowledge, the psychological journey in which artists sense reality through images and words. I deal with the choices behind the artefacts; the choices behind the colours, shapes, compositions etc., as a way to see what motivates artists to create, not as a way to examine the final art works.

The developments of the thinking mind of artists has undergone a major shift throughout history, where artists moved away from depicting the external reality around them to depicting the internal reality within them, using abstract art. This evolution will be discussed in the literature review chapter. Apart from this evolution which is scanned through the history of art, I will not look at the historical frameworks of art in this research, since I assume that artists have been creating art in all times in history and in all the different cultures and societies on this planet. Regardless the differences in cultures and societies, artists from all cultures and societies create art. Therefore, the influences of historical and cultural context on art do not seem to answer the specific question of this research, which is – what instigates inspiration and a creative urge in artists? I believe this question can be addressed by calling upon concepts that are not necessarily reliant on history, time or space.