Creative Life: Striving for Originality

Striving for Originality

If you strive to please everyone, you may find no one will be pleased.
Just be sincere in finding your own style and then celebrate it with your community.
The people that matter will soon find you. – Steve Parish

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We can choose to painstakingly follow or choose to be different in the way we express our art. Alternatively, we can always enter a state of ‘no thought’ and simply express ourselves while in a state of play! Regardless of the pathway chosen, I consider the true merit of originality is not about novelty: it’s all about sincerity.To be solely driven by an inner desire to be different can result in internal conflict, especially in those moments, before revealing our creative outpourings with the world. Those moments before posting, opening an exhibition or submitting work for publication, we ask ourselves, ‘What will people think? Will people deride my work?’ Of course, it is difficult for us not to care what others think, but remember that any judgement can only be based on the level of knowledge the ‘judge’ carries, and then only at any given time.Bruce Springsteen wrote that he knew he had an average voice. He played the guitar well, but he knew that was not enough either, so he dug deep and used the lyrics he wrote for his songs as a point of difference. Of course, we all know how relatable Springsteen’s lyrics are. Bruce simply applied sincerity; he sang his truth, and the whole world sang along with him!

Image above – Lake Eyre’s east coast, Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre National Park, South Australia.

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A mixture of exhilaration and panic, your first-ever exhibition in a major corporate building is being hung and will soon go live! We had to find approved ‘professional hangers’ because the marble walls were valued at four million dollars!

As an artist who loves abstractionism, Kati Thanda, particularly when inundated with flood water, has a hypnotic effect. Its colours and textures are food for the eyes and the soul. During many flights, I have been know ‘to cry out loud’, with sheer joy while watching the sensational ‘art of the land’ roll by kilometre after kilometre. Such emotion does not happen often, but when one feels the urge, you just have to let it out; one first removes the internal aircraft microphone of course!

Steve Parish Digital Art Abstracts & Impressions42

Fear of Criticism

Our creative vision can arise from artists
past and present whoseworks inspire. However, if we thrive on constant change,
we need to dare to stand alone.
– Steve Parish

‘I always feel deeply hurt when my creative work is either not acknowledged or, worse still, criticised’, I commonly hear during open forum discussions or at my workshops and talks during Q&A’s. First up, this is entirely understandable; however, feeling hurt is one thing, what you do about it is another. Sure some folks don’t consider the hurt they inflict on others by using harsh, judgemental language, but my take is that such language, especially when extreme, is coming from a place of fear. Tolle’s quote above is relevant, but one could take a counterview and express some empathy. In doing so, we’d need to reconsider the critique quickly – maybe, maybe the critic has a point, however inelegantly expressed? My mentor/critics all choose their language with some care. Strangers, or those on the outskirts of your community circle, may well be showing a little envy.

When I launched my abstract artworks at the Brisbane Powerhouse in 2015, several commenters expressed that maybe I had lost my marbles! One wrote in the visitor book, ‘I came to see the images I grew up with, and what I saw horrified me! He’s gone all artsy! Not my style.’ When I read that, my initial reaction was of hurt; however, that emotion soon turned joyful simply because I was entirely confident and satisfied with the work I was exhibiting. It just wasn’t that viewer’s style – however, it was mine. The moral to the story is that when the ducks start quacking, you can send back love, especially when you know, deep in your heart, that the work in question is a sincere expression of your Creastive Life Purpose. And that, folks, is all that ever matters!