Some creators seem to obsessively express their authentic selves regardless of the many forces working against them. They often start with very little community support, scant financial resources, and negative critical feedback. They are the true starving artists, doing their thing in their own way, unaware of or actively ignoring the cultural standards for their medium and time. They may have nothing going for them outside their own personal resources and a few hearty comrad

While we may be attracted to the idea that what is essential for an artist is to have complete freedom, the creative act is actually made possible by working in an environment with explicit constraints. These may include technical aspects, belief in a certain aesthetic, a perceived potential audience, and material resources. Actual and imagined limits like these are real to the artist and will define the environment in which their art is made and, ultimately, the art itself.

On Creativity, part 3 - Nature, the Body and the Roots of Aesthetics First: about well considered opinions. Aesthetics, concerning the expressed form of our creativity, is not an exact science. It is very much an individual experience and hard to translate, and so, depends largely on a survey of our sensual preferences. What do most people like? What creations make us cry and gasp and swoon and recoil? This is the way I see it. As of today. While culture can bend our genetic

What we're talking about in terms of this blog is not things like cooking dinner, decorating for the holidays, or singing in the choir, per se. While all these things have an element of making in them, for this discussion I’d like to define the term creativity as a kind of making that exhibits a high level of originality, aestheticism, and/or execution: the kind of making that results in something that may be recognized as special in some way by someone with deep experience i

I listen to radio. My all-time favorite radio host is Kerri Miller of Minnesota Public Radio. She had a daily current events show which made evident her smarts, her discretion, and her savvy. She was astoundingly well prepared and exhibited a pervasive goodwill. In my opinion, the work she did there remains unmatched. After many years Kerri retired from that daily radio show and then, later, came back with a weekly interview show featuring noted authors. The show seemed to me