Harry Emerson Fosdick

"Picture yourself vividly as winning and that alone will contribute immeasurably to success. Great living starts with a picture, held in your imagination, of what you would like to do or be."







Harry Emerson Fosdick

American Author, Clergy

1878 - 1969







Do you see yourself as a successful writer, successful artist or successful actor?  Success begins in the mind.  If you want to be successful, you need to see yourself as a success.  You need to believe in yourself and your talent.  Another word for it is visualization.  You need to visualize your success.  The mind is very powerful.  You must first see yourself as successful.

Do you ever worry?  Maybe you worry about having enough money to pay the bills.  Or maybe you worry about those you love.  Most people worry at one time or another.  Worry is a negative form of visualization.  Worry is visualization of your deepest fears.

Harness the visual power within your mind to create your success as an artist, a writer and a creative leader.  See yourself writing a novel, painting a picture, or writing a screenplay.

Henry Ward Beecher

"Every artist dips his brush in his own soul, and paints his own nature into his pictures."

— Henry Ward Beecher

American Clergy, Author, Speaker

1813 - 1887

If you have ever read the biographies of famous artists and writers, you may have discovered that some of these creative geniuses were not the best of human beings.  They may have been mean and cruel to those they loved.  They may have had affairs of the heart.  They may have been paranoid and psychotic.  They may have been insecure and boorish.  Their personal lives never seem to match the beauty found in their art.

So where does the great creative work come from?  Every person has some good and bad within himself.    The best creative work comes from being in touch with the good within one's souls.  By doing so, creative leaders create great work that connects with what is best in all humans.  But the cost of such greatness is often the chaos of their personal lives.

Ralph Steadman

"What I used to do with a passion, foolishly and vainly imagining I would change the world for the better, I no longer tolerate in myself or anyone else.  But draw, always draw — and WRITE."

— Ralph Steadman

British Artist, Writer

1936 -

Have you ever dreamed of changing the world — making it a better place?  Unfortunately, most people have very little influence on the world at large.  And with the one person that we do have influence over — ourselves — we usually lack the discipline for long-term change.  Have you ever tried to change a spouse or a significant other?  It rarely works.  I have often heard of wrecked marriages resulting from one person trying to change the other.

The Sheriff
1995

Revolution is often said to be the passion of youth.  And if one does not die in the revolution, one grows wiser with age.  If you study history, you will realize that even when the evil empire is overthrown, it is usually replaced by another empire that eventually becomes evil itself.  And the cycle continues.  The young want power and the old are unwilling to relinquish it.

And what you might add does all this have to do with art and writing?  Every generation or two there are revolutions in artistic taste and style.  The younger generation of artists challenges the older generation.  Today abstract expressionism is giving way to a resurgence of realism.  And tomorrow?  I won't even begin to predict.

I think Ralph Steadman has hit the nail on the head.  Stop worrying about changing the world, your spouse or even yourself.  Just create:  draw, paint and write. 

Eric Fischl

"What experience has shown me is that it takes your life to become an artist."

— Eric Fischl

American Artist

1948 -

Becoming a painter, a poet, or a novelist takes a lifetime.  We are always in a state of becoming.  If we stop growing and changing, if we plateau, we die as artists.  We are on a journey.  The work we leave behind is the record of our journey.

Where are you on your artistic journey?  What challenges are you facing today?  What challenges have you learned to overcome?  What are your dreams for tomorrow?  What paths have you taken?  What roads have you avoided?

Don't despair if you feel you have lost your way.  Maybe you have just taken a detour and you will soon find your way again.  What we sometimes feel are the wrong roads turn out to be the right roads in the end.  We often cannot see the forest because of the trees.  Climb up the nearest tree and your world will change.  

I often hear people complaining about the weather.  It's too cloudy.  Too rainy.  Too cold.  Too hot.  Can't see the sun.  Yet if we get in an airplane and fly above the clouds, the sun is there.  It is always there.  So don't become discouraged.  Instead change your perspective.

Here is Eric Fischl talking about one of his paintings.

John Maxwell

"The fear of rejection or failure creates inaction."

— John Maxwell

American Author, Speaker

1947 - 

Fear is a very powerful force that affects the lives of most creative leaders.  Some people are afraid to leave their houses.  Some people like me are afraid of heights.  Others are afraid of elevators.  This list could go on and on.  A person who claims that he is not afraid of anything is either delusional or a liar.  We are all afraid of something. 

It takes courage to look fear in the face and still do something when you are afraid.  If you give into fear, you will freeze on the spot and not move.  Creative leaders face a lot of rejection of their ideas and work.  But we must keep going.  What is the worst thing that can happen?  People don't like us.  So what?  Every famous writer, artist, singer or actor has people who don't like them.  No one is liked by everyone.  So why should you and me expect to be liked by everyone?  In fact, think about the famous people whom you don't like.  You, in a sense are rejecting them.



I learned a powerful lesson from a professional speaker.  He told me that 10% of your audience will not like you.  They may not like the color of your hair.  Or the sound of your voice.  Or the tie you are wearing.  And it has held true for me.  Ten percent of my audience don't like my loud voice.  So I focus on the other 90%.  I don't let my fear of rejection prevent me from speaking.



Rejection is a good thing.  It keeps us humble.  We are not perfect so we shouldn't let success go to our heads.  It lets us know that we are ahead of our time.  We have found people who don't like our work and that is okay.  So don't let fear stop you from creating and producing new work.



(For those who read my blog regularly, I apologize for not leaving an entry yesterday.  I have spent the last two days in the hospital because of dehydration.  I checked out about three hours ago and am healthy again.)

Marc Chagall

"The role of the artist is tragic today because, while the world's horizons have been extended, the human heart is as small as ever."

— Marc Chagall

Russian Artist

1887 - 1985

The Prophet Jeremiah
1968

In the last 150 years the world has known many technological and scientific advances.  We have put men on the moon and invented thousands of items that make life easier for human beings from the light bulb to the iPad.  But the human heart has not changed.  We remain selfish, angry and territorial.  We kill, murder and steal.  We still break the Ten Commandments as well as the laws of man.  We are cruel, mean and unforgiving. 

Artists create beautiful paintings that inspire us all, but are abusive to their wives and girl friends.  Writers create powerful stories that touch the heart, but are rude, crude and demeaning to those around them.  Actors may explore the emotional depths of characters they play, but are unaware of their own self-destructive tendencies.

Stained Glass Windows
in Saint Stephen Cathedral,
Metz, France

Human beings have two natures: a violent one and a compassionate one.  And both often reside in the same person in varying degrees.  And we have not changed in thousands of years.  Every time we take a step forward and seem to be improving, we take a couple of steps backward.  Consider all the greed that helped create the latest financial recession.  

I learned years ago that I can't change the world.  The only person I can change is myself.  I ask myself, "What can I do today to make myself a better person tomorrow?"  And every day is a struggle.  Some days are better than others.  And some days I slip back into old habits and behaviors that are destructive to myself and to others.  Each day is a new beginning.  A new opportunity to be a better person than I was yesterday.  All I can hope for is that I am able to make a difference in somebody's life.  That I can touch one heart today.  Give hope to one soul.

Ken Patchen

"I don't consider myself to be a painter.  I think of myself as someone who has used the medium of painting in an attempt to extend — give an extra dimension to — the medium of words.  It happens very often my writing with a pen is interrupted with my writing with a brush — but I think of both as writing."

— Kenneth Patchen

American Poet, Novelist

1911 - 1972

We define ourselves with labels.  "I am a painter.  What are you?"  "I am a poet."  We are born into this world without labels and when we die, our obituaries tell the world that we were lawyers, doctors, merchants or candlestick makers.

In my profile I list many of the labels that have defined me over the years:  a carpenter, street sweeper, car hop, corn detasseler, hospital orderly, radio announcer, blogger, book editor, publisher, freelance writer, bus driver, sports writer, bookkeeper, policy and procedures writer, forms designer, marketing vice-president, corporate executive, professional speaker, facilitator, salesman, trainer, poet, storyteller, organizational development consultant, ad writer and communications executive.  And that is the short list.

What labels have you given yourself?  What labels have others given you?  Do these labels define you?  Do the labels tell the world who you are?  Do your labels limit you or expand the boundaries of who you are?  Do the labels allow others to place you in a cubbyhole?  To limit your creativity?

Do you ever judge people by their labels?  "Oh, you are just a bus driver?  A street sweeper?  A garbage collector?...."

Patchen said that he is not a painter.  He is a writer who has given an added dimension to his writing.  He has extended the boundary of the label beyond how most people define it.

Patricia Highsmith

"All arts are one and each art — even ballet — is a form of storytelling."

— Patricia Highsmith

American Novelist

1921 - 1995

 

Do you agree that "all arts are one..."?  At the core, each of the arts are about creativity, about communication and about storytelling.  Whether we are talking about a painting, a dance recital, a play or a novel, we are talking about the impulse to create stories that communicate the meaning of why we are here.  Even abstract art has a story to tell if we can interpret message within the symbols.  The forms of the storytelling are very different, but the impulse that brought the forms is the same.

Do you celebrate and support other art forms?  Do you associate with artists of all stripes and shapes and genres?  Or do you stick to your small corner of the universe?  Do you only surround yourself with poets, or realistic painters, or ballet dancers, or stage actors?  We can learn much from talking with others and studying their creative processes.  We can be inspired by the works of others.

Unfortunately, in the American society, people don't always appreciate the value that the creative arts bring to a community.  Usually the arts are the first programs cut when there is a budget crunch.  The hard subjects of math and science are more important.  Yet, I believe, the arts are what make us human.  They help us create new futures and new visions.  Without the arts, life would be boring and dull.  So support your fellow artists today.

Hugh Nissenson

"One of the things that I felt I wanted to do as an artist was to expand the frontiers of my imagination as much as I could; to follow wherever my imaginative facility took me, and to create alternate worlds."

— Hugh Nissenson

American Novelist, Poet and Artist

1933 - 

One of the things that fascinates me about writing is the opportunity to create a world peopled with characters.  I enjoy watching the world take form out of my imagination combined with memory.  Now, it can be a world that looks very much like the world you and I live in or it can be a world that is solely from my imagination.  As a reader, I am deeply impressed with science fiction writers and their ability to create alternate worlds.  If you have not read Dune by Frank Herbert, you need to put it on your to-read list.

I am also fascinated by artists who paint genre paintings.  They create a whole world within a painting.  Two of my favorites are the American, Eastman Johnson, and the Dutch Master, Jan Steen.  Both artists tell stories through their paintings.  They create worlds that we can see.

What stories are you telling through your art?  What imaginative worlds are you creating?  Are you expanding the frontiers of your imagination?  Are you seeing things that others can't see?  Are you opening up new worlds for others to experience?

In my research on Hugh Nissenson, I discovered an amazing artist.  As part of the process of writing a novel about an artist, Nissenson painted a series of paintings for the novel in the style of his character.  In this video, Nissenson discusses his combining art and poetry into the novel. The Song of the Earth.

Irving Stone

"Art is a staple, like bread or wine or a warm coat in winter.  Man's spirit grows hungry for art in the same way his stomach growls for food."

— Irving Stone

American Novelist

1903 - 1989

Lust for Life
A novel about the life
of Vincent Van Gogh

Many people treat the creative spirit as a luxury, something that is not needed to live life.  And they are quite wrong.  Creativity is a crucial part of living.  If I did not have an outlet for my creativity, I would either go crazy or die.  Creativity is at the very core of who I am.  If I go too long without writing, without putting words on paper, I begin to feel a hunger growing inside me.  I have a strong need to create, to produce something either through writing or painting.  It is as important to my life as water, air, food, shelter and companionship.  Without it my spirit would shrivel and die.  We need food for the body and food for the spirit.  Creativity provides the food for the spirit.

Here are scenes from the movie, Lust for Life, based on the novel by Irving Stone.

Jackson Pollack

"The painting has a life of its own.  I try to let it come through."

— Jackson Pollock

American Artist

1912 - 1956

Many painters and writers talk about the work of art as having a life of its own.  For me, this is one of the joys of the creative process — that moment of discovery when I am following the story, waiting to see where it will take me.  If the creative leader gets in the way of creative process, the work of art can be disfigured, paralyzed or even still born.  Don't let your idea of the painting or the story prevent the true work of art from being born.  What is in your mind's eye may not happen on paper or canvas.




Here is the trailer of a must see Jackson Pollock movie directed by Ed Harris.

Alice Neel

"I thought you had to give up a lot for art, and you did.  It required complete concentration.  It also required that whatever money you had had to be put into art materials."

— Alice Neel

American Artist

1900 - 1984

The Spanish Family (1943)

What have you had to give up in order to be able to paint, or write or play music?  Our muses can be demanding — asking us to give up relationships, friendships and even family.  And sometimes our muses will drain our spirit and leave us battered and lifeless.  Art requires the artist to be faithful and loyal.   Art demands that we work hard, often with little or no respect, money or fame.  We labor on day and night hoping that one day someone will discover us.  Sometimes we hurt those we love.  We sacrifice our family on the altar of creativity.  And for what?  The hope that maybe one day someone will notice.  It takes a lot of courage to be an artist.  To be willing to sacrifice so much.  For some of us, we sacrifice our sanity or even our lives.  

And yet, I think there is another way.  We can find balance in our lives.  We don't have to sacrifice everything.  We can maintain our sanity without falling off the cliff.  Don't let the creative impulse destroy you.  Be strong.  Find a way to balance the wild and crazy spirit with the routines of daily living.  Maybe you can knit, take up yoga, play golf or simply take a walk.  Embrace the whole you, not just the creative side.  Anything taken to the extreme is destructive.

Joan Miro

The Garden 2

Joan Miro

"More important than a work of art itself is what it will sow.  Art can die, a painting can disappear.  What counts is the seed."

Joan Miro

Spanish Painter/Sculptor

1893 - 1983

Joan Miro

Growing up in a conservative Mennonite family, I was not exposed to art as a child.  My maternal grandfather even discouraged photographs.  My first exposure to art came my freshman year in college where in one of my classes we had to choose an artist to study.  I chose Miro and his paintings planted in my soul a love of art.  Artists, musicians and writers all plant seeds with their works of art.  A great novel stays with you long after you have read it.  When you fall in love with a painting, you come back to it again and again for it to refresh your soul.  How many times do you listen to the same piece of music over and over.  And each time you hear it years later, it brings back waves of emotion.  

What seeds are you planting with your writing, your painting or your music?  How is your art impacting your audience? What seeds have you planted in their souls?  

I am curious.  Please share with me who were the first artists, writers and musicians to touch your life.

Francisco de Goya

Portrait of
Francisco de Goya

"Painting, like poetry, selects in the universe whatever she deems most appropriate to her ends."

— Francisco de Goya

Spanish Painter

1746 - 1828

Who selects the subject matter of your paintings?  Your writing?  Is it you the artist or writer? Is it society and the times you live in?  Is it your muse?  Is it the painting itself?  Or the story itself?  Is the selection of the subject matter arbitrary or based on your personal subconscious logic?  Why do you put certain details in your painting and leave out others?  Why do you write about ugly men and beautiful women in your stories?  Why do you always write about the theme of being abandoned?  Do you only paint little green apples or do you throw in a red one on occasion?  I encourage you to step outside your comfort zone and paint something new.  Seek new topics to write about.  Explore new subjects.  

The Clothed Maja (1803)

Joseph Conrad

"I don't like work — no man does — but I like what is in work: the chance to find yourself."

— Joseph Conrad

Polish Novelist

1857 - 1924

Unlike Conrad, I do like to work.  I find that if I don't work I become bored and more tired than when I work.  Although, I do from time to time find myself procrastinating, particularly with creative work.  The creative side of me doesn't want to sit down and do the work.  But I strongly agree with the second half of the quote.  Work does give me a chance to explore who I am as an artist and writer.  Work helps me to understand myself better and to appreciate my talents and gifts.  Work also challenges me and pushes me to go farther than I thought possible.

I believe we ought to celebrate work.  All work is honorable if approached with the right attitude.  Housework and housekeeping is very important work.  So is child-rearing.  Raising and educating the next generation is probably the most important work of all.  I am in awe of people who are knowledgeable about the work they do.  When I meet a sales clerk in a store who knows his product, I compliment him.  I love to listen to the sales pitch of great sales people.  Sometimes I buy and sometimes I don't, but I enjoy the ride.  I celebrate people who work their hands — carpenters, farmers, mechanics.  I am not good with my hands because I am too slow.  Some people have the gift for gab.  I have heard some fantastic speakers in my life.  Work for me is both an art and a skill.

The work that creative leaders do should also be celebrated.  Sometimes people don't understand the creative process and so they don't appreciate the working habits of artists and writers.  Painting, sculpting and writing are not 9 to 5 jobs.  You may work for an hour here and an hour there, but your mind is always working both consciously and unconsciously.  In fact, the unconscious work for a creative leader is probably the most important work and the most difficult.  So celebrate and appreciate the work you do.

Janet Fish

"I get up early and ease into the day for about an hour.  Then I start working.  There are a lot of tricks you have to keep playing on yourself to keep at it because every time you hit a problem you want to walk away."

— Janet Fish

American Painter

1938 -

For a creative leader, diving into a project is the hardest thing to do.  The mind creates excuses to keep the leader from starting.  I rise early and jump right into the day — either walking, jogging or writing.  I don't wait for coffee or the sun to rise.  But I am also good at walking away from the writing if I stumble into a problem or what happens more often is that I walk away just as the creative juices are starting to flow.  It is as if my mind is telling me to slow down, not to go too fast.  

What tricks do you use to get yourself into your creative project — to start painting?  When the creative juices are flowing, how do you keep going?

Claudia Black

"Surround yourself with people who respect and treat you well."

— Claudia A. Black Ph.D

American Author/Speaker

As creative leaders, we can be very sensitive to the comments of others.  If people negate our art, we may stop painting or writing or even creating altogether.  We face rejection from world every day.  "Oh, you are a writer?  Have you written anything that I might have read?"  We face rejection when we submit our work to magazines and publishers.  I once send out the same haiku to two different publishers by accident.  I discovered my mistake when I open the mail one day.  I received a rejection letter from one magazine and the other magazine wanted to publish the haiku.  

Rejection is very common not only for writers, but also painters and actors.  Think about auditioning for a part in a play or a movie and you are judged not only on your acting talent but also on your appearance.  You are either too short, too tall, too fat or too ugly.  

And some people won't even submit their creative work to the scrutiny of the public eye.  They refuse to give others the opportunity to judge or criticize them.

So the message in this quote is very powerful.  Surround yourself with people who respect the work you do, who don't criticize you, who support you and compliment you.  The friends we choose are very important to our success.  

Anton Chekhov

"The role of the artist is to ask questions, not answer them."

— Anton Chekhov

Russian Writer

1860 - 1904

What questions are you asking?  Are you curious about the world around you?  Are you asking questions that challenge your beliefs?  As artists and writers we can get in a rut painting the same image over and over or writing the same story again and again.  What are you doing to keep your art fresh and new?  What new roads are you walking down?  What new mountains are you climbing?  Challenge yourself today to draw something you have never drawn, to write a story you have never written, to sing a song you have never sang.

Henry Miller

"The one thing we can never get enough of is love.  And the one thing we never give enough of is love."

— Henry Miller

American Novelist/Painter

1891 - 1880

We all need to feel loved, but what we often fail to understand is that in order to get love we must also give love.  Love is a two-way street.  Artists and writers sometimes work in isolation and have little human contact.  The act of creation almost demands we work alone.  So it takes extra effort for us to develop and maintain our relationships and give love to those around us.  Our creative work takes so much effort that we sometimes forget about the people in our lives.  As creative leaders, we must learn to balance our need for isolation with our need to love and give love.

Bill Moyers

"Creativity is piercing the mundane to find the marvelous."

— Bill Moyers

American Journalist

1934 -

Most artists and writers will tell you that there are periods where the work can be boring, dull and mundane.  You feel like everything is on hold and then inspiration arrives in a flash as the light bulb goes off and the sun explodes.  In between the lightning bolts of creativity are hours and days of routine and monotonous work.  But when moment of insight arrives, the heart races to keep up with the mind and elation abounds.  And you know the long wait was worth it.