Wassily Kandinsky

"The artist must have something to say, for mastery over form is not his goal but rather the adapting of form to its inner meaning."

— Wassily Kandinsky

Russian Artist

1866 - 1944

When I graduated from college, I wanted to be a writer, but I had no idea what to write about. I had nothing to say — nothing that I wanted to say.  I had an idea about writing a historical novel about a sleeping preacher who had lived at the beginning of the 20th century.  Maybe through the life of someone else, I would find something to write about.  The novel never materialized.  I failed at the research.

Creative leaders must have something to say — something that needs saying.  If we focus on form but have no substance, we will not be successful.  Substance has the power to overcome weak technique, but technique cannot support a lack of substance.

What are you trying to communicate with your art?  What is the message that you want to deliver to the world.  What is the substance of your writing?  Or have you allowed your mastery of technique to overshadow the substance?

Composition X
(1939)

St. Francis of Assisi

"He who works with his hands is a laborer.  He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman.  He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist."

— St. Francis of Assisi

Italian Friar and Preacher

Founder of the Franciscan Order

1181 - 1226

What makes a great painting, poem or novel is the heart of the artist.  Great art grows out of the heart, not the mind.  A person can perfect his technique and think new ideas, but if the work he produces does not have heart, it ultimately will fail.  Yet a work of art that has heart will be able to overcome poor technique and weak ideas.

Emotion is what connects one human being to another.  Emotion is what connects a work of art with the audience.  Emotion is what artists must put into their work.  Have you connected with your heart?  Do you create from the heart?  Do you feel as your heart feels?  Or are you lost somewhere in your mind, thinking up new thoughts and new ideas?  Ideas are not enough. We must feel the emotion behind what we create.

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. 

Charles Baudelaire

"Any healthy man can go without food for two days — but not poetry."

— Charles Baudelaire

French Poet

1821 - 1867

Obviously, Baudelaire was passionate about poetry.  Are you passionate about your creative work?  Are you able to live without producing a poem, a play or a painting?  While my goal is to write every day, there are some days I don't have the time.  If I don't write for several days, I can feel my need to write growing within my spirit.  I have to sit down and put pen to paper.

There are three levels of involvement that people have with their art.  These levels are best illustrated by the three key players in breakfast.  The first level is illustrated by the farmer.  He is hungry and wants something to eat.  He is interested in the breakfast.  The hen illustrates the second level.  She is committed to the breakfast.  She is willing to share her eggs with the farmer.  The pig illustrates the third level.  He is passionate about the breakfast because he is willing to put his bacon on the line.  Are you just interested in your art much like the farmer?  Or are you committed to your art like the hen?  Or are you passionate about your art like the pig?  Are you willing to put your bacon on line for your art?

George Bellows

"The ideal artist is he who knows everything, feels everything, experiences everything, and retains his experience in a spirit of wonder and feeds upon it with creative lust."

— George Bellows

American Painter

1882 - 1925

Dempsey and Firpo

(1924)

Do you experience the world in a spirit of wonder?  Are you surprised by the things that happen or have you become cynical and negative?  A creative leader must be like a young child soaking up life and enjoying every moment of it.  Everything that happens to us — good, bad and indifferent — is fuel for our creative lust.  I don't believe artists and writers experience the world at a deeper level then other people.  It's more they have learned to use that experience to feed their creativity.

Creativity is both sexual and sensuous.  When we are painting and writing, we have a deep desire to create, to give birth.  We can feel the lust in our loins, the joy in our hearts.  How powerful is your desire to create?  Can you feel it deep within your body?  Does every part of you tingle with excitement?  Can you taste the lips of your lover?  

Paulo Coelho

"And, when you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you achieve it."

— Paulo Coelho

Brazilian Novelist

1947 -

When one door closes, another one opens.  There is a method buried within the madness of the world.  The universe wants us to succeed, to find our way home, to taste the fruit of the vine.  Yet most of us do not listen with our hearts.  We hear only the shrill sounds bombarding our ears.  To be successful, we must first understand the power of desire.

Do you have the passion to be a creative leader?  Do you desire to write?  Then write as if your life depended on it.  Do you desire to paint?  Then paint as if your heart will explode if you don't put paint to canvas.  When our actions are aligned with our passion, then the universe opens and we are lifted into the heavens.  We are able to find beauty in the mundane like a jar of pickles, a can of tuna or a bottle of orange juice.  

When one door opens, another one closes.  The end can be found in the beginning.  We all travel circles within circles.  And nothing changes but what must remain the same.  So believe that your gift of creativity is yours to share with the universe and accept that the universe is a flower within your heart.

Suzanne Valadon

"I paint with the stubbornness I need for living, and I've found that all painters who love their art do the same."

— Suzanne Valadon

French Painter

1865 - 1938

Suzanne Valadon was the daughter of an unmarried laundress.  When she was 15, she joined the circus, but was forced to quit a year later after falling off a trapeze.  She eventually became a model for artists including Renoir and Toulouse-Lautrec where she studied their artistic techniques.  She is best known for painting female nudes but also painted landscapes, florals and still life.  She sometimes worked as long as 13 years on a painting before showing it in public.

To be a creative artist, you need to be persistent because many obstacles will get in your way including your own need for perfection.  The creative journey is only for the stubborn.  How long are you willing to work at your painting?  Your writing?  Your acting?  Or do you give into family pressure?  Societal pressure?  

What are you willing to sacrifice for your creative work?  What are you willing to give up?  Life is never easy and the same is true for the creative leader.  There are many days when you will take one step forward and three backwards.  Do you have the stubbornness to keep going even when you see very little light at the end of the tunnel?

Suzanne Valadon was the model for these paintings by Renoir:

Dance At Bougival

David Frost

"Don't aim for success if you want it; just do what you love and believe in, and it will come naturally."

Sir David Frost

British Journalist, Writer

1939 -

There is a paradox here.  If you seek success, you rarely find it.  If you do what you love, you will be successful even if it is not in the way that you imagined it.  As I grow older, I begin to define success less as money and fame and more as loving relationships.  The same is true of my artistic work.  It becomes less about the money and fame, then it is about the process of creating.

What is your passion?  What is your love?  Are you following your passion?  Are you doing what you love even if it is for only five minutes a day.  I dreamed for years of writing full time, but it was not to be.  But I have spent lots of hours writing.  The value is in the writing, the creating, not in doing it full time.  I challenge you to find 15 minutes every day to do what you love.  Don't wait until you can do it full time because it might never happen.  Do it now and success will follow.  Just be ready for the unexpected.  If life throws you a wrench when you are making other plans, just tighten the bolts and keep going.

Mother Teresa

"It is not what we do, it is how much love we put in the doing."

— Mother Teresa

Catholic Nun

1910 - 1997

Do you put love into what you do?  As creative leaders we should love the process of creating.  The more love we put into our work; the more creative the end product is.  If you don't enjoy the process, then why do you do it?  Are you doing it for the wrong reasons?  For money?  For fame?  For sex?

Some writers and artists struggle to produce work.  I once read about a writer who published his first novel in his thirties and didn't publish his second until he was in his eighties.  For some people the creative process is difficult work.  I suggest you put love into your work and you might find it more enjoyable and less painful.  The journey we take is often more important than the destination.  We find out who we are and why we are here through the process of creating.  

The process of creating is a form of prayer — a connection to a power beyond ourselves, to a purpose bigger than us.  When we lose connection with this creative force, we stumble and struggle to create.  Writers and painters both talk about being in the flow — of something greater than themselves actually taking control and doing the creating.  They are only the instrument in the hands of the creative force.  They connect through love.

Marc Chagall

"In our life there is a single color, as on an artist's palette, which provides the meaning of life and art.  It is the color of love."

— Marc Chagall

Russian Artist

1887 - 1985

We paint our lives with the color of love.  What color is love in your life?  Love is about relationships and the color of love changes with the people we love.  Parent-child love is certainly a different color then woman-man love.  What color is friend love?  Or sibling love?  How about pet love?  Can you paint a picture of love just using color and no people?

Do you love creating art?  Do you love writing?  What color is the love of creation?  Do you have a passion for what you create?  What color is passion?

Rainer Maria Rilke

"This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love; the more they give, the more they possess."

— Rainer Maria Rilke

Austrian Poet

1875 - 1926

The creative journey is about love.  We must be passionate about what we do.  If you don't love painting or writing or playing music, you won't do the work necessary to overcome the obstacles you face.  Painting a picture, writing a novel or composing music requires a lot of solitary time.  You have to love what you do and want to do it more than anything else in the world.  The more you give to your art, the more you will receive in return.