Larry Wilde

"Like all creative souls, writers learn over time that while they may be failing, they are not failures.  They learn from their mistakes, and they keep on going.  When it seems they've hit a stone wall, they find a way to move ahead.  Even if it takes them down a radically different path."

— Larry Wilde

American Writer, Speaker

1928 - 

The challenge that many creative leaders face is learning to separate their creations from who they are.  If we identify too closely with our creations, we will not be able to handle criticism or failure.  We must realize that we are much more than our creations.  We are human beings with friends, families and other important relationships.  If we let the failure of our creations to depress or anger us, we are identifying too closely with them.  Sometimes our creations will not find a worshiping or adoring audience.  And this is okay.  Learn not to depend on the praise of others — editors, publishers, readers, critics, etc.  Taste is arbitrary and fickle.  Believe in your work and some day an audience will appear.  

Jean-Baptist-Camille Corot

Interrupted Reading

"Don't imitate, don't follow the others, or else you will lag behind them."

— Jean-Baptist-Camille Corot

French Painter

1796 - 1875

As a creative leader, you want to standout.  You need to develop your own unique style.  This can not happen if you are imitating others.  Follow your vision, not the vision of others.  Be innovative and different.  Set the standard for others to follow.  

When you follow your own vision, there will be detractors who tell you it can't be done.  Ignore the naysayers — those who say you are a fool.   Don't listen to their negativity.  Hold true to your heart and to what you believe to be the path for you.

The Bridge at Nantes

Laura Kasischke

"Writing is really just a matter of writing a lot, writing consistently and having faith that you'll continue to get better and better.  Sometimes people think that if they don't display great talent and have some success right away, they won't succeed.  But writing is about struggling through and learning and finding out what it is about writing itself that you really love."

— Laura Kasischke

American Novelist, Poet

1961 - 

If success comes too early, it can destroy an artist.  Early success can create writer's block.  Artists become overwhelmed by the success and stop painting.  People start enjoying their celebrity status and forget about what brought them there.  And sometimes they start believing their own press clippings.  Sometimes it is better to wait until you are emotionally ready and have the wisdom to handle it.  

If writing or painting comes too easy, people often lose interest and look for something more challenging.  If writing is a struggle, then success when it comes will be sweeter.  Have the faith to keep writing, to keep drawing or to keep painting even when there seems to be no hope of success.  

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.

Walt Disney

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity leads us down new paths."

— Walt Disney

American Film Director, Producer

1901 - 1966

Are you curious about the world around you?  Curiosity fuels our creative thinking.  Curiosity provides the sparks for new ideas.  Disney was the creative genius who changed the world of filmmaking and animation.  What are you doing to change your world?  How are you challenging yourself to try new ideas?  How are you stepping outside your comfort zone?

It is easy to get caught in a rut — to do what is safe and secure.  Creative leaders need to keep moving and growing.  They need to walk down new paths and open new doors.  They need to be curious.

Grace Hartigan

Frank O'Hara

"I cannot expect even my own art to provide all the answers — only to hope to it keeps asking the right questions."

— Grace Hartigan

American Painter

1922 - 2008

What questions are you asking with your art?  One of the roles of a creative leader is to challenge the status quo?  To ask questions that others are afraid to ask.  Seldom do artists provide the answers.  Then we would be preaching.  Our job is to question and to question our questions?  To ask what others won't ask.

What questions are you raising with your art?  Your writing?  Your music?  In recent years my poems are questioning what God is.  I have had other writers tell me you can't write about God or the soul — that these words are too limited and vague.  And yet I know it is what I must write about.  I must raise the questions.  I must challenge our understanding of God.  I know I don't have the answers — that I will probably never have the answers, but I must keep asking.

Here is a fabulous video of Grace Hartigan talking about her art.  Be patient because the movie is slow to start.

Paulo Coelho

"When you find your path, you must not be afraid.  You need to have sufficient courage to make mistakes. Disappointment, defeat, and despair are the tools God uses to show us the way."

— Paulo Coelho

Brazilian Novelist

1947 - 

I remember when I was first writing I would ask the question that many people who first find the creative path ask:  Do I have talent?  And I hoped that some wise teacher would say that I was a talented writer and that I should devote myself to writing.  Now, having trod this path for years, I know that no one can affirm or deny my talent.  It is what it is.  We all have creative talent.  We can either put it to good use or squander it.

But there is a question within the question.  When we ask do we have talent, the hidden question is:  Will I be rich and famous?  And the answer for many of us on the creative path is no.  Most creative leaders will work in obscurity and receive only a pittance for their labors.  If money and fame is your desire, there are easier paths to walk.  To walk the creative path is do it because you love it.