The Creative Instinct

This weekend I went to the brilliant Open Up Sheffield event where artists’ studios from around the city are thrown open to the public. I had a wonderful time chatting to a variety of painters, sculptors, silversmiths, ceramicists and craftspeople, and seeing a mind boggling amount of very high quality work.

Now had I been a more experienced blogger I’d have been noting down names as I went along, because I’d like to have namechecked everyone I met. But I didn’t - so thank you to all the people who took the time to talk with me about their own creative shtick and also listen while I explained about The Creative Instinct.

One thing I came away with was the importance of community. When your creative space is also part of a community there can be lots of benefits, from the very tangible, such as where to get materials and services, to non-tangible but perhaps more important things like support, sense of community, motivation and the realisation that you actually aren’t some special kind of isolated eccentric (of course, you may well be eccentric, but at least not an isolated one). I know that my other half, Lynda, has found the First Circle Studios a tremendous benefit. Sadly they are being closed down soon by Sheffield Council.

I think that it was a combination of seeing such fantastic artistic communities, and the awareness that Lynda may soon be working from a studio that is more isolated that prompted me to consider the balance between our need for community versus our need for solitude.

Contact was vital to me when I first started writing, as it was when I did my MA in Writing. On the other hand, I need a certain amount of solitude to actually produce anything. My own creative process works at its best with a balance between the two. When my mind is cascading ideas the last thing I want is anyone near me. But then talking with people helps me develop my thinking in ways I could never achieve on my own.

With my guitar playing it’s a very different story. I’m not being falsely modest (believe me, I’m not) when I say I’m at the lower levels of proficiency. I know that being in better contact with other acoustic slide blues players would offer me lots of insights and motivations, but I don’t feel quite ready to actually play with them (though in writing this I wonder if it’s time to reconsider).

What’s the point to all this? Well - simply to be aware of your own unique and changing needs for community and solitude.

It’s all too easy for us to end up at either end of the community/solitude spectrum without realising it’s happened - either becoming swamped by other like minded people - or feeling detached, isolated and alone when you and your art could benefit from contact with your peers.

Take some time to re-examine your own needs for community and solitude. How well are they being met?

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Open Up Sheffield

Just a quick plug for the event, which continues up to next weekend. There are lots of artists working in their own studios who’ve opened up - but the fabulous Yorkshire Artspace could easily keep you busy for the whole of Saturday 12th May. It’s not a public space so this is your only chance of the year to see it!

I also visited Freeman College and saw some of the old Sheffield metal crafts being demonstrated. It’s absolutely jaw-dropping to see real craftsmen at work. The Freeman College is a wonderful collaboration between well established working crafts-people and students with certain learning difficulties. Well worth an hour of your time and it’s only a minutes walk away from the Yorkshire Artspace.

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Your views are appreciated. Please leave a comment.