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An Eclectic In The Arts Can Be More Than Just Collecting The Works Of Others.

It may be your creative style.

Are You An Eclectic Artist?

ec·lec·tic | əˈklektik |

adjective

 deriving ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources: 

2 (Eclectic)y denoting or belonging to a class of ancient philosophers who did not belong to or found any recognized school of thought but selected doctrines from various schools of thought.

noun

a person who derives ideas, style, or taste from a broad and diverse range of sources.

DERIVATIVES

eclectically adverb

Yes this is me. Is it you? Eclectic is the word that suits my art ethic. It is how I  learn, It allows  no stagnation. We are always in discovery, we eclectics.  My scientific, religious, and philosophical studies are from all walks as well.  I do hold certificates in commercial music composing and arranging as well as song writing but poetry sparks all my creative efforts. Through the years many did tell me to find one thing and stick to it. I tried and would lose all interest in what I was doing and everything else as well.  When you are an eclectic in the arts many different mediums and paths in life excite you.  You need the feel of creating it to know if it is for you. You master quite a few crafts and one calls on you just as strongly as the other. It is impossible for you to give one up.  This is the plight of the eclectic creator. Due to this love of the arts many people have also told me I should have been a teacher. So here I am in my retirement ready to teach. Join me here for my many creative endeavors

The eclectic mind sees the positive potential in everything. Driving the freeways, I see rundown abandoned businesses. My eyes soon see their restoration. I see a downtown bustling with life. I see warehouses converted to art spaces, studios of every kind. I see art villages surrounded by palm trees, large green house windows. I see people, young and old, walking about with such wonderful eager intent. I see what it was, or could be. The eclectic mind sees beyond their own present capacity in funds and capability. The eclectic mind can drive itself crazy.  An eclectic artist often lives inside the society blown bubble of blame, shame, and guilt.  Guilt as to why they cannot stay focused on one thing.?  Why does one project of artistic endeavor evaporate into the minds mist replaced by another? And these new projects having the same torturous vigor.  Why?  I have come to know for myself why, and that I can’t live without this eclectic way in the arts. I do wish to share some insights with the many who may have this same raging creative spirit. 

For myself, that evaporating in desire to finish a project has to do with the outside world creeping in. Nay sayers giving rise to that analytical left brain doubt. Vary often stress from overtime on the job. And of course our precious, precious, Let me say it once more, Precious, yet ever needy children.  It also has to do with not having the complete picture, the actual hands on knowledge of how to complete a work. But our minds are always working in the background. I can tell you that with the eclectic mind, all that evaporates comes back in full force. It comes back when we relax. Relaxation allows our mind to pinpoint that bit of information we need to complete a work. It is actually an exciting process. All creative drive will start for you again. Get your mind and hands into a craft you are already accomplished in. The motive force for us eclectics is actual hands on work. Often times these works are connected. We may not see that at first, so it is a good practice to keep all your unfinished works or ideas as they may plug into a future work.  Once again keep yourself going with the tried and true.

This is how it happens for me; in the middle of painting I hear music, all of a sudden I’m singing a song.  My thoughts return to my latest musical work. I have to stop and catch the moment in my composing software. I will be working on some poetry or a song and a scene for a painting comes to mind.  I have to at least capture it in a sketch or write a description of it. In the middle of creating my inspiration will return for the completion of a stalled work. Keeping my hands in the creative lets me skip the numbness of writers block or any artistic block. Only physical illness or complete exhaustion takes me out of the game. So happy now in retirement.

Honing abilities in many art forms will keep your mind in the niche. It is through familiar loves, that satisfying activity, that we hold inspiration and keep aspiring.