Unleash your creative superpowers!
I realized the other day, that most of the artists I admire seem to have one thing in common. They are all DISRUPTERS: Basquiat, Picasso, DuChamp. They turn something familiar into something radically whacked.
If I had musical skills, I’d spend most of my time doing what this musician so cleverly does: With one simple and profound tweak, he upends our experience and expectation. Listen to how he transforms Dave Brubeck’s classic “Take 5.”
(Pic #1) Detail, Eucalyptus carving. Photograph. Carpinteria Bluffs Nature Preserve. Shooting urban decay is my happy place.
(Pic #1) Lonnie Lardner leaps into the New Year – with purpose. (Photo by Josh Kaplan)
Bend it, Twist it, Make it yours
It’s funny, I’ve been asked more times this year than in any other to share my New Year’s resolutions. I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or my generation is starting to really care about its accomplishments and impact. But one thing is clear to me: if we live our lives as artists do — everything we do will be better.
Consider this. Typically, artists:
(Pic #2) Acrylic and thread on paper by Raul de la Torre, an L.A. based artist who lets his paint surprise him (note bottom drips).
1) Thrive on happy accidents. Just watch an abstract painter slap an overloaded brush onto his canvas. The unexpected drips and rivers of color can invigorate, inspire, and lead to even more exciting work — but only of we are willing to trash the need to control every drop (See Raul de la Torre’s painting in Pic #2).
2) Know your passion is your purpose. You would be hard pressed to stop an artist from creating. Her mission runs so deep to the core that NOT making art isn’t even an option. Inspiration comes from the soul, and nothing is more authentic than that.
3) Genuinely savor every moment. This is crucial. If artists stopped observing and therefore stopped creating visual commentary, we just might find ourselves in a colorless, spiritless society. By examining the world around us, and feeling what we are supposed to feel — our lives are enriched.
My good friend musician/producer Andre Fischer (multiple Grammy winner and drummer for Rufus) once told me that his father, (jazz great) Dirk Fischer set him straight about the value of time, at an early age. Andre was late to meet his Dad, and Dirk told him to look at the second hand on his watch, because “every second you live — you die. And I hope those precious seconds of my life you wasted we’re not spent in folly son, because every second counts.”
In 2013, I hope to do things differently. I want to step out of my comfort zone at every opportunity. I want to appreciate more – and whine less. And like a great artist, I want to embrace what I can’t control. The surprises could be spectacular.
