ArtBistro

communication with the outside leads to insiration, I have found. good article

Great article! Thanks.

Well...you caught me in a down cycle and this has been the most encouragement I have had in a long time. Just to hear again that I am not alone with the creativity and the curse. My bi-polar condition has made me withdrawn and apprehensive about being around peole who don't know what it's all about. It is not about mood swings alone. It is about having to deal with being in a different zone from other people. It is about mentally processing everything around me in a saturated state of analizing everything until it has been disected to the limit. Then going at the same thing again from another angle, analizing that and around and around I go. Meanwhile, I get so bored with people and their talk about the weather.

unfortunetaly insanity is still a symptom of brilliance. To know the name of a demon definitely maintains a certain control. It is a constant struggle. What I do notice about your dissertation is that you are modernly using the computer. I have found that working in a sunny window with true pigments really cuts the headache factor. Painting wooden chairs crazy patterns is the best anti-depressant that I have found. If the paint fumes get to you, primed pieces can be found and sharpies work fairly well. Good luck and Good Health! Your moon-tan is glaring through the screen, get some but not too much sun.

Check out the book ''Touched with fire'' Manic-Depressive Illness and the Artistic Temperament by Kay Redfield Jamison it's a very helpful and inspiring read...

To quote the play "Proof", "Sanity is a choice." For many, including myself, that is a profund statement. For me, it does require meds, and making choices, daily. I have three small children. This gives me extra incentive. But we have chosen a slower pace of life, living with less in a small beach town, sticking to the essentials. When we lived in a large city, there was more recognition and opportunity, but the energy there was too much for me. Sometimes, I think as artists, we do best when we engineer our world around the knowledge that what works best for more traditional personality types (as deemed by society) is not best for us. For whatever it's worth...

A well written and important issue that many have to deal with. Luckily I am in a position where I do not, a position created by personal choices.
It is important to remember that there is a fine line between production and art. Art at it's deepest expression is not bound by any rules or time frames whatsoever. It is about the actual act of creating as much or even more than the "product" or artifact created.Taking a break becomes a personal choice.
That said, professional art and design creates an entirely different world in which to work and play, one that does not always take into account the mental, physical, or spiritual wellbeing or expression of the artist.
If the art you are creating does not in and of itself promote good mental health, should you really be doing it? I think it is an important question to ask oneself.
And if the answer comes down to "for money" one really needs to ask what that really means.
The mental instability could be a direct cause of investing time in creating "art" or design that is meant to coerce others into wanting or needing things which they do not really need.
That kind of activity could even be construed as a mild form of psychological violence or brainwashing, no matter how beautifully or well designed. To be amoral about it is to be inhuman and apathetic towards the effects we have on others.
Of course, I am not saying this as a blanket statement, and by no means is all design meant to do so, but it is an issue that should not be ignored, no matter how many feathers it ruffles. We all too often set ourselves up as victims of situations rather than grabbing the reigns and being as much of an artist with our own life choices as we are with our "artifacts" we create.

Good advice & Interesting I have an identical rock in your photo...