A current theme.

[deerwalk]

Regarding creative endeavors, intoxication is a complicated issue- speaking for myself and also with a number of significant artists in mind (Lee Miller was a dedicated alcoholic and innovative photographer- you may also be familiar with Jackson Pollock's relentless inebriation and profuse creativity). I have begun to drink again. It facilitates an action that seemingly invokes a nod of approval from many despite the quality of the output. By that, I am referring to indulging in a bit of painting. I am unmotivated by the dull constructs and requirements of daily life. I find the structure of an outwardly successful life to be rote and meaningless. Furthermore, the structure often fails... divorce rates, child abuse and infidelity come to mind. Not to mention job dissatisfaction and the rate of self harm, increasing rates of reliance on synthetic brain chemicals to get through a day, road rage, school shootings and a nearly indeterminable number of wrongdoings in our world. I am aware that my current actions run against the happy, popular belief that a creative individual can "get there" without the use of physically detrimental additives. As my capacity for hope has not been entirely diminished, I entertain the idea that chemically uninfluenced creativity and invention is actually possible. My question is, how does one attain a truly fluid, engaged and creative state while existing in this frame of life? That is of course, assuming there's a point. Thanks for listening.

[Astro]

I'm not sure what you're getting at deer, I'm assuming you're saying that alcohol and other substances can enhance or increase creativity and artistic ability (?) Well, probably can't argue that, there are certainly plenty of artists, authors, etc. throughout history that were alcoholics and/or addicts. My younger brother is alcoholic, but he's a pretty successful contemporary artist.

I guess I can't say it works for everyone though. As a kid I was musically talented, played the cello, then tried a few different instruments and settled with guitar. As soon as I started drinking at age 14, my talent diminished rapidly, and while I thought I was a budding rock star, my playing sounded like trash and after a few years of trying I lost interest and only wanted to drink. I still have my musical gear, it's been gathering dust for almost 25 years.

[deerwalk]

Interesting, Astro... Thanks for the response. What's your current creative output? Or otherwise?

[Astro]

I think my definition of creativity has changed in parenthood. I still like music, but I like sharing it with my children rather than playing it. And I've always loved working with my hands, but instead of woodwork I like painting my home and doing remodeling projects.

[Emimily]

i thought i was better at everything when i was drinking, including playing the saxophone and home decoration. turned out not so well - my sax got pawned for drug money and our home decorations became PBR cans spray painted christmas colors and hung around our doorframe.

i'm much more creative today. i have a blog, which is silly, but i love it. i'm beginning a zine with a sponsee. i draw little cartoons, collage, tie-dye, make t-shirts, and am learning to crochet. can't say i was ever motivated to do any of it when i was under the influence. just my opinion.

[eoghanacht]

Hi Deerwalk. Just wanted to add my small insignificant piece.
When I was still drinking heavily, for some reason, I found that I could write poems better, and that my thinking was altered to a somewhat 'higher' intellect, if that makes any sense.

Now that I have stopped (been sober for ..3 mths?), I'm not so much poetically inclined, although I do want to start drawing again.
So, I'm not sure if it was to do with the alcohol in my system, or whether it's just because I'm more artistically inclined than the rest of my family (I have 3 Aunts who are all Artists, but the rest..nada).

[ClayTheScribe]

Deerwalk,

It's interesting you bring this up because I've been thinking about this the other day. That if I were to return to drinking again, it'd probably be because it oils the creative mechanisms in my brain, in at least it's ability to loose my inhibitions, so I'm not so self-conscious about my writing. I wrote almost a whole chapter in my novel I've been working on for like 9 years when I was drunk. And while the quality wasn't bad, I found I could only perfect it when I was sober for a few days. Half the things I wrote when drunk I was ashamed of the next day, usually because they were so stupid. The same thing with pot. I learned many years ago I can't write when I'm high. I can try but it's going to be painstaking and usually stupid. But I often came up with ideas, a lot of them not so great, when I was high, some of them really great, that I could expound upon when I was sober.

I thought the same thing about missing my creativity when I stopped drinking. That what I could come up with wouldn't be the same. But I've found I've got both more reading and creative writing done since I stopped drinking. The only problem is sometimes I let my inhibitions get in the way, but one can be trained to create through them. And yes, I have still come up with great ideas for stories without my substances.

As far as using substances for creativity's sake because other artists have done it is a foolish road if you actually read what happened to these people as a result of their use. Charlie Parker may have never been as great as he was if not on heroin, but it cut his life short and deprived all of us more of his beautiful music. Same thing with Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys used LSD and weed and we got Pet Sounds and SMiLE out of it, but because of his drug use he didn't finish SMiLE, his masterpiece until he was clean and on better psych meds in 2004. And while his voice ain't what it used to be, it still came out as wonderful. Billie Holiday let her career suffer as a result of her heroine and cigarette use. John Coltrane was still able to do amazing work after he got clean (A Love Supreme). Look how drugs claimed the life of Kurt Cobain. Or how Michael Jackson's addiction to painkillers robbed the world of his comeback tour. There are probably as many artists that were successes being sober as there were drug addicts and alcoholics. Miles Davis prohibited drugs in his group and made amazing music. (I use music because I don't know much about painters). That you need drugs or alcohol to create, to me, is an excuse to use, and not a very good one. A true artist wouldn't need them to create what was inside of them unless they were afraid. There's a big thing in my field, journalism, that you have to drink or be an alcoholic to survive and that's just rubbish. That business that a painter has to be dark, mysterious, brooding and a drinker or drug abuser is a silly cliche. Look at Van Gogh and how crazy he went from drinking too much absinthe. As much as it can spark your creativity, it can put an end to your functioning as an artist. Don't follow those sad people down that path.

And there is a point to life, it's YOU! And what you can do with it. If you feel you are a painter at heart, your purpose is to use that talent to enlighten, entertain, provoke and share joy with the world. Eventually alcoholism will take away that purpose, or make it seem not as important as getting your fix. That's what happened to so many greats and it was a sad end.