Chapter 5: Creativity from "An Artist's Thought Book"

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Just remember that most experimental failures are often seen as “turning points”.

When we envision a project, naturally, we don’t include the trials and tribulations that will actually be required to complete it. We often imagine things going very smoothly. But I ask you to think of your favorite piece of your own artwork or even a proud moment in your life. What I believe you will find is that those projects were on the brink of failure at least once, but probably several times. It is frequently under the circumstances of repeated obstacles that creativity is tapped into at its deepest level. True and deep insight often comes from working relentlessly on a project, but oddly enough the “Eureka” moment comes when we are taking a break from our work. The turning point is when we seem to have exhausted the possible answers to the question “how else can I do this,” and then we are surprised that a most obvious, and frequently a quite simple, solution pops into our head. It is only then that we wonder why we did not see this before.