The Artists Muse

Sometimes it seems that ideas are just not coming fast enough, other times it seems you can't shut them off. Maya Angelou said that, "You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have." I don't paint very often and I am often at a loss to explain why. There is the desire, but desire is not enough. I do have creative outlets. I journal every day and incorporate little color pencil drawings into the borders. So perhaps this should suffice. But there is always the desire to do more. There is always this thought that if one is not painting, one isn't really creating. I'm not sure why this is. Perhaps it just seems that painters get all the recognition, and draftsmen come in a distant second. I couldn't be an oil painter. Too many allergies. Solvents make me sick. But there has always been this desire to play like the big boys. To be able to create a beautiful piece of art that will stand the test of time. To have one's work in a major museum must be an awesome feeling. Robert Ryman paints white canvases. Blank white canvases. Seriously. So there is the sense that it is not all that it seems to be. Fame must have more to do with something other than absolute talent. I'm not saying that Robert Ryman isn't talented, it just seems that perhaps I am missing something. Robert Ryman's works end up in major museums and it is a puzzle to me as to what makes them a critical success.
All my life I thought draftsmanship was everything. If you couldn't draw, you weren't an artist. But there are a number of artists, good artists, who can't draw. Frank Stella is one. In my mind he is a good artist. Seeing his work for the first time at the Baltimore Museum of Art was inspiring. He works in a large scale, most work is metal, he uses enamel paints I believe, and his shapes are abstract. He is a sculptor. And a good one. His pieces are moving works of art. So how does one create such works and still not be able to draw? Most artists make technical drawings to work out any potential problems that might arise. How does Stella work? Where does he get his ideas? Do they just materialize out of thin air? How does he commit them to memory if he doesn't draw? I think it is clear that being a successful artist is more than just having a preconceived notion as to what art is.