During a Zoom conversation with a group of friends this morning I realised suddenly just how introverted I have become during the course of this epidemic and the consequent period of enforced isolation. Thinking about this during the afternoon I wondered whether there might be a direct connection between this and the fact that I have been so unproductive in the recent past. Artistic creativity is often thought of as proceeding from springs that are essentially internal to the artist. Perhaps we need to question that view.
I believe that I mentioned in an earlier blog the enjoyment I had had during the visit of my small grandson, when we spent a part of his visit in the studio drawing together. Our individual inspirations fed off of each other and there was a definite sense of the communication and sharing of creative energy. There are few artists I can think of who have led a kind of solipsistic existence, pursuing despite their detachment from a wider community an entirely self-fuelled artistic vision. I suppose that Stanley Spencer might be one, although his highly idiosyncratic vision rode on the back of the steady output of much more conventional landscapes. Vincent Van Gogh is a better example of an entirely “self-propelled” artistic visionary. Such figures, however, are few and far between. Speaking personally, I really don’t think that I am cut out to produce art driven entirely by an inner vision.