Reknown contemporary furniture maker Wendell Castle, age 80, still creates 6 days a week and lectures at R.I.T. where he has taught for 50 years. He wrote a guide to creativity and below is a partial list of his words of wisdom. They are concepts worth pondering.
To be truly creative, artists should make their work for themselves.
If you are in love with an idea, you are no judge of its beauty or value.
Never state a problem to yourself in the same terms it was brought to you.
If it’s offbeat or surprising, it’s probably useful.
If you do not expect the unexpected, you will not find it.
If you hit the bull’s eye every time, the target is too near.
You should never know for whom you’re designing.
If your mind is not baffled, your mind is not fully employed.
Imagination, not reason, creates what is novel.
Felting artist, Rosemarie Peloquin, made a statement about her felted work and it equally applies to basketry and any craft made from natural materials:
“The spirit in the natural fibers migrates from wood to wool to maker’s hand to viewer’s consciousness. Regardless of what fences you build or boundaries you establish, there will be movement into and out of those boundaries. Nothing exists in isolation. I’ve found it is best to be open and work with the will of the materials, sculpting intuitively to give voice to the spiritual elements. The natural fibers move and connect, transforming…. giving life to the spirits within.”
