The Creative Genius that is You
The flurry of painters that appeared during the Renaissance includes Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Botticelli, Raphael…to name a few. It was as if floodgates of the ocean of creativity were opened and out came the Sistine Chapel, and David and inventions of all sorts – the clear dawning of a new age. Similarly after World War I and the depression, came the roaring 20’s with dance and glorious costumes (short skirts) appearing on the scene. It can look like the creative genius of some specially gifted people – but on closer examination I realized that creative pursuits include partnership- collaboration and patrons. Patrons are more than financial supporters however – they are people who see the creative genius and bring their own to the effort of sharing the beauty they have discovered.
I have a young jewelry artist friend that I have been enjoying now for about 6-7 years. Her work has evolved in so many ways and as she herself says “ I just want to learn, learn, learn”….she creates interesting and collectible designs (check her out at adornmentbynicole on Etsy and Instagram) and I am the recipient of many lovely pieces. This past year of isolation and a sense of darkness, I came to see something new about artistic gifts. The Giving of the gift and the pursuing of the giver are a partnership that cannot be separated. In other words, there is genius is recognizing beauty and sharing it – in saying to someone hey did you hear that piece of music by Leonard Cohen – or have you read the work of Robert Jones Jr.? Without the piece of genius that calls our attention to the artist – the gift would never be proliferated, admired or purchased.
If I had a dollar for every time a client or friend has said to me “ I am just not creative”…I would be sitting on a beach somewhere sipping coconut thingies…but the truth is that creative genius is a partnership of you and the others – and that is how it comes to life.
This was a historic week – I watched somewhat tearfully as Kamala Harris, the first woman of color and ethnicity to be sworn in as Vice President of the United States. Standing on the shoulders of women like my mother in law who owned several small businesses way before her time; or my older sister, who couldn’t get a mortgage as a single woman some 50 years ago. And I watched in awe as Amanda Gorman read her poem with the shadow of Maya Angelou in the background and realized again how many people of genius it took to place both those women fully in their gift. Artistic expression and the expansion of genius is the work of all of us – that Creative genius of generous support and the Creative genius of artistic expression is the work of collaboration and generosity.
The message of giving and supporting and uniting together is the theme of this new dawning – remember, the Renaissance IS you.
