Creativity is the great facilitator; the force of passion within us all keeping the flame of individuality alive. Without it we all share the same thoughts, ideas and attitudes in a world where everything seems too familiar to be unique. The ways creativity has impacted our lives is truly insurmountable. We as a species have traversed lands near and far, invented tools to achieve almost undreamed of feats, and generated unworldly works throughout history due to our own tenacious curiosity and creativity. Creativity is forged deep within our souls; it is truly a tango of the heart, mind, spirit and will. It brings us awake and keeps us limber like exercise. It is one of the most important ways we have to communicate with each other, document history and retell the stories of humanness.
It is currently 2025. Creativity is still as wild as ever, but the evolution of tools we have created to enrich our lives are designed to make things more exciting and efficient. These advances though filled with promise, have the ability to dull our senses with the impression that we have somehow made improvements by putting in less effort. The feeling is as though we stumbled upon something brilliant, or we won a treasure chest with shortcuts for some of the things we didn’t think we needed to take the time to do. It’s a funny thing really. When we rely on shortcuts to use our imaginations, we slowly begin to lose our ability to harness the creative power. The skills become less sharp, the excitement less exuberant. The result is not made of the same spark that comes from within. It is a replacement for a part of you that is just so irreplaceable. Though it may start out small, with time it can grow into a mess of forgotten skills, lost ideas, and can manifest into what cliche all creatives dread, a block.
I can with great certainty tell you that though these things are in fact happening to human begins all over the planet. There are examples of it in various locations around you every day. The thing I love about it is, it cannot possible last. And I know this because the creative and hardworking folks that bring their humble bodies into our art studio 5 days a week do not see the necessity in these bells and whistles. The excitement of gadgets and shortcuts provide entertainment and a distraction for a time, but they do not replace laughter, nor sharing ideas, nor creativity on the page, imagination in the air, in the third dimension or made from bits of this very earth we stand on. These artists we share our space with wake up in the morning knowing they can turn this idea or that into a reality in a myriad of ways, and that is deliciously natural, easy and complex all at once. None of us can put it down. The thought of an emerging idea at your fingertips at any given moment is a hauntingly cheerful notion filled with great weight that is both heavy and ephemeral. And while ideas and creativity may or may not provide a good weight for some to carry, they are certainly a worthy weight to carry. The weight of never ending renaissance. It’s too important to release. And that’s why we haven’t throughout all of history. Creativity and inspiration are always there because we always need them. If you don’t want to take my word for it, come join us in the studio at NCA. It’s not just happening here, but also in other studios, gardens, libraries, basements, and classrooms all over the planet. It can happen anywhere. It can even happen to you if you let it.
Viva la renaissance.