Creative Process - Research Paper Example

?Full Creative Process Andy Warhol, born as Andrew Warhola was the third son to an immigrant couple who noticed the talent of their son at an early age. He attended school and at the same time took free art lessons at the Carnegie Institute, a significant event in the making of this artist. In addition to his love for drawing, Warhol was impassioned by Hollywood movies so that he made regular visits to the local cinema to satisfy his admiration of the artists, not only on the screen but also on the creators of movies. By the age of nine, he received his first camera and this was a turn to the discovery of his talent in photography as he developed by himself in their basement (Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh). Warhol gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in 1949 and went to New York right after his school days with the intention of working as a commercial artist. He became successful in his endeavor and thus begun his other works that made him famous, bringing out the genius in him not only with the camera and brush but included writing and sculpturing. His acquaintances with celebrities gave him the privilege of painting the famous during his time and were included in his subjects of interest. His list includes Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Elizabeth Taylor, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Truman Capote, making them painted portraits which accelerated him to stardom, receiving commissions from wealthy socialites, musicians and film stars (Carnegie Museum of Pittsburgh). Georgia O’Keeffe was trained by a grammar teacher to draw along with her sister in their early age and taught to paint by a local water color painter (georgia-okeeffe.com). She went to the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1905 then continued her studies at the New York’s Art Student League in 1907 through a scholarship. Five years later, she taught at the Catham Episcopal Institute and later worked as a drawing supervisor in Texas. After years of teaching, she went back to her passion and started drawing using charcoal, sending some of her work to a friend who showed it to an acquaintance who appreciated her work and later became her husband, Alfred Stieglitz. This introduction begun her successful career as a painter which lasted through the years despite the challenges of her life like the death of her husband and her blindness brought about by old age. Despite these, she continued to paint and in the later part of her life, was assisted in her works due to her blindness. Ralph Vaughan Williams, a musician who made his first composition at the very young age of six showed signs of a genius with his work and his learning to play the piano, organ and violin as a child. At fifteen, he went to the Charterhouse then to the Royal college of Music to study composition from Hubert Parry and Charles Villiers Stanford, to Trinity College to read history and take his Bachelor of Music (hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com). Later, he went to Paris for an intensive training with Ravel, being unsatisfied with his work “Toward the Unknown Region” despite its acclamation at the 1907 Leeds Festival. Ravel’s music most probably made the distinction in Williams’ music so that later, his teacher said that William did not play his music. On his return, the composer finally found himself, found what he wanted in his music and begun composing with his own style reflecting the Williams genius in him in full originality (hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com). Writing runs in the blood of Robert Graves which is usually stressed by biographers, mentioning his great uncle, Leopold von Ranke who was a highly accomplished historian and Richard Graves, a relative who wrote a novel successful in the 18th century. Through a scholarship, Robert went to Charterhouse after preparatory school where he began writing poetry, performing well enough academically and earned yet another scholarship to St. Johns College in Oxford. However, with the declaration of the war, he enlisted and joined the Royal Welsh Fusiliers and travelled to France as a captain in May 1915. He got severely wounded in the war and during his period of recuperation, he wrote his three volumes of war poetry which gained fame for his writing. In 1927, he separated with his first wife after a troubled marriage affected by the psychological and emotional wounds he suffered from the war. After which, he married Laura Riding who became an inspiration to romantic poetry and a collaborator to the founding of the Seizin Press and wrote several poetic works. The romance lasted for three years, but marked what other things the poet could do with the change of interest brought about by the influences of the people around him. He again married after his separation with Riding and his writing branched to the different influences in his life, like incorporating his beliefs in gods and goddesses. Creativity and genius in the lives of the aforementioned artists are influenced by their family and educational backgrounds. The words influence, family and educational are key words in my definition of creativity and genius because the people around them generally influenced their success later in life. For instance the support given them by their parents and the recognition of their talents have become inspirations to them to pursue their passions rather than accepting their financial state to affect their education. Education is as important as family support because it is teachers who have the training and experience who can teach them the skills they need. A child may be gifted but if it is not nurtured, the gift can become dormant and unproductive. Siobhan Mulholland in her article pointed out that geniuses do not necessarily grow up to be successful adults nor guarantee a degree for them but iterates the sensitivity of parents to the needs of the child (The Sunday Times). Studies of children who showed potentials at early ages unsatisfactorily showed non-performance in their adult lives as were expected from them on the basis of what they were able to do during their childhood. This then leads to the conclusion that abilities would be nothing without hard work exerted by the individual and positive perception as well of one’s self. As Naiman defines creativity being the turning of new imaginative ideas into reality (creativityatwork.com), it also completes the genius in a person because it is that essential part that brings to life the things that are borne in one’s mind. As mentioned earlier, family is an essential influence to the making of a genius but it can also be a cause for its breaking as shown by the life of Sufiah Yusof who at age thirteen earned a place to read maths at Oxford but failed to perform well as an adult, pointing her fingers to her parents about too much pressure (Mulholland). The objectives and motives of her parents may have been well and to the best of Yusof’s life nevertheless, there seems to have been important matters they overlooked in their assistance to the young genius, causing her not to finish a degree and fall out from them. This then gives us another aspect of human beings to consider, the psychological and emotional abilities, which are essential in their coping with the demands of life as they learn and are exposed to other facets of life like relationships (Mulholland). The creative process then branches out to the study of psychology and is not limited only to arts and gifts, at least on the part of the parents so that no talent or genius will come to waste rather be successful ass expected. References Andy Warhol Biography. Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh. n.d. Web. August 3, 2011. . Georgia O’Keeffe’s Biography. georgia-okeeffe.com. n.d. Web. August 3, 2011. . Mulholland, Siobhan. Genius in the Making. The Sunday Times. January 31, 2008. Web. August 3, 2011. < http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/families/article 3277873.ece>. Naiman, Linda. What is Creativity? Creativity at Work: Articles and Tips. 2010. Web. August 3, 2011. . Ralph Vaughan Williams. The Hymns and Carols of Christmas. n.d. Web. August 3, 2011. . Wilde, Robert. Robert Graves. About.com. 2011. Web. August 3, 2011. . Read More