Creative Restiveness and the artist's Mind- 4 Artist who ventured into other things.

  

"From this evening, I am giving up painting, sculpture, engraving, and poetry so as to consecrate myself entirely to singing” Pablo Picasso.

Once a friend had called me to tell me he is facing harsh criticism regarding his creative works. However, it was a criticism geared towards focus. People told him to concentrate on his paintings because apparently, he created something outside the Art, something related to engineering and fabrication. He a sculptor who enjoys painting, and sometimes craft. They were calling him Jack of all trade, as is customary in this clime for people who gifted in diverse ways.  I have smiled and told him frankly that He is in line, to follow his heart and in the end, he will always find his way. However, the people that were mounting pressure on him to focus on something do not understand the artist's mind. No one understands the artist's mind, not even the artist.

Every artist has a restless mind. I can tell because I have encountered a lot of artists trying their hands on other Art aspects, switching from painting to sculpture, and sculpture to ceramics, and from painting to photography, and sometimes fully into executing experimental science projects to exhibit. I think it’s however, outlandish to try to pin an artist to a particular area of the art. An artist can also execute a science project and call it Art. I think the broad category of what can be called art has changed since the time Marcel Duchamp decided to exhibit a Urinary. This is because there is an expressional phenomenon in an artist that pushes him to try new things.  You can say the Artist easily gets bored of Monotony, a single trite concept for a long time.

There are some Artist who has gone out of their way into something different. It doesn’t make them less of an artist, but an artist with a high level of Imagination and audacity to dream.  Although sometimes they may not succeed, however, the experiences will build their mind beyond that of the everyday person in their time.  So if you are ever experiencing this, just know that sometimes it’s part of the metamorphosis from a caterpillar to Butterfly.  Here are a few Artists who ventured into other areas of the art as well as the sciences, for these people, they believe an artist should not be limited by specialization or circumstance. Let’s begin.

1) Pablo Picasso. 

Picasso made the top list because he was a very restless artist who wanted to explore all aspects of creativity. It is said the in fact in one of his letters he wrote one of his friends declaring he would abandon the visual art for a while and concentrate on writing poetry.  He did that for a while and then said unfortunately he is still painting. In fact, he was rolling among scholars, writers, and philosophers that in 1916 Les Demoiselles d'Avignonde exbition was curated by his friend and writer André Salmon Picassos works were also grouped into periods, to reflect his journey, from a realist painter to a cubist and a potter.  His mother once wrote to him:

They tell me that you write. I can believe anything of you. If one day they tell me that you say mass, I shall believe it just the same."

2) Demas Nwoko 

Demas is an artist who is sometimes regarded as an architect, because of his works on Architecture. Some people see him more as an architect, and others see more of a painter/sculptor. It’s a relative perspective. Six and nine prosocial perspectives. He did extensive works on stage design and theatre and even went into publishing. He was involved like Picasso in the literary art of his time and did a lot of works with them. He also wrote poetry. But Demas did not make this list because of Architecture but because once he had ventured into politics, vying for the post of Nigerians presidency.  Yes, you heard right, Politics. But unfortunately did not win.

3)  Leonardo Da Vinci

The world has paraded his artistry that it has been forgotten that the man was the Jack that tried all trades in happiness to create something. It’s been said of his mind that he was the archetype of what it means to be a Renaissance Man He made this list because of his numerous works in Engineering, physiology, medicine, and Botany. The sciences. Although it is rarely talked about, he ventured into almost everything, but he considered himself an Arista.    

4) Michelangelo

Michaelangelo made this list because of his poetry. Although he was known to have been involved heavily in Engineering, He wrote more than 300 poems during his time. In fact, much that is known of his sexuality came from his Poetry. According to Wikipedia, He wrote over three hundred sonnets and madrigals…they predate by fifty years Shakespeare's sonnets.

In Summary, this list is endless but is evident in the common human artist's desire to live life to the fullness, to create and to contribute meaningfully to their time and the time after them.  It is also to let others experiencing the same that it’s a phase, an important phase for some Creatives who may be a future Global phenomenon. This is also applicable to people in other fields, who feel a certain level of restiveness, that it’s okay to try other things. But the catch is, Be true to yourself, do what you can, and leave the rest to the changing hands of time.