Did you Ever get a Creative Block?

A great novelist once remarked that o write you need beeswax, a stool, a desk, some paper and a pen. "The beeswax" he said: "...is to stick your arse to the stool." Who would have thought the Victorians could be so crude!
But there is a grain of truth to this advice. I'm constantly working to refine and get better at what I do, and constantly thinking about what I do, musically and in other areas of life. So I can argue (snd do) that even when I don't have a guitar or pen in my hand I'm still 'creating'. Because it isn't just about 'producing' goods. Creativity is about thinking creatively, considering what you do, relating to other creative types, making decisions scribbling down ideas, seeing the world in a certain way.

The 'Inspiration Fairy' will visit, but, as Picasso said, if that visit is going to be any use to you, it has to find your work when it arrives. Otherwise, it will fly through you window, look at you sitting around and do a 180.

Here's a story:

The  would be artist lived his life waiting for inspiration. A musician visited and he said "Go away, I'm waiting for the Inspiration Fairy!"
A teacher came to visit and he said: "Go away,!I'm waiting for The Inspiration Fairy!"
A seller of art equipment  came to visit and he said: Go away, I'm waiting for The Inspiration Fairy!"
Eventually he gave up and died, unhappy because he didn't;t have a single work to show for his desire and ambition.
He saw The Inspiration Fairy, who he held responsible for creativity at the gates of Heaven. and complained:
"Why didn't you help me, you useless lump of fairydom?"
"What do yo mean, said the Fairy? I sent you a musician, a teacher and a peddler....  If you didn't produce anything you've only got yourself to blame!"

Has it Really Been That Long Since I last Posted

I mean February and it's getting on for May I have been sleep at the wheel. Where does the time go? Well let's backtrack and have a little think. I've been on a retreat, called: "The Clark Creative Workshop and Life-Skills Think-Tank and Totally Self-enforced Re-Evaluative Micro-Examination of sorts." Or "CCWLSTTTSEREMES")

I'm still working on the title.

It involved a lot of thinking about Creativity. How it works on us, and how we work it. In particular, I have been thinking about creative blocks.

Like writer's block only, well for Creative types everywhere. It has so many links to other emotional or mental malaises, such as 'Overwhelm' and 'Procrastination' but really how Creativity - or at least the desire to be Creative is under siege from so many different suppressing impulses and ideas.

The good news is I have begun to put together a workshop for Creative people in my locality, and am designing an online programme and face-to-face experience for whole to attend. I even;t set a date, or got a venue, but hey,I'm creative, right? I'll get something done. So if you are reading this after my rather long hiatus, welcome back and watch this space.

In the meantime, here is a link to the last Vanity Dog release in which my advice to Creative people and people who scorn Creativity alike is: "Let it go."

https://vanitydog.bandcamp.com/album/houndesque-ep

In the meantime, I'm busily working on the next Van Dog demos and of course, the pilot tracks for my next Album which is under the working title of:

"If She Floats, She Must Be A Witch"

It's a homage to the women in my life.

Nah, only kidding'.