I've wanted to start a blog for a long time.. it seems to be a good way of collecting together the thoughts, sources and ramblings associated with my passion for art, history and literature.
Starting a creative writing course at the Open College of the Arts has finally put words into action, and already I'm finding myself inspired by taking part in practical creative work.
Art can seem all too often like an epic and mystical undertaking, whether it be painting or writing poetry. The OCA course has already helped me view artistic endeavour as more of.. a craft.. a vocation.. in which a vast toolbox of tricks and lessons can be utilised. It is certainly an easier way to break down and approach the creative process, rather than sitting around waiting for bolts of stupendous inspiration. AHA! Art is a skill, a job, not a mystical calling!
The great Werner Herzog has articulated this better than me... here he is, speaking during the making of Fitzcarraldo, in the documentary film Burden of Dreams (1982)...
It is not only MY dreams, my belief is that all these dreams are yours as well and the only distinction between me and you is that I can articulate them.
And that is what poetry or painting or literature or filmmaking is all about. It’s as simple as that.
I make films because I have not learnt anything else, and I know I can do it to a certain degree. And it is my duty, because this might be the inner chronicle of what we are. We have to articulate ourselves, otherwise we would be cows in the field.
- Werner Herzog, 'Burden of Dreams', 1982
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