ARTISTIC TALENT : THE GIFTED FEW?

[mood indigo]

in all of us? to a degree like any other talent

No matter how hard some people work they will only become competent and never have that extra spark

same with maths, being an athlete or a famous footballer

no matter how hard I tried I wouldn't be any good at them in a million years!

Talent alone isn't enough though, you need a curious mind and a lot of hard work!

A creative talent can show itself in interior design, making imaginative costumes for school plays etc - it needn't be painting.

[EtherealMooncat]

Thanx for that…um…collage of thoughts Bill!
From your turn of phrase I would deduce that either (a.) you are an inspired & eccentric visionary like your venerable namesake or (b.) you drop acid before going online. Or something.

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"When it is dark enough you can see the stars"

[Gwenlyn Norton]

Nature versus nurture??? An age-old question that even today's intellectual elite and best educated men and women cannot seem to answer in any explicit, satisfying manner. But opinions fly around based, mostly, on our own experiences, with an occasional study.

We spend out lifetime etching neural pathways in our brains with behaviors that become more and more comfortable with age. Our behaviors and responses to stimuli become predictible.

When it comes to discussing how the expression of this one aspect of living life, which we label creativity, becomes manifest is very difficult, if not impossible.

We act. We react. We inherit certain characteristics and tendencies which form the basis of our actions and reactions. These can be strong or weak influences on our behaviors. (I think I can safely put creativity in with one of these inherited tendencies.) The strong ones will tend to develop more because of our inherent genetic makeup. If the environment encourages these strong tendencies, they will fluorish. If the environment discourages these strong tendencies, the resulting behaviors will manifest themselves, even in some off-beat, obscure way, but they will be expressed.

Each of these expressed behaviors may be a pleasant or unpleasant experience.Our conscious mind will make that decision and determine subsequent behaviors, based on the influences of other inherited tendencies, weak and strong.

If the weaker genetic tendencies are discouraged, they may never be expressed. If they are encouraged, they will be expressed and possibly discarded, for lack of interest. Or they may be investigated further with more conscious effort on our part.

The point I'm trying to make, we are born with certain tendencies. Given a sane sound mind, it's up to us to determine which will be of use to us and which will not. Our inherented genetic makeup directs us, and we subsequently attempt to place ourselves in environments which bring out the desired best in each of us. It's a constant balancing act. Enjoy the view.

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Gwenlyn Norton - http://www.gwenlynsgallery.com/
.... seeing the world through a broken lens.

[Vik]

Well I like this can o squirms sluuurp! Tasty
Genius? well who counts, let me see, usually younger sons of the moneyed classless with bad attitudes to other (specifically) gender groups etc. Einstein for example was fairly vicious in his opinions about his wife no matter who did the housekeeping or who searched for a universal constant, or was that it?
Sorry but not many have the time or support to be declared geniusess. There's all that tedious practical stuff that gets in the way, life the universe and everything. But talent ah talent... must here advocate pook theory, it's out there man. Though admittedly sometimes quite a long way out there. And here's a microthought, nay even a nanothought, patience, diligence, practice? Sheer bloodymindedness? and for me at least an ever mounting discontent when not ()arting.
Not meaning to sound rabid but, unfortunately, succeeding.
Vik x
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Note to self, just get on with it!

[EtherealMooncat]

To Gwenlyn, Greetings...

Well firstly, prithee accept my aplogies for taking soooooo long to reply to your eloquent & considered comment. I have not haunted this particular realm of cyberspace for a while, and have instead been wandering hither & thither thru the Wilderness of the Web. I return here as (judging by last time I was here) it seems one of the few places (in the real or virtual worlds) where a Cat from Outer Space can actually find some intelligent discussion.

Heh, it sounds from your remarks that as well as being an artist you are also a student of the Science of Psychology. This is a subject I've studied myself in some depth, altho' as the years go by I feel increasingly dubious about the validity of it's claims of giving us a meaningful insight into the true nature of the human psyche.

That said, the study to which I refered towards the end of my original post offered what seemed to me a rather convincing & intruiging set of evidence & conclusions. I didn't go into details at that time, as that was the subject of 'Artistic Talent : The Gifted Few Part II'. However, as no-one has expressed any enthusiasm for reading this sequel, it has remained unwritten. Hardly suprising really, I'm pleasantly suprised that nearly 2,000 souls have been patient enough to read the dreary drivel I laid down in 'Part I' as it is...


Oh, and having visted your website I have to say I was much impressed by the variety & quality of your artwork : not all of it to my personal taste, but some of it I liked very much indeed. Mayhaps we can hold further discourse at some time, until then...

Farewell
*tips tophat*
Mooncat
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"When it is dark enough you can see the stars"

[EtherealMooncat]

To Vic, Greetings from the Frozen Dream Towers of The Silver Moon...

Oh contrare, I don't think your words sounded rabid at all, more like a bit of a justified snarl... and there's nowt wrong w' that, sez I, especially when scribed with eloquent humor, as what you have done (beggin' yer pardon for mi appalin' grammar and wot-not innit).


BTW, Profound Apologies for not replying to your comment sooner... I have been away, up hill & down dale (at least in the virtual sense). Of course, wheresover I have laid my hat I have laid on The Sad Catters Teaparty... and so, as I now once more place my topper upon the the ArtForums.co.uk hatstand for a while... may I offer you a cup of tea, and mayhaps a muffin - much tastier than a can of squirms I can assure you!

Not that I am one to cast aspertions (spelling?) on the impecable taste of the genteel Mr Darkhouse... who if you recall, was the originator of that 'can of squirms' phrase. Throughout my journeys beyond the boundaries of this particular region of the Web, I have maintained a regular irregular correspondance with Mr D, and I must say that he is not only one of the finest Digital Artists that I have ever encountered, but also a true Gentlemen, a fellow traveller, and a fellow of refined aesthetics & sparkling wit.

Anyway, enuff of my wittering... mayhaps we can hold further discourse on some occasion; until then or infinity (whichever comes first)... Toodlepip. Or something.

*tips hat*
Mooncat
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"When it is dark enough you can see the stars"

[EtherealMooncat]

To Mood Indigo, Greetings...

Wow, what a fantastic avatar!
Thanx for your comment on my diatribe & apologies for the tardyness of my reply. Your remark that talent alone is not enough is a profound one methinks. *wander orf to ponder this further I will* (yep, I've been watching the re-runs of Star Wars on Sunday telly!)


*tips hat*
Mooncat
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"When it is dark enough you can see the stars"

[Enrique]

hi mooncat
just ambled around your domain with my greymatter in tatters
seriously dangerous art amigo, its a long time ..eons..since iv seen a shutter capture a moment like a speeding bullet ..allbeit ego but therego nevertheless art in all its glory ....i was in favour of nurture myself and will forsake the gifted for the merit of the devious..i too employ the glass ..tho i feel IMO in shackles after seeing your work...
incidentally i hear the pope has given Galileo a pardon...cheeky swine he should be at the stake for his impertinence....yes i suppose i favour the grindstone .
it is a learned art to be concious......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
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DESIGNER- OF DIAMOND JEWELLERY
SIGNWRITER GRAPHICS PAINT
AND 3D CAD CAM WAX MODELS

[vincentjnewman]

what doe's egalitarianism mean?
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my online art gallery: http://artfair365.co.uk/artists/vincentnewman my music profile: http://www.myspace.com/vinnievagabond

[EtherealMooncat]

REPLIES...

To vincentjnewman :

'egalitarianism'?... um, I suppose it could be defined as a point of view which advocates equality (in terms of rights, status, validity, etc) for one & all.

Oh, and thanx for reading my peripatetic peroration in the first place...

To Enrique :

Heh, thanx for sharing your flow-of-conciousness stylii thoughts upon the subject my good sir! I wonder what it was that left your grey matter in tatters... and I trust you've been able to sew the torn material back together in a satifactory fashion, perhaps in the form of a surrealist collage. Or something.


I pressume the 'domain' you refer to is my deviantart gallery, but I'm not sure what you mean by 'I too employ the glass'... cameras mayhaps? I shall visit your gallery presently and see what I shall see...

*tips hat*
E. Mooncat Esq.
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"When it is dark enough you can see the stars"