Kathleen Dunphy, Waning Winter, oil, 30×30
If there’s a debate in artistic circles over which will get you further, hard work or talent, we might be forgiven for falling back on Thomas Edison’s famous saying, “Genius is 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.” Except that Edison never said those words, and the credit for them should go to a woman named Kate Sanborn who expressed the idea first.
It’s surely true that sustained creativity, the kind needed to build a career, doesn’t happen without hard work. However, it seems to me that 99% of the time, what we call talent (or “genius,” if you prefer) is more like a high-octane combination of imagination, intelligence, luck, and fearless, stubborn persistence (aka a combination of patience and drive). But back to Edison, because this is interesting.
Aline Ordman, Green House Croatia, oil, 9×12
According to Forbes Magazine, in the early 1890’s an academic named Kate Sanborn delivered a series of lectures on the topic “What is Genius?” and it was she who first defined genius as a mix of “inspiration” and “perspiration.” Her words were, “Talent is perspiration.” Now, “if she provided a ratio,” says Forbes, “it was never recorded.”
Sanborn was lambasted by a newspaper editorial for “getting a lot of attention” for stating something so obvious. Nevertheless, when Edison was later asked for his definition of genius, he is said to have answered, “2% is genius and 98% is hard work.” Close but no cigar? But wait! “When probed on whether genius was inspired, he replied, “Bah! Genius is not inspired. Inspiration is perspiration.” That’s pretty darn close to Sanborn and conclusive proof if you ask me.
Put it down to one more in a long line of quotes by women later misattributed to famous men.
Speaking of quotes, “Work harder than anyone else in the room,” says a painter I know, or words to that effect. By sheer force of effort and daily dedication, this artist has built a wildly successful career from scratch. But that doesn’t mean you have to be “perspiring” 24/7, just “working” – otherwise known, by working folks, as “dreaming.”
Clare Bowen, Mousehole Skyscape, oil
But what looks like laziness to an outsider (and even sometimes feels like it to the painter!) is only a kind of creative ferment, a percolation process that can’t be hurried. Painter and writer John Carlson, of Carlson’s Guide to Landscape Painting fame (if you want to know landscape painting and you don’t know this book, seriously look it up. You’re welcome.) says that “the true artist works rather in great gusts of effort, and in smaller gusts of apparent lassitude. He is not lying about ‘waiting for some inspiration.’ He is in the travail of the dreamer entering into expression.”
Now when you see the artist sitting thoughtfully before a blank canvas, Carlson says, know that this is work of a very high order indeed. “Realize,” he says, “what huge gulfs exist” between us and “a thing of dreams.”
Here’s to the hard workers, the patient and persistent, “for we are the music makers and we are the dreamers of dreams.”
Splash Into Plein Air Live
Kathryn Stats, Runoff Glacier, oil, 24 x 36
All of the women whose paintings appear in this edition of Inside Art will be giving demos and sharing their techniques in Plein Air Live, the largest ever online art learning event. Secure a seat and prepare to ratchet up your plein air game from the comfort of your own home, March 9-11, with Plein Air Live.
