You can’t force creativity
Words: Tous Mag | Image Credits: © Harry Wade |
“If I couldn’t afford paint, I’d use a digital camera. If that broke, I’d play music. If I snapped all my strings, I’d write poems with pencil in a tiny notepad. Whatever the case, I’d be an artist of some kind. It’s only the medium that changes, not me.”
Harry Wade’s outlook on art - which can be readily applied to life in general - is one that we might find use in practicing ourselves. There’s much to be admired about his “if there’s a will there’s a way” attitude. A little perseverance, no matter what life might hurtle towards us, can go a long way.
Tous Mag caught up with Cornwall dweller Harry Wade about his extensive artistic toolbox and how he approaches creativity; we think it’s fair to say that this artist is best connected with himself when he is creating, and he’s not short on means of expression. Remaining self-sufficient from his painting endeavours, Harry offers us a detailed insight into the life of a reflective painter and how his love for experimentation - through the likes of music and photography - has inspired his artistic output, today.
For more, read the interview below!
Tous Mag: Could you tell us a little about you and what you do for a living?
Harry Wade: I’m a creative based in Cornwall, UK. I’m pretty hooked on making things, whatever shape or form that takes. In the last few years I’ve made money from taking pictures but this year I’ve managed to pay my way through painting. I now paint full-time. I guess I tend to be a pretty reflective person. At the same time, I’m quite energetic and I’m usually restless to make something. I love a good philosophical debate over coffee. At any time, actually. And I love jazz.
Tous Mag: Was there a specific moment that encouraged you to pursue being an artist?
Harry Wade: In many ways, my desire to be an artist goes right back to my early teens when I picked up a guitar. Music is art, to me, and making a good song is very similar to painting a picture. I always wanted to paint things with sound. So, this sense of an artist being a creator of aesthetic experience has grabbed me for years. But if I’m talking more recently, what really, really triggered motivation beyond what I had when I was younger, was a trip to Venice with my family. Seeing Kline, Kooning, Warhol, Magritte – in the flesh – changed my whole outlook.
Tous Mag: Have you ever experienced a moment when you questioned your decision?
Harry Wade: Before it started paying for itself, I’ll admit I did question it. When you don’t get a painting right it can be punishing. You can easily spend a whole day on a massive canvas and come away with nothing – barring the fact you just spent a load of money in paint. When you don’t have much of an income, you ask whether you could do this long term, because the simple fact is you need money.
Money has certainly led to some difficult times, but I don’t think this alone could ever make me quit. I say this because I find art, however I make it, is something I simply have to do. If I couldn’t afford paint, I’d use a digital camera. If that broke, I’d play music. If I snapped all my strings, I’d write poems with pencil in a tiny notepad. Whatever the case, I’d be an artist of some kind. It’s only the medium that changes, not me.
Tous Mag: Could you give us an insight into your daily routine?
Harry Wade: I get up and make coffee. Coffee is integral to my day. I like to sit by my backdoor early in the morning, usually for about 40 minutes, thinking and making a loose mental plan for the day. I don’t rush, ever. You can’t force creativity – I can’t force mine at least. I sit and think about the possibilities for the day and this usually leads to a burst of excitement which I use as fuel to motivate action. Painting without inspiration is utterly boring and for me, the equivalent of taking a math exam (although I’m sure math can be exciting). Doing anything creative without real interest sucks so I don’t bother; I’m wasting my time when I paint in that kind of state. I know this so well now and see it as a golden rule. I don’t ever want to make myself paint; I just want to paint. I don’t want to try to sing, I want to sing.
Tous Mag: Do you ever experience artist’s block and what do you do to try and combat it?
Harry Wade: I create things in all kinds of mediums and styles, and this helps in the quieter points of my practice. For example, exploring figurative minimalism keeps me painting when my expressionist work doesn’t flow. I really enjoy it and the sense of being tied to a ‘literal’ thing keeps me inspired and motivated.
I take photos when I haven’t got the will to paint. Photography is very relaxing because you select from the world around, rather than construct. Constructing something can be hard work. I like the freedom of photography, the ability to press a shutter and more or less immediately render the image. Of course, shooting with film is a bit of a slower process but this immediate, selective process remains constant.
I play music in response to the mental fatigue I sometimes have as a result of hours and hours looking at shapes and colours. Music is an incredibly satisfying art because the thing you enjoy unfolds in real time; the results are simultaneous, instantaneous. This immediacy is a crucial and necessary break from my explicitly visual practices which take time.
Moreover, I guess my way of dealing with the wall is pre-emptive. I keep my passion and inspiration flowing by following my gut instincts to create things. If I get an urge to paint a figurative work while doing something expressionistic, I’ll do it if it feels right. Suppressing that desire seems to go against my ‘programming’. I allow this stuff to unfold and spill out and in turn I stay motivated and enthusiastic.
Tous Mag: Have you always engaged with abstract art or do you have a soft spot for any other styles of painting?
Harry Wade: I’ve always veered towards abstract art but, equally, I love figurative work. I guess what I love is relative to the place I am in my life. I’ve gone through various phases where I loved X over Y, Y over X. Now I just accept the simple fact that I can’t predict what I love. I figured this out through acknowledging how I’m always surprised about what I can and do come to love. I believe every style and medium of art has the potential to captivate so, overall, I would just say I have a soft spot for art.
Tous Mag: We noticed that you're interested in photography, does this inform your paintings at all?
Harry Wade: Photography has its place in my process. The countless hours I’ve spent behind a lens now exists as latent information that I draw on either implicitly or explicitly when I make. An example of the latter could be when I select a part of an unfinished larger painting, to then use as smaller completed work or a guide for something larger again.
The process of selection that’s dominant in photography informs how I compose an image: in the same way one thinks about the edge of the frame with a camera, what is left unrevealed, I consider the edge of a canvas. Because of that, I am tempted to say the painting I end up with is indexical of a scene within my mind. The painting is the result of a process of mental selection; the index of said mental scene, however, is perhaps of a vague quality when compared to the precision of a photograph.
Tous Mag: What has been the highlight of your career so far? And what are you working towards, next?
Harry Wade: Quite simply, the biggest highlight so far is having a career in making art. I don’t need more than that. Monetising artistic endeavours is insanely hard and I feel fortunate to be able to have done this. We’ll see how long it lasts. In recent months I realised something about my art: I just care about doing it. If I can have a way to sustainably do it, I’m happy. And if I can’t sustainably do it, I’ll do it anyway and struggle. The former is preferable.
Tous Mag: Do you have any advice that you'd give a young aspiring artist just starting out?
Harry Wade: Everything you create starting out is temporary and a stepping stone. Embrace this and use it as an opportunity to experiment with and explore your interests. Very few artists start creating a certain way and then end up doing that thing all their lives. I started as a musician playing rock, tried studying classical music, went travelling as a landscape photographer, did journalism, packed that in for black and white fine art photography, tried filmmaking, and eventually, after nearly a decade of exploration, landed with painting. And the nice thing is I’m still playing with nearly every creative thing I explored along the way.
Tous Mag: If we asked you to give an important message to our readers, more generally, what would it be?
Harry Wade: I wouldn’t want to prescribe advice, but perhaps I would say to innovate your life and question your assumptions. And be kind – it’s contagious.
