Bluma Herman Creativity Essay

Noah Leverett

Ronda Dively English 102

2/13/2014

Profile of a creative Artist

            Grandma Bluma is a wonderful and great individual.  When someone says creative, like a bubble, she pops into my head and immediately I think of her.  Creativity is something everyone values, and though all may not exhibit it regularly, it is a virtue that appears often to those who nurture it.  It is like a seedling.  One must water with the perfect amount of water, and take perfect care as prescribed by a gardening manual.  There is a manual for creativity, and it is life.  Through suffering and through joy, creativity emerges as a balance beam, a steady rock to lean on when "life is just too overwhelming."  The talented artist Bluma Herman emerges from the shadows and uplifts people with her art.  Focused primarily on nature, Bluma brings the trees and flowers to life on canvas, opening people's eyes and waking their souls with the beauty of that which can be even prettier in paint.  Flowing rivers, oceans with shimmering sunsets, even powerful mythical creatures are portrayed through her work.  The colors splash onto her canvas like a wave: consistent and powerful.

            A few minutes in front of one of her paintings makes one realize how animated the world really is.  Her paintings are a cosmic display of faces, flowers, and the fantastic.  Bluma leaves viewers wondering, "What went on in the mind of the artist?" 

 

            But enough of all the praise that artists so reverently receive!  Let's get down to the fundamentals, the depths of the artist, the creativity behind the activity.  Bluma is essentially a creative person because she makes new things.  She takes raw materials, plain and dull to start, and mixes them with each other to form something life-like and beautiful.  "Communicating" with the people around her, she plops on one glob of paint after another, essentially creating a new image otherwise unseen by anyone.  The act of painting, though structured and requiring a plan, is quite spontaneous.  Every brush stroke contains in it a life like a seedling, delicate and vibrant.  And this is why Bluma is one of the foremost creative persons in today's day and age.  She claims to be not much different from other artists, that it is only her current interest that makes her different.  This is a very though-provoking insight.  But for those that know her, she is quite unique, her personality as energetic as the moon on a warm night.  Though the visual arts are her strong suit, she enjoys cooking.  She draws inspiration from film.  These activities and interests help establish her creative credentials, but what exactly is creativity?  Delving deep into the definition of creativity, we explore definitions and words spoken by the artist herself.

            My definition of creativity is "The successful art of making new entertaining stimuli out of nearly nothing."  The definition of creativity for Bluma is, "A way to express yourself.  You have something you want to express, and you become creative about expressing yourself, in one form or another.  You feel the need to express yourself." (Herman Interview)  Bluma has been creative for many years, so her definition is definitely one worth pondering.  She says creativity is a way to express yourself.  This is interesting.  It is like everyone is expressing themselves daily, and often they are creatively.  But isn't there a way to express yourself that isn't creative?  It seems to be a very broad definition because she doesn't signify the forms of creativity, she simply says 'in one form or another'.  She also connects the words creative and expressions.  The paintings she makes are undeniably expressions.  There is a strange mystery surrounding the word expression, because it is hard to say what is being expressed and to locate the place from which the expression is coming from.  What really is being expressed?  Is it just words or a beautiful picture, or is someone just arranging material things in an interesting way?  She goes on further to say there is a need to communicate and express.  It is innately a human thing to be creative, and an aspect of survival.  It is as though to get through day, one must be creative at least once.  Or to bear the burden of life's existence, one must be creative.  Bluma's definition of creativity is similar to many other definitions of creativity in that often people think of creativity as a tool to overcome life's dullness.  Emphasizing the word express, she maintains that creativity in painting. 

            If creativity is a human need, and it is a tool to express oneself, then what makes Bluma creative?  When asked why she is creative, she responded that she has a need for approval.  This resides in many artist's hearts, and is a strong incentive to create.  Approval and respect follows creativity.  Because it is human nature to be creative, and there is a human need to create, respect naturally attaches itself to those who fulfill their needs.  When I need to do my homework, and I do it, I am automatically considered a righteous, responsible individual.  Many people act out of a need for approval, and this approval keeps them happy and connected to the community around them. 

            I asked her the question, "What makes you different from other artists?"  Interestingly, she said that she really wasn't very different.  All artists are creative, and she claimed that she was pretty much the same as every other creative person.  After hearing a somewhat surprised response, she explained further: "The only thing that makes me different is my interest and what I'm trying to communicate.  Every artist has his or her own interest, and they create according to that interest.  If we all had the same interest, we'd all be making the same kind of thing."  (Herman Interview) 

            Bluma put a strong emphasis on communication.  Creativity really boils down to communication.  And the artist can be communicating numerous different things.  She gave some examples: Anger, disbelief, political activism.  Though, it seems like she portrays none of these in her paintings.  Most of her paintings are depictions of nature: dynamic images that capture the beauty of the outdoors.  Speaking of communication, I asked her what her purpose is in painting these natural gems?  "Bringing truth and beauty to their lives," she says. Truth and beauty; such abstract words, yet almost seen transparently through the images.

 

            I asked her about the past, about some of her experiences and how they transformed her passions to the creative arts.  As a young child she got approval and appreciation in school for her visual forms of expression.  The schools she went to ultimately encouraged her to be creative and they gave very uplifting approval.  Because of this, and probably for a multitude of reasons, Bluma became one of the more prolific painters of her generation. 

            Many people, if asked, would say Bluma Herman is creative.  Only a stickler that is attached to his or her definition would claim otherwise, but that is irrelevant.  Let's go back to my definition of creativity.  ""The successful art of making new entertaining stimuli out of nearly nothing."  Does she succeed in this endeavor?  I think so.  She gathers some water, a few paint brushes and a bunch of tubes of paint, and from that, she entertains.  It is so simple and yet so extravagant.  To make something beautiful out of something plain, to me, is creativity.  A piano is simply a piano, but with technique and some fast fingers, a person can create a beautiful piece of music.  Bluma is inherently creative because she has all the qualities that her definition prescribes.  She communicates successfully to her audiences and expresses that which she needs to express.  I would say that a person is creative if they do what their definition prescribes.  In other words, if they define creativity as solving math problems, and they solve math problems, then they are fundamentally creative.  But some would say that they must fit into other's definitions as well.  Like a key in a lock, she fits into practically all of the definitions of creativity.  Everyone that knows Bluma understands in their heart that she is a creative person because her paintings radiate a truth and beauty that inspires even them to be creative.