Marc Chagall– The Betrothed and Eiffel Tower, 1913
If I create from the heart, nearly everything works; if from the head, almost nothing.
–Marc Chagall
Monday. Let’s just look at a couple of Chagall paintings, okay? Can’t go wrong that way.
Plus, his advice above is some that I have found to be true and try to emulate in my own work. I have found that concepts that form intuitively in the moment almost always prove to be more natural and lasting than those that are thought out in the mind. Work formed in and directed by the unconscious part of our brain usually possesses an organic reality that can’t be matched by the workings of our conscious brain.
I have talked about this in past gallery talks. Instinct over intellect– the fact that we our conscious mind can’t match the power of our intuitions and instincts because we are simply not as smart as we believe ourselves to be.
The work of the heart always outshines that of the head.
If you need further proof, just look at these Chagalls.
Redtree Times 
For a couple of decades or more, I’ve found the phrase “intuitive planning” useful to describe both life decisions and some of my ‘creative’ work. For example, the Walden West series on my blog came to mind ‘out of nowhere,’ as they say. Now that I’ve finished that, another spot — with a perfect title — simply occurred to me. All that’s left is to flesh it out, and, of course, to work out the logistics.
One more writer’s example: a couple of weeks ago I was leaving a comment on a blog when I looked at what I’d written and thought,”That’s an etheree.” I changed the comment, and started a draft. Now, I have seven of the ten lines. When it pops up, you’ll know how it started.
I had to look up etheree. Now I can’t keep myself from attempting to construct one. Looking forward to seeing your new one soon!
Go to The Task at Hand and do a search for ‘etheree.’ I went through a couple years of writing them regularly, and then went into a dry spell. That may be over, if temporarily.
Wonderful paintings, and a great quote. I worked 90% of my life in Nuclear Power and had to use my intellect virtually every moment of that time. Since retiring in 2016 I find that I’m relaxing and moving away from being brain focused and driven. I am feeling much more human and compassionate these days.
Thanks for providing a moment of reflection.
You make an important distinction there, Cliff, one that I thought about when writing this today, speaking about instinct over intellect. The creative process often works in the gray areas of instinct and intuition where science and technology more often operate in terms of black and white part of the intellect. Both have their place in this world but finding that spot where the two can coexist is the key, as you point out.