… you like the thing you’re buying.”

Quote from clothes Designer, Paul Smith, in this engaging film about buying art.  He buys across a wide range of artists and price ranges, impulsively, in reponse to the pieces.  And this is what he personally advocates as a buying technique.

Youtube video by Sotheby’s

Creative Takeaway

Paul specifically mentions how a gentleman from Japan sends him exquisite presents with patterns – and how this becomes a jumping off point for ideas for his own new clothing collections.

The story that comes through is also how he was very much influenced at the start in his career by being among art students, and meeting his wife who was a fashion student and taught him the basics of pattern cutting and working with material.

Takeaways for all of us engaged in being creative:

• have a look at the people around you – do you have enough creatives?
• are you surrounding yourself in your workspace with enough sources of inspiration?
• what sounds are around you?  some people may prefer silence, but often artists work with talk radio on in the background (e.g Tracey Emin) or recordings of music (Matisse)

If feeling stuck, can you move things around in your creative space?  Hang pictures in different places, or rotate your desk space through 90 or 180 degrees?  Do you have a truly comfy chair to rest in, and consider how your work is progressing, before getting back to editing it?