It is a statistical fact that very few artists are comparable to Leonardo da Vinci. Most of the lesser talented also sell their stuff but will never be mentioned in a history of art. Genius is just that: genius.

Best regards,

Lilliana

Thank you all for your erudite answers.  I appreciate your input.

@Peter,

"Once an artist is always an artist" as the way of thinking of yours would have got certain patterns and vision for the world as well as the events that will not change easily even if you do not use some of your skill now. But whatever you do will have visible or invisible artistic touch that would be felt by anyone.

Thank you for your responses Markovic and Vrajeshkumar.

Napoleon thank you for your wonderful answer....I see myself as an artist, and as a creative thinker...so it's good to get affirmations that I don't necessarily have to paint in order to express my creative voice, I want to express it in different ways as well.

Creativity is improvisation and instinct. Productivity is the practice of only intellect and reason.

I am sure contributors do not mean this collectively or individually but the tone and scope of this discussion so far would lead a novice reader to assume creativity is only associated with the arts and indeed with art itself.  Nothing of course could be further from the truth.  Scientists, mathematicians and engineers can all be creative.  In design terms, which is my field, here is an interesting example that alos teaches us something else about creativity.

Some time ago a charity needed funding to provide wheelchairs for disabled children in African countries.  It had less money than it could spend and asked an industrial designer to look at the problem for them.  He quickly realised that the critical problem here was cost and that suggested he found a way of using the cost benefits of mass production. Of course this particular market was far too small to generate these on its own.  So he looked for mass produced items that might be extremely cheap and could be used.  He eventually settled on a childs tricycle and a simple lightweight folding garden chair.  He devised a very simple and cheap way of bolting these too together adn designed the fittings and a few extra pieces to make the whole thing work.  Of course it wasnt the most beautiful looking wheelchair ever designed but it meant many times more disabled children could be a little more mobile in and around their homes.

Now I think that was a very creative act indeed.  No one had ever thought of this before, or at least certainly never brought it to a realisation.  But if you had just looked at the object you might have laughed and dismissed it as an awful abortion and never once given it a chance of being rated as creative.  Often today in the design world and particularly in education creativity is treated as originality and beauty.  Few look into the situation in which the work was done and miss the really creative people and acts.

If this interests you look at a paper I wrote extending this argument that is listed here and indeed a full copy posted called Fake and Real Creativity.

Thank you Bryan R Lawson for your wonderful answer! 

Thanks C. Lewis Kausel, I have proposed something akin to fulfilling that need maximally in my latest 'Paper"...Virtual Production and the New Economy.  Feel free to check it out. 

Master Peter, I have this to say. If a woman has not given birth, it doesn't mean she can not be a mother. Once that potential is there, she can be a mother. So even though she's not been productive, the creativity is still there.

It is the same with you. Just because you have not painted something in a long time does not stop you from becoming an artist. However, once  you set your artistry in action, by doing new paintings, your creativity will lead to productivity. From this, I think its possible to be an artist and not manifest any first order objects or artefacts.

Master Peter, I have this to say. If a woman has not given birth, it doesn't mean she can not be a mother. Once that potential is there, she can be a mother. So even though she's not been productive, the creativity is still there.

It is the same with you. Just because you have not painted something in a long time does not stop you from becoming an artist. However, once  you set your artistry in action, by doing new paintings, your creativity will lead to productivity. From this, I think its possible to be an artist and not manifest any first order objects or artefacts.

Master Peter, I have this to say. If a woman has not given birth, it doesn't mean she can not be a mother. Once that potential is there, she can be a mother. So even though she's not been productive, the creativity is still there.

It is the same with you. Just because you have not painted something in a long time does not stop you from becoming an artist. However, once  you set your artistry in action, by doing new paintings, your creativity will lead to productivity. From this, I think its possible to be an artist and not manifest any first order objects or artefacts.

Sorry I'm a little late to the conversation but I've been busy doing art in my theatre this past week.  Perhaps there's another question here that should be asked.  Was Austrian pianist Paul Wittgenstein still a pianist after he lost his right arm in the war and before Ravel wrote his Piano Concerto for Left Hand?  I would venture to say the answer would be a resounding, Yes.  Just because an artist, or should I say someone who has an artistic temperament, doesn't have the opportunity to practice or perform their art due to personal incapacity or environmental restraint doesn't mean they stop being an artist.  What matters is their desire to find a medium of artistic expression.  Quadriplegic painters use their mouths to hold the brush.  Blinded actors may turn to storytelling or writing.  Only the artist can change their status, and only they, themselves, can find the alternatives that speak to their artistic need to create.  

My personal opinion as a working artist is that being an artist is what we are, not necessarily what we do.  Some artists are forced to work in non-artistic jobs but somehow they still find a way to express the art -- community theatres and orchestras, sewing, singing, painting, poetry, even scrapbooking.  Tropical artists use leaves and plant fibers just as a woodworker uses veneers to create their own version of marquetry.  Even if you are unable to move you can still create.  In this respect, even Stephen Hawking's work is likely influenced by what he sees in his mind and what he creates there must start with art and imagination.  If there's a way, art will find it.  

We all have innate artistic potential in our brains, some just use it more than others.  I don't think anyone really knows why but we know that it's prehistoric.  Drawing a picture and telling a story are merely two sides of the same coin.  But we do not have to produce some tangible work in order to be artists.  We do not have to perform for others.  Of all the things our brains do, I think art is the most personal and subjective.  So, short answer -- Who cares what anyone else thinks.  Who do you say you are?  

Thanks Bill for your marvelous answer, I just wanted to say I developed allergies to the paint and most everything I was as my allergist put it, "...One of the most allergic people I have seen through my offices".  I am still getting over the psychological barrier of getting to work...years of lethargy affecting me, but I should be on to my prospects soon.  LOVE making art. Thanks Desmond for considering me a Master of Art but I am afraid I am far from that.  Thanks for your input as well!

In this day and age, when it coms to art, anything goes! And I think that is very good: freedom of expression. Of course, talent is always necessary... :-)

Best regards, Lilliana

concerning your allergies - been there. Just wondering - by which thought processes would one arrive at the idea that, because one is not active in the field of one's calling, one no longer is that?a machine standing mute still is a machine.

And an artist is not an artist only when s/he is working. It is a manner of looking at the world, of interpreting ideas and emotions and posing uncomfortable questions. Whichever rivulet of the great art stream you inhabit, you are most decidedly not an economist, or a politician, eh? they're in another drainage basin altogether.

Peter,

How sad that you had to postpone your creative work because of allergic reactions to your media.  Sounds like you got sensitized somewhere along the way with something highly toxic.  You are not alone.  Many artists and craftspeople have had very bad reactions to their materials over the years and even in shops and studios today it is difficult to prevent toxic exposure and stay on top of what is and isn't safe to work with.  You may be interested in the work of Monona Rossol who runs the Arts, Crafts, and Theatre Safety website.  She's constantly on the lookout to keep artists from getting sick and even dying from their work.  Her website is www.artscraftstheatersafety.org and she has a monthly newsletter that ranges from ceramics to outdoor concert stages blowing over.  

Outside of continuing to put your health on the line and try to experiment with various paints to find out what does not trigger your allergic responses I would recommend you try your hand at digital media.  Of course, you may be way ahead of me on this but unless you are allergic to a computer this may be your best bet for the time being.  I know that for a painter nothing can compare to the tactile experience of pushing a brush through wet paint and applying it to a surface but I have found both Autodesk Sketchbook and Corel Painter to be excellent digital alternatives.  Furthermore, if you are an educator or student you can get them for very low prices at the academic software websites.  You can spend an obscene amount on the hardware to create the images but I get by pretty well for my theatre scenic design work with a Wacom medium size Intuos pen tablet to use with my desktop computer and a Samsung Galaxy Note Pro 12" tablet for sketching.  Wacom's Cintiq line is out of this world and gives the most realistic painting and drawing experience ever but it's beyond my price range and artistic needs.  I also found a nice utility printer in the Brother all in one Business Smart line that prints up to ledger size.  I can put a piece of Canson or even Bristol Board in the rear feeder slot and print in high quality directly on the paper.  Using the highest quality settings produces a very nice result and I am even able to use the bristol board output for making full color scenic models.  For larger work and finished outputs you can use commercial printing and plotter services that can do some amazing things these days including canvas printing.  Anyway, Good luck with everything.  Who knows, you may even be able to combine your traditional skills with modern hardware to create something entirely unique and very special.

Thank you Bill Jenkins for a most empathic and thoughtful post to this question! Thanks D.E. Morant for your response to my inquiry as well.