In this post J.T. Kirkland discusses why aging can only enhance creativity, through the wisdom and experience that it offers. An excerpt:

“What follows is something that recently struck me but I haven’t had much success in flushing it out. Please excuse the rambling nature of this post.

Some time in the last week I was hit with a strange feeling. It was a moment where I felt like I was smarter, more aware, wiser. I’m not sure how to describe it. I felt like I was more in tune with myself and the world around me than I had ever been before. It wasn’t a huge leap, just a small step. But an important step.

As it related to my art, I realized that while I’m still not always certain about what I’m making, I am more comfortable with it. I think this partially explains my willingness to experiment, to take my work in new directions. It also relates to my comfort with criticism and skepticism in the gallery. I feel like I know what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, and I feel good about the end products. This doesn’t relate to quality of work – though it might, ultimately – just about my comfort in being an artist.

This comfort has come with age and experience. While I don’t believe age or experience necessarily makes for better art, I do now wonder if it significantly helps. I’m not sure. Who would make better work: a young 20-something who has seen little and experienced less, or a 60-something who has been around the block, if not the world, many times?”

Click here to read the complete post.

Image in the post is Kirkland’s Foci (left) and Convergence (right).