The Martini Shaker Philosophy to Creativity: The key to finding your artistic style

One topic looms heavily over every person in the arts: finding one’s personal style. The problem is that there have been and are so many creative souls who’ve stamped there mark on this little spinning globe, it seems impossible to produce ANYTHING new and original. Well…first thing is that you need to come to grips with the fact that everything has been done or thought of before. Now don’t fret! I know this can be a bit of a downer idea, but eventhough everything has been done before, it hasn’t been done the same way, the same time, same place or with the same influences. For instance, if you tossed Leonardo through time to the the 1800s his work might be the same-ish but the enviroment would have a profound effect on whatever he did. Simple changes can yeild big differences.

So lets get to the martini:

Let’s get our ingredients together

1. Take a martin shaker.
2. Add all the art and artists that you like. If you like Rembrandt….put him in there. If you like Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” that goes in there too. Same idea if you’re a musician or poet etc., add all your loves into that shaker whether it be a creator or something they created.
3. Add events, historical or personal, that you find fascinating. Let’s say there’s a childhood memory or a recurring dream…plunk…it goes in there.
4. Don’t be afraid to add quirky ingredients. If you absolutely, albeit secretly, love love love watching reruns of The Brady Bunch…that should go in there too.
5. Shake the crap out of that martini. Not just a little shake, I mean really shake it.
6. Pour the contents into a chilled martini glass. Everything that you don’t like about your influences stays in the shaker. Let’s say you like Rembrandt but you don’t like his use of the color brown…then brown stays in the shaker. Lets say you love Van Gogh but not when he does circular designs…then circular Van Gogh designs stay in the shaker. Only the elements you find interesting, engaging, pleasing and/or motivating comes out into the martini glass. All the stuff you don’t like or are a bit “meh” about, stays inside the shaker.
7. Garnish with a personal twist. This is an unusual element that you inexplicably seem drawn to. Could be a design pattern or the use of a particular color, chord or word.

Viola…the martini is complete.

What is in that martini glass is your style. True, it is a form of theft, but it is theft that has been modified by mixing it together with a variety of influences. You might find your martini has very similar ingredients to other artists, but it would be impossible for the ingredients to be exactly the same, thus the martinis would be different. So if you’re worried about being unoriginal or stealing ideas from others…YOU ARE, but that’s okay and ultimately it will be what makes you so original.