How This Painter Changed My Perspective on Creativity and Myself

5 lessons in improvisation, expertise and following your impulse

Red Balloon (1922) by Paul Klee. Oil and oil transfer drawing on chalk-primed gauze, mounted on board. 31.7 × 31.1 cm. Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, U.S. Image Source

I have been thinking recently about what it means to unlearn the things we believe we know. Knowledge and expertise offer stability, like a fortress, but sometimes we have to break holes in the walls to save us from getting trapped inside.

Creativity is nearly always struggling with this conflict: how to learn, improve and perfect without getting stuck in habits that sooner or later restrict us.

When I feel like I need a dose of re-education, I turn back to the artist Paul Klee. He was a painter who — to my eyes — always worked on the cusp of what he did not know.

It was an approach that led to a highly distinctive style that nonetheless had a thousand different facets. Taken as a whole, his paintings constitute a project of discovery.

Here are 5 lessons from Klee that have changed my perspective on creativity and, ultimately, myself.

1. Stay receptive and undogmatic

Take a moment to look down the following list. It gives a snapshot of the materials that Klee used to create his paintings (each item refers to the combination of materials used in an…