Today’s culture is flooded with the impacts of creative genius’s in the form of entrepreneurs, artists and even advertising campaigns. “A creative genius is one who trusts that voice in his head who is telling him to share his soul with the world,” says Upper School Visual Arts teacher Mr. Donice Bloodworth. Furthermore, a creative genius describes someone who has mastered critical thinking skills and features the ability to continually produce innovative ideas. Even without the officiality of this distinct term, creative geniuses have existed throughout human history.
For example, Leonardo da Vinci may be the most famous innovator through his contributions to art, engineering, architecture and science. Besides being most known for his paintings, “The Last Supper and Mona Lisa,” he used his intellect and unusual powers of observation to study nature itself. By his lens, he was able to view perspectives that the average person can not comprehend, making him a prime example of a creative genius.
We see the impact of creative geniuses in our everyday lives. Whether you’re watching “Goodfellas,” “Shutter Island” or even “The Wolf of Wall Street,” Martin Scorcese’s brilliance as a director is clear even in these three dissimilar movies. Scorcese’s ability to create such a fine-tuned unique product by carefully delving into a character’s personality is what makes him a creative genius. Longtime musical producer and artist Pharrell Williams, who is also the new Men’s Creative Director of Louis Vuitton, is maybe the most vibrant example of a creative genius in modern history. Recently, he has won a Best Picture award as a producer in the movie “Hidden Figures” and produced “Piece by Piece,” a Lego movie about his own life. Hence, he is a creator who has the unique ability to continually produce ingenious ideas throughout all of the sectors of the entertainment industry.
As a full-time artist and illustrator, Mr. Bloodworth is Pace Academy’s most innovative faculty member. He describes how his creative mind works by revealing his motives within each painting. “It’s not about reproducing photographs in paint to me… it’s much more about the beauty I see in the subject and how much beauty I want the subject to see in themselves.” Additionally, he underlines what curious students should focus on in a creative process. “My advice to people who want to think outside the box, is to forget about the box entirely.” Instead, he poses three questions to these people. “What excites you? Why does it excite you? Why do you want to tell the world about it? Now once you have those answers, share it as loudly and confidently as you possibly can.” Clearly, in order to innovate, one must pinpoint what they are passionate about and the innovation will come naturally.
“The criticism is going to come, the mistakes are too, none of that needs to be a part of the equation when you are trying to think outside the box,” concludes Mr. Bloodworth.