CREATIVITY IN VISUAL ART: A GATEWAY TO SELF-RELIANCE IN A DYNAMIC SOCIETY.

INTRODUCTION:
We are in a dynamic socio-cultural society where ourvtaste and aesthetic appreciation varies. the taste and aesthetic appreciation of people have increased thus resulting to new innovations and evolution in style in almost all aspects of social life such as architecture, fashion and textiles. this can be traced to the fact that man hss aesthetic impulse and natural tendency to change. this to a large extent, differentiate man's life from that of an animals. the claim that changes in taste and style in the society benefit largely from art is undisputable. art is the mirror to the age and society by which it is nourished, hence a renowned philosophy, herbert reed maintained that life which is devoid of art is devoid of meaning and purpose. such life, according to @odibezeking is dangerous. it is not a beautiful life. it is actively unappealing life which lacks excitement, it is unbelished, unenriching, unenlightened and unexhilarating; it is not fully civilized and it lacks the fresh consciousness of which human beings are supremely capable. visual art which deals with production and beautifying of things that can be seen, admired and used by men such as painting, sculpture, textile, graphics, ceramics and craft. the visual artist is able to produce works of art through creativity; which undoubtedly means conceptualising of ideas and their actualisation through the skillful use of any medium. this article will look into the concept of creativity as it refers to the following visual arts, visual artist and his choice of materials, job opportunities as well as strategies to be used in becoming self-reliant.

THE CONCEPT OF CREATITY IN VISUAL ART.

To create is to select or invent elements significant to a given purpose and organise them into a new and unique form. (originality) creativity is not the preserve of any race or nation. it is a human endowment that has made itself manifest in all parts of the world. creativity is the creation and recreation of anything, the activity that demonstrates the will to improve on anything that has been done before which implies a rejection of stagnation. creativity depends upon communal validity. the ceative artist is not inspired by creative action by his experience within the community but also seeks to inspire creative critical evaluation of the community's experience on the part of his audience. one can rightly say that there are characteristics of creativity that are portrayed in visual art such as doing, making, fashioning or putting things together by human skills without any form of imitation.
visual artist and choice of materials with creativity as a major tool.
the visual artist is an individual with an immense potential for creativity whose products are outward visual expression of his inner feeling made manifest visually in concrete form. he is fertile, rich in ideas and imagination. a visual artist is sensitive to people's needs and materials. he discovers through sensitivity and validates it's possibility of existence in a tangible form through production. the question now is with what materials will be used to start production?
The world around us is made up of substances like sand, plant and rock. Sometimes such substances are of no use to us in one way but very useful in another way. Rock in the hillside is of little use but when it is quarried and given an artistic touch, it will be transferred into a useful material "clay" Anything a good artist lay his hand on can become material. They include natural, improvised and discarded objects. Example, in painting or craft, discarded materials can be picked, arranged in a way to make a pleasing job. Having gathered the right materials and acquired the creative potential, An Artist should look for avenues where he can express himself in a tangible form in order to make money for feeding and shelter.

STRATEGIES FOR GETTING JOBS AND MAKING MONEY IN VISUAL ART THROUGH CREATIVITY.

Identification of the needs of the society: A visual artist should always make research and find out what the society needs at all times and supply solutions to those needs through his creative abilities.
Exhibition: When problems of society are discovered and solutions made, they should made through public exhibitio in order to sell his works and at the same time get more jobs.
Running a gift shop or gallery: The visual artist had lots of opportunities to acquire financial gains through this strategy, since it may be impossible for him to engage in formal art exhibition every month.
Art collectors: Any hardworking artist can send his products to other countries in the world through Art collectors and any artist who embark on this strategy will not only be internationally recognised but will be able to make much money in foreign currencies.

ENTREPRENEUERIAL OPPORTUNITIES OF THE VISUAL ARTS.
Visual Art is entrepreneurial in itself. All human products of such field can make one to be self-reliant and self sustaining as long as one's creative potential is highly utilised. Entrepreneurial opportunities in Visual Arts can be summarised under the following headings;

Painting: A painter should scout for getting commission of either mural, portrait or unconventional paintings. Apart from private houses, public houses like hotels, media houses and schools are suitable places where a painter can work and make money.

Sculpture: Sculpture is a very lucrative job especially in Nigerian society. Almost 85% of the bourgeois in the society want their statue or that of their love ones kept at a strategic places in the compound, streets and towns. Relief sculptures should not be left out to do the work. Other areas a sculpture can invest his creative skills are in furniture making and architectural sculpture.
Ceramics: Most of the materials used in our modern houses are ceramic products. A new area where a ceramist can invest his creative skills and be self reliant is in sculptural ceramics in Terra cotta for aesthetic purpose.
Graphics: Most African countries like festive activities like cultural, religious or social functions to be advertised. Graphic artist can make his living through printing of invitation cards, posters, seasons greeting cards, brochure building of billboards. Authors write books and play, musicians compose songs and produce them in audio/video tapes, therefore graphic artist should utilise the opportunity to design book covers, record jackets for their products.
Textile: A textile designer can embark on production and sale of designs to industries and individuals, construct a simple loom and make real money through weaving of clothes.
He can make money through production of fabrics, by resist method of tie-dye. He can even make a lot of money by designing of styles to be sown on fabrics.
Craft: Every visual artist can feature very well on this area. There are a lot of things that can be produced here; hampers are good for Christmas season and other things that can serve as a souvenir can feature here.

If creativity and choices of materials is well made, any artist who embark on any of this field is sure to be self-reliant and even become an employer of labour.

CONCLUSION:
Art and society are related and interchangeable. It is a mirror to the age and society by which it is nourished. Society is dynamic. Art works are products of creativity which in turn brings about changes and development in the society. The visual artist having known this, and having acquired his creative potential should not fold his hands and watch things happen rather he should make things to happen.

Thanks for reading this article. Hope you enjoyed it....

Sources:

Aesthetic and Art education by Uzoagba I.N
Art Practice as Research by Graeme Sullivan
www.creativeartscollege.com

Photo Credit:
Google.