My life is a mess. I am a drug addict now for fifteen years. I am worried about giving it up because I am an artist, a painter, and I don’t want to lose my edge. I can’t create without it.
THOM @ Issue no. 234My favourite lyrics from your album Ghosteen are on the final track: “The kid drops his bucket and spade / And climbs into the sun.” I find this so deeply powerful and evocative, although I really can’t say exactly what it means, and I suspect that if I did have an easy and concrete explanation then it would lose much of its power. But of course, the line between profoundly ineffable and nonsensical can be a fine one. My question is, what is your creative process for coming up with these lyrics that may not have an obvious meaning but are nonetheless trying to say something important?
JEREMY @ Issue no. 202I understand from having seen 20,000 Days on Earth that you keep an office separate for your creative work. Do you have any recommendations on how I can create a sacred space that allows me to go in and shut the door and lock out the world?
BRIAN @ Issue no. 192How do you describe friendship? How important is friendship for your creativity?
OZDEN @ Issue no. 174In an interview from 1997 in Los Angeles, you introduced us to your “pet theory”: your creativity could only flourish in a state of loss and longing, and that it needed catastrophes in your life. Finally, and this is what resonated with me the most, you stated that you could not get much substance out of living a life which was content. Do you still believe that? A sincere and devoted admirer of yours who sort of struggles in a content life.
HYUN @ Issue no. 121Are there times your creativity disappears and if so how do you coax it back / jump start it?
JO @ Issue no. 9I’ve had the same job for nearly twenty years. I’m fifty-three years old. I feel like packing the whole thing in and doing something completely different. I’d like to write songs. Paint pictures. Do something artistic. Any advice?
FLETCH @ Issue no. 297How do you manage to balance your creative life with your family commitments? I’ve been a ‘hobby’ painter for years, but since the first COVID lockdown, I have taken it way more seriously and have reached a point where it’s all I want to do. I’m genuinely thrilled by what is happening at the end of the brush, but I am increasingly aware of the cost of hours and hours spent in my shed rather than with my wife and son. My desire to create feels like a compulsion, and I’m struggling to work out whether it’s the purpose of my life or some kind of mental illness. I’m in my 50s and still have a real job. I’m realistic about the unlikelihood of ever being able to paint full-time. But I believe, as much as I believe in anything, that this is the real thing and is of value. I want to spend every hour I can exploring this world. Any thoughts you have would be very welcome.
JOHN @ Issue no. 318