Affinity for the arts

‘TAKE one part circumstance, one part determined practice and stir in your natural affinities with a drop or three of good marketing’.
That may be the recipe for success in the creative arts, according to the author/artist/photographer/film-maker and local politician Tony Wellington when speaking at Tuesday’s Noosa Botanic Gardens Friends event.
As 50 artists, photographers, writers and local community members relaxed with a complimentary Devonshire tea under the spreading Poinciana trees at the Noosa Botanic Gardens, Tony Wellington kept everyone absorbed in his talk titled “Expressions: canvas, film, paper”.
Throughout the presentation, Tony explored the nature of creativity, the prerequisites for success, and the broader role of the arts.
“The 10,000 hour rule, put forth by people like author Malcolm Gladwell, argues that no-one makes it to the top of their profession without having spent a minimum of 10,000 hours practising,” Tony stated.
“However the issue may be more complex than that.”
“Are we genetically wired to be better at some tasks and less good at others?” he asked.
“Our environment, particularly in the formative years, certainly influences our choice of work and to some degree our resultant success.”
Expanding on this, Tony suggested that: “Some people are more visually orientated and may do better in areas such as art and photography, whereas others may be more audial and thus lean towards a career in music”.
“But again we’re not as hard-wired as some people imagine. Recent research shows that genes do not work in rigid prescriptive ways. We now know about transposons or jumping genes, where DNA sequences in genes change due to environmental factors.”
Cr Wellington concluded his talk stating: “In short, I don’t believe in ‘natural talent’. Perhaps a better question might be, is artistic creativity an inevitable part of being human? It seems that every human culture has naturally gravitated to communicating and celebrating through the creative arts, be it painting, music or story telling. Art is a means of communicating beliefs and sharing ideas about human experience. As we are all tribal creatures at heart, we use the creative arts to connect with others of our tribe.”
After his talk, Tony Wellington was inundated with questions.
Chair of the Noosa Botanic Gardens Friends, Dr Seonaid Melville, in thanking Tony said: “How fortunate are we in the Noosa Shire to have such an interesting multi-dimensional local councillor to talk in our beautiful Noosa Botanic Gardens on this fascinating topic”.
Noosa Botanic Gardens Friends have quarterly social gatherings with speakers and invite all in the local community to attend. Refer to the website www.noosabotanicgardens-friends.org.au or ‘Like’ them on Facebook for regular updates.