Just a number: Does our age affect how creative we are?

INT:A few crossovers there in how long you’ve all been making art. Anne, is it right that you returned to painting in your 70s?

AR:No, that’s not quite right, I did do a year at art school. Then I was an actress for about ten years – I tried not to join the family firm and be a painter. I came back to painting, which coincided with having children, which I always think is quite interesting because a lot of women find it an obstacle to creativity.

So I’ve always shown and painted but when I was 70, I separated from my husband of 45 years and my children had left home and that was the best thing that ever happened to me! I realised what real concentration was, in a completely empty house. I don’t cook, I loathed domestic life, I enjoyed my children! But I started again in a different way – making bigger pieces, and I joined Instagram which I have to say has been very big for me. So this is all very recent but it feels fantastic.

YS: If I went to art school [earlier], I personally would not have been doing this today, because I had zero common sense and work skill. Being a freelance illustrator, people think we are just sitting in our studio all day and making beautiful things. But in actuality, we are a small business. If I went to art school young, I could have been a good artist, but no one can survive on being a good artist alone. I learned everything else to run my business by doing a shitty corporate show.

INT: I wonder what further differences there might be in the approach of very young creatives. Milah, you’ve seen the creativity of young artists firsthand with Mishou Magazine. Do you think kids are more creative than us?

ML: I don’t think they’re more creative. But I do think that very young children don’t have this ego attached to their work that grown-ups do. Their approach to art-making is really rooted in play and collaboration. I think that as people get older, especially in their 20s, that value of collaboration kind of dissipates, because everybody is freaking out to be seen and get ahead.

INT: Are there any particular creative traits that we lose as we grow up?

ML: Absolutely. I’m so inspired by the young artists that I meet and the way that their practice is guided by a feeling, something very internal. Sometimes what they make is rooted in them feeling frustrated. But [their art] is really a way to connect with other people.

We put out prompts for submissions for Mishou and just seeing where these young artists go with the prompts is hilarious. It can be kind of dark and almost like they don’t give a fuck. I think some of us are more hesitant to be our true authentic self.

INT: That’s interesting, because in the next few decades after childhood, a lot of creatives are gripped with a fear of failure – including me! Anne, is this something that you feel lessens as we grow?

AR:Fear of rejection is a major modern problem, because so many people are chasing the same thing. I grew up in a different time and I’ve been able to avoid all that. I know when it’s a good painting and however much anyone else might not like it, or it might not sell, that won’t stop me from knowing [that]. But I’ve been lucky in terms of always having a gallery and things like that, so I haven’t experienced failure in the way that young people now are absolutely terrified of.

INT: Milah, you were working on newsletters and other projects at a young age. Can you feel a difference in your approach now?

ML: I think that when you’re kind of transitioning from a very young child into like a preteen, you’re looking at references and literally copying other drawings to understand how to make art through what you like, which I think is really interesting. Then you can really start developing your own style.

INT: Do you think the industry puts pressure on us to reach a certain milestone before 30?

ML: In some ways, yes. I am sure it depends on where you live, but in New York specifically there are moments where I, at only 30, feel ‘old’ or like I haven’t accomplished enough because I can’t live off of my work. I think that in New York City there’s a pressure to have some social and creative status at a very young age.

INT: There’s a lot of studies around happiness and how age affects it – there is this contested notion floating about which suggests happiness is U-shaped, decreasing at midlife, for example. Do you think how old you are affects how creative you are?

AR:You cannot ignore that great creative work, maybe 50 per cent of the time, has come out of the young. But at the same time, I have a sneaking feeling that we have a finite amount of good work. So if Orson Welles makes Citizen Kane, he’s not going to go on and on making Citizen Kanes. But I do think your creativity can come out later. On the whole, I think the young have incredible, daring creativity, because they think they’re the greatest people in the world.

YS: I think we maybe put creativity on a pedestal too much. Everyone’s creative. If you are a stay-at-home mum and you have to cook something and there’s a blizzard outside you become creative. Maybe young people can create something fresh and new that I can’t. But we have life experience to put in work that they don’t. So it’s not, ‘which is better or worse?’ Each of us has our own strengths.

ML: I do think there is a connection between very young artists, who are maybe under ten, and ‘older’ artists who are 65+ in the sense that there is less anxiety about what other people think. There is more freedom and connection with the self. Although with young kids, it’s more about discovery of all things – tasting new flavours, feeling deeply sad, or filled with joy, learning how to tell time. These concepts aren’t as present later in life, and we don’t have the same ease when accessing curiosity.

INT:And what about those who feel pressure to be a master of their practice by a certain age. Yuko, Anne, do you have any advice to people who want to take up art later in life?

AN: I would just say it’s got to start with your own real pleasure of holding pens, then it carries you. I mean, one of the things about this happening in old age is that I have something so wonderful to do with my days, compared to some of my friends who are getting a bit bored and creaky.

YS: You’re not gonna get younger. So if you have something you really want to do, do it. And we all suck at things but if you enjoy it, that’s the most important thing. I started learning Spanish less than a year ago. I still suck but I was never able to compose Spanish sentences. Now, I can text my Mexican friend in very simple Spanish sentences and I’m so happy that I’m making this progress. I was able to talk to a street vendor in Spanish the other day, and they didn’t answer me back in English. So if there’s something you’re interested in, the earliest we can start is now.

ML: I feel very inspired. It’s really powerful to know that in ten years, my whole life could change and that you don’t have to be tied to one career for your entire life. I think it scares a lot of people. But I find it to be exciting and kind of reassuring, in a way things can always change.