Starting the Year Right: 7 Quotes to Inspire Your Creativity

Last Updated on February 27, 2024 by Tracey McGrath

Entering a new year staring at a blank canvas can feel daunting. Maybe even paralyzing to some. Can you relate? What do you want to achieve this year? How would you like to feel at the end of this year? What do you want to create? How can you inspire your creativity all year long? As an artist or a creative person in general, it requires a great deal of motivation and support to stay inspired. It can feel overwhelming sometimes. And when self-doubt creeps in, your creative process may come to an abrupt halt. To avoid that (or at least lessen the possibility) you have to build the right mindset.

What better time than the new year to develop such a mindset? Here are 7 beautiful quotes that will inspire your creativity. And give you the motivation to create and support your creative process throughout the year.

Starting the Year Right: 7 Inspirational Quotes for Increasing Your Creativity

“Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought.”– Albert Einstein

Creativity is messy. It doesn’t always come out perfectly the first time around. But that’s why we as artists keep creating. You play with paints or markers to see what is born out of the work. The creative work is seeing something in a new light. A way no one else has ever seen something. It’s taking all of your life experiences and thoughts and applying them to your art. No one else has your unique perspective. And no one ever will again.

“Creativity is allowing oneself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep.”
— Scott Adams, The Dilbert Principle

This quote will help you build a mindset of failing upward. You must fail (or make mistakes) to grow or learn anything in life. When things come too easily then we tend to not attribute as much importance to these lessons. Allowing yourself to make mistakes in your creative process lets you actually get to the good stuff. Get past all of the shitty first drafts as Anne Lamott would say and let it go. Making mistakes makes you human, not a bad artist or a failure. It makes you more relatable. It makes you real.

“Beauty will save the world.”
—Dosteovsky

This quote is one to really lean on when you may start to have that nagging feeling of “What’s the use?” or “Why am I doing this again?” Your art (yes, yours!) can literally save the world! If your beautiful painting of a flower or a cat or landscape can make just one person smile or feel warm inside then it’s totally worth it. That one person feeling happier because of your art could save them from snapping at their kids or spouse. This could save a marriage. It could help their kids feel loved and supported which in turn helps them to love their future spouses and kids and so on. And remember no one can paint like you do because they don’t have the unique perspective that your life has given you.

“One of the keys to embracing creativity is recognizing that even though it involves risk, you don’t die.”
—David Usher, musician, artist

I love this quote to inspire my creativity whenever I start to get panicky. Sometimes the blank canvas is giving me the evil eye. Telling me that I don’t know how or what to paint and that I might as well just not even try. Hmmm… does my blank canvas sound like my inner critic? Then I remember this one. Yes, it’s risky to put paint on the canvas. But it’s not gonna kill you. Yes, making a bold brushstroke may ruin the entire piece but it may also make it meaningful. And it’s just paint. You can paint over it. You can start anew. It may feel like a failure but you learned, you grew and you changed in the process. So that, to me, sounds like a win. And remember you’re not going to die so take the risk, and make the bold mark.

“To create one’s own world in any of the arts takes courage.”
—Georgia O’Keeffe

Remind yourself daily that creating art takes so much courage. I always say some of the best artists, writers, and musicians are right now working away as doctors, lawyers, and cashiers. Those are noble professions but they’re safe. It takes real courage to break out of a story you’ve told yourself your entire life. It takes real courage to do something different than anyone else you know. It takes real courage to be vulnerable and allow someone else to see your creation. It takes real courage to bare your soul in your art.

“Do the thing you fear and the death of fear is certain.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson

I love this quote because it gets to the heart of how to overcome fear. It is only by doing the thing you fear that the fear goes away. That’s it. It took me a long time to fully comprehend this idea. I spent years feeling anxious and fearful about all sorts of things. But when I finally had had enough of being scared and wanted something different badly enough I started doing things that scared the socks off of me. But then it got easier. And then the next scary thing wasn’t quite as scary. And eventually, I heard myself telling a friend that “I could figure it out. Why not just try and see what happens?” My previous self’s jaw just dropped to the floor.

Creativity can be a finicky creature sometimes. It’s bold then suddently it’s afraid of what people might think. We all want to be accepted. That’s human nature. But this quote will inspire your creativity whenever fear seems to be getting the best of you.

“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ― Winston Churchill

And when you’re at your wit’s end, remind yourself that to just keep going is really all that counts. You may have heard it before but doing small things consistently adds up. If you can’t find an hour every day to paint don’t beat yourself up. Start small. Start with 5 minutes a day honing your skills. If it’s something that you really want you will hear that voice inside that says, “Let’s try again.” or “I think I can do it this time.” Allow yourself the room to have your wins and your failures. Learn from both. Enjoy both. It can’t always be winning and it won’t always be failing. Focus on your goal – to paint, to write, to dance, to play music. And do that again and again.

Let’s Connect!

I hope you find these quotes helpful to inspire your creativity this year. Are you an artist too? Does your inner critic ever keep you from creating? I have created a digital course to help artists build a positive and resilient mindset so you can make friends with your inner critic and keep creating! You can find more information about the course here.