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# Creative Ability isn't Artistic Ability
- URL: https://bigecho.co.uk/articles/creative-ability-isnt-artistic-ability/
- Published: 2025-10-17T09:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2025-11-03T13:16:37.000Z
- Description: Creativity isn’t limited to the arts - it’s the ability to see new connections, adapt to constraints, and find new ways to make things work.
- Author: Tom Parson
- Tags: Quick Reads, #illustration-card, #colour-yellow

**Have you ever said “I’m not creative”?**

Maybe this is because you feel you can’t draw, or paint, or play music.

You may even have someone in mind who can do these things, who you believe *is* creative, and you're nothing like them.

But creativity ability isn't the same as artistic ability.

Creativity is:

- Deciding on an outfit for the day
- Using up ingredients in the fridge that need eating
- Planning a new route home after a train cancellation
- Solving problems
- Navigating a tricky conversation
- Curating a life that works for you
- Turning limitations into opportunities

At some point, many of us were told we weren’t creative - often early in life, by teachers or colleagues who equated creativity with artistic talent.

But we are all creative, in small ways, every day. And our creative muscle can be strengthened, if we have opportunity to practice.

> "If you're alive, you're a creative person."  
> **Elizabeth Gilbert**