what do artists get out of creating art

[kafkaFan1]

hm liked your first paragraph you kind of lost me on a lot of the 2nd one though. i'll also add that i don't see how money could possibly play a main role in creating something of real value. it's easy to just look at poker players and see who is motivated by a competitive desire to be the best and who is motivated by a desire to win money and see how both those groups turn out.

[cambraceres]

My second paragraph was a confused jumble of three different thoughts, that may be why it was lost on you.

Bipolar artists tend to be productive during manic episodes, in some cases these periods were the only productive ones. For these individuals, meaning those of a depressive demeanor, art is a tangible attempt to express and in that way assuage the pain brought by emotional problems. If you feel bad, and see the world through a putrid filter, without apparent reason and in defiance of your self-control, it is natural to do anything one can to change it.
Art accesses our feelings in a way nothing else can; the hues of an artists' product irradiate themselves over their entire lives, to magnificent artistic effect. Artists are emotional as a species, and in that way expression is their tool to fight back. How could an emotional being effect a positive change with no nonsense prosaic arguments? Logic does not attend feelings, and so argument is of no value.

I know for myself that a genuine delight in the growth of my skill is a major factor in pushing me to create, and aside from that to fill a need, a need that is FELT, not understood. It is therefore proper to service this need with an activity of EMOTIONAL value, regardless of it's intellectual elements.

Cam

[Coffee]

I second what Cam has written, and would like to add a simple summation:

Artists get relief from creation. Putting their troubles in a tangible form largely removes the sting of those troubles and gives clarity to the situation. I'm not sure how good of an artist I am, but when I create something, I feel similar to the way I feel after I've just vomited.