Abstract

The creative process has been examined from a number of perspectives. Generally, these studies have been narrow in scope. Using the limited data-base of a personal journal and drafts of a play, this study was designed to examine the creative process of an artist from as many perspectives as possible. ;In this study the researcher also functioned as the artist. The various tasks performed by the researcher and the artist required work in unrelated disciplines. Therefore, the writing of a play and the analysis of the data-base became tools by which the researcher/artist learned to think in disciplines not usually associated with playwriting. ;The researcher/artist used historical data, late medieval writings about women, as the genesis for the play. The play was not bound by the historical data and was included as part of the study. A journal, which reflected the artist's internal process, was kept throughout work on the play. It included feelings about the developing work as well as personal issues concurrent with the developing play. ;A method was needed to examine the data-base. The researcher/artist culled aspects of established fields of critical inquiry about "art" and developed an eclectic approach to analyze the creative process. The eclectic approach was then applied to the data-base. The study examined how the historical data affected the artist's creative process, how the artist translated the data into the play, and how the artist's personal life experiences and emotions shaped the creative process and the play. ;After the entire study coalesced, the researcher/artist found that the study as a whole reflected a larger creative process. The researcher/artist concluded that future studies of this nature would benefit by using a journal throughout the entire study enabling researchers to evaluate how one understands, integrates, and translates information into a new form