Does creative capability decline?

Take life uncensored, with all the extra toppings. A life without passion is not worth living ! ~DM Damar Minyak’s System For Never Growing Old: Never stop playing. Keep learning new stuff. Make love like you’re twenty-five. Sometimes, do something weird. Live by your aphorisms. Explore, discover, meditate. Never believe experts. Fall in love with yourself. Do your own cooking. Ignore stupid people. Don’t think like old people. –And– Never make lists ! ~Damar Minyak

At third from the top of my list should be included: Change your belief system — often. (Must be time to do that again…) ~DM

Regarding Norman Rockwell….We used to live in Massachusetts. In the western part of the state (not Vermont) they had a large Rockwell museum. His home was a short distance from the museum. After his death, the docent said, they were allowed to reveal that he had suffered from Alzheimers. As certain abilities left him, he was still able to ride his bike and would do so daily from his home to the museum where he would happily sign authographs for the visitors. (If I am wrong, I will be happily corrected.) P.S. Every morning, to stave off the encroaching brain decline I google “Lumosity” for brain games. These are free and are superior to just doing the daily crossword because it stimulates more more visual perception. The site is free. In even a few days of exercises you can actually feel more observant. I particularly gravitate to the exercises that stimulate memory of shapes. Shape memory is key for us artists. It doesn’t take long. Caution: if you don’t keep up with frequent brain stimulation (at this “certain age”), it slides quickly. Just 6 months of slacking off and returning to the site convinced me that brain stimulation is more important than I realized. Scores drop! That will quickly convince you that you must “use it or lose it.” (IMPORTANT NOTE: By the way….the spelling is NOT “luminosity”, a familiar word to artists, so pay attention to that small “detail” …the spelling is LUMOSITY.)

Thanks for bringing this up, Robert. I am now at the beginning of my seventh chapter of life and declining creativity is a real concern to me. But so far I have not seen it happening; not yet anyway. Keeping myself physical active, mentally sharp and eating right has made all the difference. I still have the enthusiasm, desire and passion I had three chapters ago. I expect it to continue for at least another chapter or two.

Age should not be an excuse for going on autopilot. Consider Rembrandt? Monet? Others who lived to considerable age and kept refining and experimenting, challenging themselves. . . In another sphere, an artist like <a target=_blank href=”http://quote.robertgenn.com/auth_search.php?name=Tony+Bennett” title=”Art Quotes by Tony Bennett”>Tony Bennett</a>, who called his son to tell him he’d *finally* figured out how to sing–in his seventies.

Gee Whiz, I hope not or I only have 300 paintings left in my LOL and I will have those done by the end of the year. My head is full of ideas that I have not yet brought to fruitation.

I am an artist in my late 50’s and think of myself as a young kid compared to some of my older artist friends. I have several in 70’s and 80’s most of whom are women and their work is still fresh still evolving. The male artists I know are not so fresh in their approach and seem to rely on the systematic approach. Not sure why? One male artist that was famous during the hay day of the abstract movement was Wilhelm De Kooning, his early work was caotic and line oriented however later in life he developed Alzimers and his work became fluid and shape oriented the difference was stunning. Perhaps it is the evolution of ourselves that shows the improvement or decline in our work not our age.

An interesting question with interesting responses. As for my experience of myself and other artists I see little or no decline in creativity. The ideas and motives become more mature and perhaps even age-appropriate. The focus becomes more meaningful and critical. In terms of craft, technique, willingness to explore, and end-product quality-if it wasn’t there to begin with, it ain’t about to get any better. If it was there then it’s in-bred and though things may take a little longer, the finished work has the same immediacy and timeless quality as the best pieces from years earlier.

I can’t believe loss of creativity is age related. With age comes more free time to experiment with new styles, new media, new venues. Stay active in all facets of life, don’t settle for senility.

Age can be a wonderful tool to see the world differently. When I was young I wanted to see spectacular things, to be excited by what I heard and saw. Now that my stamina is diminished I pause more. I study more. I think I’m more receptive to incidentals I wouldn’t even have glanced at in my youth. One can find beauty in the simplest of things, and thus inspiration for a painting. Another benefit of age is painting for yourself and hopefully, not having to glean a living from a fickle art industry. Go ahead and swear to me you haven’t painted in one style or another that was selling (and trendy) at the time. Sure, bifocals change the way I see what I’m painting. But on the other hand I don’t have to squint anymore either. My sixtieth decade may well be my most productive. I see this time as the culmination of what I have learned, what I have rejected, and finally how I really want to paint. I didn’t have that luxury when I was young. They say time is compressed as we age – to a degree, I suppose. But equally time is savored and I know every painting I produce is closer to my last one. I hope to paint into my seventieth decade but I want to invest every ounce of my intellect and effort into this one, right now.

A good example, and one I keep in the back of my mind as I age, is Matisse. I think, if my old brain remembers correctly, in his old age, he was bedridden, and laid in bed, cutting paper into forms. Some of his most famous pieces are from that time (i.e. Jazz Icarus). Georgia O’Keeffe worked until she died and took up pottery later in life. I use them both as role models as I grow into being an older artist.

Another thing that I found was that as my vision got worse with age, I can see things better from an artist’s view, kinda like using a foggy piece of glass to view a potential picture for value.

This can’t be true – Look at all the composers whose work changed as they got older – and in many cases I would say it improved, though of course that is my opinion. As long as an artist keeps an open mind and doesn’t get lazy, or stale, then why should creativity decline?

Matisse did some of his best work in his 80’s….and Paul Klee’s final works were master pieces. William Turner’s late work rocks…still nothing like it, over 100 years later. Only 7,000 paintings in, what, 45 years of full time, prosperous, career work? 2,500 “good paintings” sounds like a real bean counter approach to creativity. Shoot for a million paintings, Robert!

Loved today’s message, especially the last thought…, the best is yet to come. It inspires me to try even harder. Even the fact that I don’t have as much energy at 74 as I did at 40, works for me. Now I do the easy things when I’m out painting in Plein Air. I find I didn’t really need all of that extra fussy details that I used to obsess about putting in my paintings and I enjoy the process even more.

I became an artist at age 40, so that I could be a professional until my last breath. I plan to keep on painting until …….the end. I love having my creative juices flowing, as my body slows down. It makes up for not being able to run a marathon any more.

A quote in your letter today quoted Oscar Wilde as saying; “The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, the young know everything.” How in the hell could he know, first hand, anything about the old; he died at 46. Oscar Wilde is and was full of crap, mostly.

I read Renoir strapped his brush to his arthritic hand and painted on. But really; arthritis, poor eyesight, bad hips or knees, general aches and pains (not to mention trips to the doctor or hospital) do certainly effect output and quality.

Today’s offering regarding aging and painting touched a sore spot with me. I didn’t start to paint till retirement, and I paint for the pleasure of it. But not “seeing” as well as in the past for me is due to cataracts! Maybe that has affected many aging artists. Who knows? But I confess to being afraid of how my paintings will look to me when the cataracts are gone!

No, I do not feel a person’s creativity declines when you get older. I am 72 years old and have no art training at all, I also have the added problem of having dementia and my paintings are getting better. I have decided to do abstracts only and they have been received very well. I have always had an incredible imagination and my art league friends who are wonderful artists ask me what I would do or how I would do a certain type of painting. They do not need my technical skill because one, I don’t have any skill, and two, they are top notch artists but they want my ideas, of which I have plenty. Even before I had problems I had a very active imagination. For a while I was painting gourds, making my husband and friends into whimsical gourds and sold every one I made. I was even approached by a woman who happened by our bi-weekly art show and asked if I’d be interested in getting my gourds into her New York Gallery. The unfortunate problem was she was not willing to even cover the cost of the gourds which are very inexpensive, as were my prices. So, no, I definitely don’t feel my creativity has declined. My imagination is as whimsical as ever. I do feel inadequate because I have no training, but I’m still enjoying myself and keeping my mind occupied, which is the best thing I could do.

I have adopted this term to the list of jobs I need to do when my paintings are almost finished. It makes me observe the painting on the easel. Issues such as those “crooked or sloppy horizon lines, poor tone values, amorphous forms, impatient, unresolved passages” etc. to which you refer, are usually the outstanding tasks. I make a list of these and tackle them one by one. It helps to concentrate the mind on specifics and to avoid extraneous brush strokes that may lead to an overworked painting. I intend to continue with this practice as long as can hold a brush and mix paint! It will surely keep me on my toes!

A few years ago, a local artist, quite famous, here in our location, style changed from colorful, light, lots of interesting character to his paintings, to very dark, gloomy and dreary. As he continued to age, his paintings became much more so, until near the end of his life, they were mostly black on black. I’d have to say, from out of the dust, into the dust again.

At 82 years old I am still learning and quite exited to put new ideas into practice. Painting is a wonderful endless journey.

I am in an Adult Education calligraphy class and we have students in their late 80s and early 90s who do very well, so I think that we continue to be creative as we age. I’ve also seen a neighbor with dementia/Alzheimer’s who, although she is often confused, can play a card game requiring both memory and concentration. I believe the more we are stimulated, whether through art or other activities, the better it is for us as we get older…

I’ve noticed that every few years, dating back about 65 years, my style of painting has changed. Experimentation was always high on my list; during the past 15 years I have played with more and more new approaches. The ceramics and printmaking workshops I took were the first times I had touched those two fields since college. I had already been exploring mixed media on a variety of surfaces, which recently culminated in an entirely new field for me: encaustics and encaustic monotypes. I’m 82 and there’s no end to the future.

Robb I love your newsletter I have read it faithfully for years – but occasionally you come up with ideas that are just plain stupid. Age affecting creativity is one of them. All you people who agree speak for yourself. Gosh I feel sorry for you that you have settled for this in life when you are capable of so much more. Life is full of choices. Regardless of what age you are you choose to be creative or not. There are never any predictable hard and fast rules to human behaviour. Have you not seen Monets latest works completed just before he died – for more electrical, far more passionate, far more energetic and powerful – Tolstoy as well did not write War and Peace and successive novels until in his 60’s and older. The evidence pointing to increased creativity and risk taking in older people is in direct contrast to your statement. I find the older one gets the more secure one gets so one takes humungous risks – because you finally have the confidence to back yourself even if the whole darned world is against you. I feel so sorry that you people are going through the rest of your lives and all you have to look forward to is declining creativity. Shame on you Robert for such a stupid idea. Not even worth the cyber space it’s printed on. You bet your bottom dollar the older I get the more I look forward to increasing creativity – increased joy – increased insight – increased intellectual abilities even. And yes I would love to throw a spanner in the works and prove even science wrong. As an engineering and science student – I learnt at university the first Golden Principle of Science – the Uncertainty principle. The one principle behind all scientific thought. It basically means soon as science thinks it’s right – nature or the universe or God or whatever you want to call the powers that be – as soon as science thinks it’s right – God or nature will throw a spanner in the works and turn all your evidence upside down and prove you wrong. Nothing is ever certain in life – or sceince for that matter – hence the first golden rule of all science – the tingency rule – the Principle of Uncertainty. I look forward to far greater creativity as the years go by. I feel sorry for all you artists who believe otherwise. Thank God neither Tolstoy nor Einstein nor Winston Churchill not Voltaire nor Monet nor Michelangelo nor Da Vinci nor Rembrandt nor Beethoven nor Bach nor Sir Isaac Newton nor Wagner nor even Genghis Khan or Jean Fabre or Winston Churchill or Roosevelt or Eisenhower or Benjamin Franklin- gosh the list is endless – thank God none of these people ever believed such a ridiculous assertion. It pays not to believe everything you read – and from an ex-scientist – it pays to realise every scientific assertion can be refuted by conflicting evidence from the opposing scientific theory. Bollocks.

Ah yes, I agree with Jane Crosbie about not believing, en mass, also I think everyone is different, so, it stands to reason we can all do something different. Who was it that said, “Youth is wasted on the young?” This is not to mean that I should now go into stiff skateboarding competition, but, I can be ingenious in my thinking.

Either Jane didn’t read the newsletter, or she has lost the capacity to understand. How she got what she thinks is beyond me. I thought the letter was about being positive as time rolls on and how to be enriched by it.

I teach “seniors” at my art league and my students at cruises are mostly “senior citizens”. As a 78 year old lady who was enjoying the watercolor class very much said to me, “I wish I had started painting years ago!” The strange thing is they love their work, not like younger adults who criticize their own work and are never happy with the finished piece. I love teaching seniors, and by the way, I am 70 years old and paint every day!.

Some people show their early senility by being non readers. They’re too busy trying to get their own lame stuff off.

Paul Cadmus only painted around 140 paintings during his life. 95 years old when he died and at least 10 when he started painting, he always said, ‘less is more’. He was my mentor and a friend for 41 years. There are hundreds and hundreds of drawings that are in museums and homes of his many collectors. I do object to statements of quantity. It is quality that means something more, don’t you think?

you are so right! Spirit exercise / Brain exercise / creativity exercise / body exercise….. all combine to keep it all supple much longer than our forebears could expect. There IS reality, however, and the physical powers do fail as we near death. But here the artist has the edge, I think, since the fine motor skills employed in the thinking and execution of the art help keep us fresh intrinsically. In fact, my art helped me when I suffered disc/spinal cord injury , to regain fine motor skills and work around the discomfort. And maybe it’s part of why Seniors arts groups are so popular. The old expression “Staying alive in the work” can take on a whole new meaning as we age. Matisse was very ill, so his later works do show the struggle – he often worked with the brush taped to his arm, unable to hold it alone. I can’t remember which artist is famous for the remark in response to : what does an artist do as age makes the vision fail? “Paint bigger works” he smiled, since there is the double victory in that one….not only does the artist win over his vision issue, but often bigger works win bigger publicity and better fame and sales prices. As for me, I am wiggling impatient to get out doors – Connecticut Spring so lovely today.

I had a friend, a very excellent artist, Arthur Fitzsimmons, who passed away in 1990, he had lung cancer, had surgery and had lack of oxygen during surgery and even though everything else seemed oK, some name forgetting, but his painting skills were not the same. It was as if a part of his memory for painting had deminished. Very sad, but he did keep painting, but brush strokes changed. He lived several years after surgery, but never created work up to the quality he had done. So for all of us, that is why it is important to paint every day as much as we can before it is gone, the same as living. Live every day for the fullest.

It is easy for people, at any stage in their life, to get sloppy, slovenly and careless. Life can get to you. Come to the cabaret!

Let’s not confuse age with infirmity. One can be young and have a debilitating condition that affects his or her art. Or, one can simply be old with diminished physical abilities. Point in fact: Thomas Kinkade passed today at 54. We’ll never know if he would have become a better artist.

Let’s look at the big picture. Aging means some physical decline for certain, a little if you are lucky, a lot if you are not. Creativity may well remain joyfully free when ability to communicate it/technical skill is impaired. Genius is at the extreme of the scale and may show its decline more obviously even while retaining higher than average quality. Lesser talent/skill may show little sign of decline as there is not a greatly discernible spread between ‘mediocre’ and ‘very mediocre’. Fortunately 21st century techno marvels offer new vehicles for creative expression that physical impairment may have stolen from us. The thing is to keep creating … somehow, someway … each day, keep creating.

You are kidding . Right?

Thank you for your wonderful thoughts. They are thought provoking and inspiring and I appreciate them. You motivate me to do better in many fields. Thank you again.

I think that your article on aging artists is excellent. I am 70 and have never made a living with my artwork, but am happy if I cover expenses, which is probably the case for many of us. I had “day jobs” when I was younger. Everything takes more time to accomplish as we age, and this is a real difficulty to deal with. But, once we accept that, we, or perhaps, I should speak for myself, learn to appreciate everything to a much greater degree than when we were younger. So what if a painting takes longer? We’re still painting! Being an artist makes one have a greater appreciation of all things visual, noticing the way shadows and highlights work on a tree, when going for a walk, would be just one example. And, this delight is heightened by the fact that we know that we have fewer years ahead of us, so we have a keener sense of joy for each day. Keep on painting, drawing, sculpting, etc.

I sigh with relief! I am 82 and think my work is still getting better. At least, I regard each painting as yet another mountain to climb.

I have been reading the twice-weekly letter for several years. I ALWAYS read it and value your comments and those of other artists. Thank you for this informative and fun read. Recently retired, I now have time to paint. Visually, I still have young eyes. However, I wonder whether my psyche has reached a point where some of the painting interests I once had have changed.

I am 18 and I have already lost some of the spontaniety I had when I was 8

Jane c [sic]rosbie, I think an apology to Rob (not Robb) is in order, as you have misunderstood him. One can disagree and still remain polite. Judging by the errors in your response, I think you write as hastily as you read: You repeated names and phrases: Winston Churchill and “as soon as science thinks it’s right”. I would have described Monet’s later works as electrifying, rather than “electrical”… I love to learn new things, so when I saw “tingency” rule, I looked it up, as I’d never heard it before. Neither has the dictionary, it seems. I think you meant contingency. A trait often seen in the elderly is a loss of understanding of acceptable social norms, in that they say exactly what they think without stopping to consider how rude they might be, not unlike toddlers, who haven’t leaned yet what is socially impolite – not for nothing is it known as one’s second childhood! As I get older I find I have had to learn to stop and think before I open my mouth to change feet, as I am often tempted to say or ask things that on reflection are not a good idea to express aloud. (Yes, I did think before writing this piece!) So what I’m saying is that you come across as someone not in the first flush of youth, who is feeling anxious about it. All I can tell you is, you are not aloooone…. ;-)

i am 60 years old and feel that i am learning to paint in an entirely different way…which makes me feel like a beginner, even though i have been painting since i was in my early 20’s. I believe the danger lies in developing a style and then staying there forever. To keep the hunger and passion alive we need to challenge ourselves and pursue new directions. Our styles need to evolve over time or else, at some point we are just running over the same old ground. I would say beware of the feeling that you’ve mastered your craft.

In any medium, some artists are early prodigies who go downhilol from there, while at the other end of the spectrum there are those whose Late Works transcend all their previous efforts. Among the latter I would include Michelangelo’s last Pieta, Rembrandt’s last self-portrait, Beethoven’s last string quartets, and Titian’s “Scourging of Christ.” Monet’s last Japanese Bridge paintings were done after Cubism had run its course, and are far more modern.

P.S. I just turned 87 and am doing some of my best work. (I have the same birthday as Goya and van Gogh, but my life has not been quite as dramatic.)

Robert Browning said “Grow old with me, the best is yet to be…”

It is Nice to know that with painting you know that you have a lifetime to learn!

I don’t think we lose our creativity but maybe we get more selective in what we do. Rather than chasing a lot of rainbows we stick to the medium that makes us the happiest. Of course maybe that is exactly what we are talking about. Goodness – got to find the glasses – and oh yes where is that brush? What were we talking about??

A little thought with regard to creativity and getting old. In a not too distant interview, Wolf Kawn said that eventhough suffering from mucular degeneration, it was making him paint even freer than ever before.

To Damar Minyak. Thanks for the list! Although it is a list, and you recommend in the list not to make lists, you made this one; and I’m keeping it!!! There’s a lot of wisdom worth perusing often there.

Age does bring a slowing down, since I am now in that age bracket, I realize youthful exuberance has been replaced by aged wisdom with my work. I no longer rush headlong into ideas as quickly as I did in my youth. On the one hand I’ve accomplished many of the ideas I had planned to paint. Projects today are still waiting to be done and now take more careful consideration and thought. Not because I’ve gotten old and tired but because now a project warrants the consideration that youth didn’t concern itself with. I still feel the need to work every day and my passion is still there but the “impulsive” fire has been turned down to a manageable burn. I take longer to paint than in my youth, although the results show freshness in technique. True, I can now muster the look deliberately whereas in my youth, it happened spontaneously. As for lack of finish, I’ve seen masters do the same thing and it isn’t oversight of boredom. My work over the years has gotten “looser”. This looseness of finish has more to do early accomplishment of the idea. I say more with less. There is little reason to overwork. Michelangelo, Rembrandt and many others discovered the same thing in later life. As for the quota of works in ones lifetime –I’ve long past 2,500 years ago. It would be safe to say in my lifetime, I’ve either destroyed, wiped off or obliterated and reused about half of everything I’ve ever created. So you might say I’ve turned back time and still have a couple of hundred works to re-do.

“No, thanks. I ate already!

I’m not sure that I ever took the time to think about it. I started painting 12 years ago at age 70 and most importantly, I think that I am getting better and more excited about painting all the time. As opposed to my wifes tennis which is declining as her physical capabilities decline. However as with my painting, it just makes us both work a little harder to succeed.

I’m not sure that I ever took the time to think about it. I started painting 12 years ago at age 70 and most importantly, I think that I am getting better and more excited about painting all the time. As opposed to my wifes tennis which is declining as her physical capabilities decline. However as with my painting, it just makes us both work a little harder to succeed.

Several years ago, I went to the Rockwell museum in Stockbridge. What surprised me about his work was the painterly quality of his illustrations. You really can’t see that from reproductions. It was an eye-opening visit, more than well worth the time and expense. You could say he was a painter who happened to make illustrations.

I do believe that artists only get better with age, and had a chuckle about the line that said that we never stop learning, the question is “are we learning the same thing over and over???? ha Like the joke about never having to buy another book because you forgot that you read it before. If I could only remember everything I’ve read.

Age does bring a slowing down, since I am now in that age bracket, I realize youthful exuberance has been replaced by aged wisdom with my work. I no longer rush headlong into ideas as quickly as I did in my youth. On the one hand I’ve accomplished many of the ideas I had planned to paint. Projects today are still waiting to be done and now take more careful consideration and thought. Not because I’ve gotten old and tired but because now a project warrants the consideration that youth didn’t concern itself with. I still feel the need to work every day and my passion is still there but the “impulsive” fire has been turned down to a manageable burn. I take longer to paint than in my youth, although the results show freshness in technique. True, I can now muster the look deliberately whereas in my youth, it happened spontaneously. As for lack of finish, I’ve seen masters do the same thing and it isn’t oversight of boredom. My work over the years has gotten “looser”. This looseness of finish has more to do early accomplishment of the idea. I say more with less. There is little reason to overwork. Michelangelo, Rembrandt and many others discovered the same thing in later life. As for the quota of works in ones lifetime –I’ve long past 2,500 years ago. It would be safe to say in my lifetime, I’ve either destroyed, wiped off or obliterated and reused about half of everything I’ve ever created. So you might say I’ve turned back time and still have a couple of hundred works to re-do.

I believe what you may be talking about is repetition as in when you repeat the same process over and over again. Stagnation sets in and it becomes repetitive, the challenge is gone. Artists like Picasso, Renoir, Matisse, and many others were seen that their art had lost their original spark, they were no longer the same artists they were before and this is true. At first glance it looks like they lost their abilities but if you spend time with their later works you see that the pieces have been pushed, the artists were pushing their abilities to another level. I’m still young but it seems to me creative capability does not decline unless the artist is bored of doing the same thing over and over again and needs to feel the challenge as when Picasso challenged the works of Velasquez, Manet, and others. It kept him on the edge and he needed that.

Robert, I think he was referring to 2500 good paintings, which I am striving for, because like you I am way over the 10,000 mark.

I wonder how many paintings Lucien Freud completed in his lifetime? He laid his brushes down just two weeks before he died at the age of 94.

Robert, The confidences and surety you bring to this subject clearly stems from a grounded and actualized understanding, forged in the fire of experience and thoughtful reflection. That is my honest interpretation. As well, your insightful and demonstrable examples, necessary to overcome, what I see as various degrees of, lethargy, complacency, adherence to certain conventions, or techniques in need of refining, or learning properly, constitute a reality, or mind-set many find difficult to accept, or conform to. In short, and more directly, I am alluding to “the beginners mind,” the sense of wonder, oneness or stated differently, a connection that does not allow easy distraction, from which a sense of relative timelessness and flow can arise. Vigilance and youthful confidence are key elements. So is the capacity to access the core reasons or motivations for creative endeavors. As with much of behavior, complex drives and unclear, unrealistic, or ill-defined objectives are at play, and figure in creative endeavors. This aspect should be considered and reflected upon. The best effort cannot address every need or condition, even if otherwise correct in its principles, or executions. A wide range of individual needs must be met in order to address the conditions necessary to engender a kind of re-entrancement; a truly fresh perspective, renewed, and renewable. The clarity is right there. Simply claim it. Acknowledge it. Cultivate it in every thing you do. It’s achievable and worthy of consideration. It is actually the thing that controls, with refined effort, meaningful thoughts and ideas. Clarity, as presented, is the product of vigilance, youthful confidence, and refined efforts; rethinking and adjusting, serious introspection, setting realistic goals, and committing to any necessary retraining. The very clarity outlined, understood, and appreciated invariably leads to a wider clarity, the essences of which is this commentary.

Does capability decline with age? All mimsy were the borogroves and the momey wraths outgabe (Jabberwocky – C. Lewis), hmmm. I forgot what I was going to say (*==*)! Ah yes, when confronted with the death demon, specially when he’s steamin streamin, shout “Where oh grave is thy Sting”, then happy Hymns and hallelujas sing, until your muses newses bring, on latest store that will not bore. Want more? Google me.