Creativity Quote by Ida Rentoul Outhwaite

There is a quiet sting in Outhwaite's line: the fantasy of the “better artist” built not from inspiration but from discipline withheld. Coming from an illustrator celebrated for gauzy, otherworldly fairy imagery, the regret lands with extra bite. Her work is often read as pure enchantment, the product of effortless imagination. She punctures that myth in one sentence, recasting artistry as training, stamina, and time spent doing the unromantic thing: studying.

The phrasing matters. “Should have been” carries the moral weight of a missed obligation, not just a missed opportunity. “Amused myself” sounds almost childlike, a self-scolding that aligns with the era’s suspicion of leisure, especially for women whose creative work was too easily dismissed as decorative or whimsical. Outhwaite isn’t simply confessing procrastination; she’s negotiating legitimacy. If the world calls your vision “pretty,” the desire to prove you earned it through study becomes its own pressure.

The subtext is also about class and access. Formal study costs money, proximity to institutions, time not consumed by paid work or domestic expectations. For an Australian artist working at the turn of the century, “could have studied more” hints at the limits of geography and opportunity, not just willpower.

What makes the quote work is its refusal of romance. It’s an artist demystifying her own gift, admitting that play and pleasure can be both the fuel of a style and the alibi for a lingering sense of unrealized potential.