Love is to creativity what white bread is to the colon; not damaging per se, but very likely to cause a blockage.

As Britain’s wheelie bins prepare for their annual rush of red paper, and single people across the country rue their mothers for still sending “anonymous” cards, Valentine’s Day must be upon us.

If you are in love, well, firstly, how nice. Secondly, it’s a touch boring isn’t it? Oh, I mean, it’s nice to have a human-shaped hot water bottle about the bed, and it’s undeniably nice to have someone to share your toast with. But, you know, it’s not exactly something to throw yourself from the battlements for, is it?

No. When it comes to creative inspiration, a good thwacking slice of heartache is the order of the day.

My first love, Hamish, ran off with my best friend, Catherine Sprent. We were six years old at the time, on a trip to Cotswold Wildlife Park and I cried all over my sheep nuts. It was the first time I had ever tasted the bitterness of heartbreak and, incidentally, edible paper. So, what was my response to this kick in the cardiac? I went home and painted a picture of a crying owl.

While the owl was undoubtedly stunning, I cannot claim to be the only person similarly galvanised. The list of great artists inspired by heartbreak is longer than the M1, and almost as painful: John Milton, Frida Kahlo, Pablo Picasso, Billie Holiday, Van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Sarah Kane, John Keats, Charlotte Bronte, William Shakespeare, Joan Baez… George Michael. Works of heartbreaking genius are, more often than not, genius workings of heartbreak.

In 2009, artist Sophie Calle exhibited her painfully lovely piece Take Care of Yourself at the Whitechapel Gallery. Named after the final line of a break up email sent to the French artist by her “X” boyfriend, Calle’s project asked a collection of professional women to reinterpret and critique the email according to their discipline. This message of lost love was grammatically corrected by a copy editor, shot by a markswoman and performed by actor Jeanne Moreau. I mean, it’s no crying owl, but it’s a bloody good start.

Perhaps the creative art most thoroughly smeared with the tears of heartbreak is the (ironically named) single. Chart music may find its greatest outlet in the love-hunting plains of city bars and sweaty clubs, but any hit single worth its salt has heartache embedded in its very chord structure. Crying, Heartless, Fight for This Love, First Cut is the Deepest, Cry Me a River, I Will Always Love You, Love the Way You Lie and, of course, Careless Whisper to name but a smattering. Everyone from Roy Orbison to Kanye West has had their limited musical talents lifted to the realm of greatness by the poignant beauty of heartbreak.

So, if you are going to be spending this Valentine’s Day as I once did – eating cheese on toast for dinner, smuggling two bottles of red wine in to a screening of Breakfast at Tiffany’s, then going home to slur down the phone to an old flame – then just remember: while the search for love may provide the catalyst for great creative thought, losing it may be the best thing you ever do.

Image by looli

Can you think of any other great works of art inspired by heartbreak? Or do you think Nell’s got this all wrong, and love is the creative drug? Let us know in the comments section below…