I’m reading Rick Rubin’s new book The Creative Act: A Way of Being. It’s the best book on making art & living a creative life I’ve read since reading Art & Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland. Here’s an excerpt from Rubins new book: Freedom There…
Tag: creativity
On speed & stamina
Here is something interesting I just read today: When you paint, you have to be quick. Even if it is not turning out very well, it is always better than going slowly. You must bring the energy of your entire existence into the picture. FRANÇOISE GILOT in “THE WOMAN WHO SAYS NO” (also worth mentioning…
Notes for a new week
I have this praxis of writing morning pages (the Julia Cameron way). I have done them on and off for many years. I do them first thing in the morning. I write by hand in a room lit only by candles (– this to try to fool my inner critic to believe I’m still sleeping…
Exercise
“Make a list of three artists whose work makes you uncomfortable. Then make a list of three specific things about each artist’s work that make you feel this way. Read the list back closely; ask yourself if there’s something about what these artists do that you share. Really think about this. It’s also a great…
Passing Through
A short story of excellence, dedication and perseverance & of the joy and importance of meaning-making: Ted Kooser (1939) was the 13th Poet Laureate of the United States and received the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2005.
Art and Fear
Making art can feel dangerous and revealing. Making art is dangerous and revealing. Making art precipitates self-doubt, stirring deep waters that lay between what you know you should be, and what you fear you might be. I guess I mentioned this before, but I’ll say it again: Art and Fear: Observations on the Perils (and Rewards)…
Recharge
I’m on holiday (=recharging) …; using An Absorbing Errand by Janna Malamud Smith as a guide back into the world of creativity. True happiness, we are told, consists in getting out of one’s self; but the Point is not only to get out — you must stay out; and to stay out you must have some absorbing errand. Henry James from…
Floating
Louise Glück on creativity Claire Luchette: What are the seeds of your work? Do your poems grow from a feeling you want to convey, or a question you want to ask? Louise Glück: No. I never have the slightest thing in mind. In fact, I am suspicious of my existing ideas, my conscious thoughts and…
foremothers
I’m reading Anne Truitt’s Daybook: The Journal of an Artist. It’s a beautiful and very insightful portrayal of the artist at work. Truitt worked in several medias, and I believe her Daybook will be of interest to all people making a creative living. Through reading Truitt one actually gets access to the creative process as it unfolds….
– art is the ultimate lifesaver
I got this great gift today, a link to beautiful speech: In short: do the things only you can do – let go and enjoy the ride! Thank you Neil Gaiman, and thank you Peter for sending me the link! .
sub rosa 