Today's Creativity Wisdom
Awaken Creativity
Steve O'Keefe
Set the Page on Fire: Thinking, Talking, Writing, Reading
Judy Wood
Riding Lessons for Artists
Forging a New Path in Art and Life
It's (Almost) Never Too Late
The Basics are Basic
How Do We Learn and From Whom?
Community
Where am I, and where am I going?
Mirror, mirror
Marianne St. Claire
The Top 10 Benefits of Play
The Pendulum Swings Right to the Conceptual Age
Lynda Lehmann
Artist Lynda Lehmann Interview
Why Artists Create Art
Creating Art is an Affirmation of Life
What is Art? Traditional vs Abstract
What Good Art Does to Us
In Praise of Creative Process
Think Small (No, I'm not Joking...)
The Artist: 'Tortured Soul' or Joyous Participant?
Susan Anderson
Outer Child and Your Future
You, Two Years from Now Exercise
Dream House Guided Visualization
Healing Abandonment, a Creative Process
Hal Zina Bennett, PhD
Get Unreal: A Writing Exercise
Solitude and Creativity
Lisa Collazo, LSCW
The Power of Words
The Writer's Ailment: "Stuckitis"
Writing Out the Gremlin
The Emotional Writer
Peter Clothier
The Art of Looking At Art'Slow Looking' Meditation
'Slow Looking' Silence
Peter Clothier 'Persist' Interview
Making Space
Heeding the Call
Nurturing the Artist Within
PERSIST: The Big Lie
Peter Clothier MIND WORK Interview
Today Is Thine: Tempus Fugit
Not Just a Number
Kimberly Wilson
Enlightened Work & Mindful PlayYour Life Is Art
6 Ways to Evoke Creativity
Modes of Creativity
Stephen Nachmanovitch
The Art of IsImprovisation: Rubbing
Improv: Mushrooms & Tide Pools
Improvisation: Twists and Turns
Nancy Mills Interviews
Wine Maker Lane TannerActress Sybil Temtchine
Mediabistro's Laurel Touby
'Girl Blue Project' Marlow Wyatt
Artist and Activist Ellen Spencer
,Spoken Word Artist Sally Shore
Cathy Salser: Window Between Worlds
Astrology Zone's Susan Miller
Swirly Girl Christine Mason Miller
Mystery Writer Rochelle Krich
Jewelry Designer Katy Leakey
Jet Set Modeling Cindy Kauanui
Mystery Writer Rochelle Krich
World Traveler Marie Javins
Radio Host Frances Halpern
Creative Sage's Cathryn Hrudicka
Author & Actress Fannie Flagg
Writer Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
Entrepreneur Crystal Allene Cook
Frou Frou Flip Flops Alice
Lotus Blossom Style Tabby Biddle
Comedienne & Storyteller Roz Browne
Shakti Gawain
Shakti Gawain InterviewBecoming a Creative Channel
Trusting Intuition
Transforming Our World
Set the Page on Fire
Thinking, Talking, Writing, Reading
By Steve O'Keefe
All writing originates in thought, so it's understandable that thinking and writing sometimes get confused. It is amazing how many people, myself included, think of the thought streams in our minds as "writing." That is a seduction to be avoided. I've spoken with dozens of people who want to be authors — and think they already are — because they have thoroughly worked-out streams of stories and articles in their heads. Until you translate those thoughts into words, you're not writing. You're thinking. They're two different things.
Author Interviews
'Brainstorm' Interview with Eric Maisel
By New World Library
Brainstorm is about the way your brain really wants to work if given a chance. Our brain would love to be more focused, engaged, and passionate in our service but we've never been taught how to marshal all those billions of neurons. The brain isn't that interested in the dates of battles or in conjugating verbs — in the kind of work asked of it in school. It would like to dream large and really bite into what interests it.
Art and Power: Why Artists Create Art
By Lynda Lehmann
I think most of us would agree that producing art gives us power. I see it as a power over ourselves, as opposed to power over what is outside of ourselves. It is a personal power over our own energy, perception, and motivational systems. And perhaps more important, the making of art helps us transcend the need to achieve a social equilibrium (which IMHO is rarely possible anyway). Instead, we are involved in a process by which we may achieve a degree of harmony within ourselves, in relation to the universe. In the dynamic state of being committed to a creative process, we do not need to steal anyone's energy, or let them steal energy from us.
Books & Printables
Trickster Word Search Puzzles
By Chris Dunmire, Unpuzzler
Great for April Fool's or any day pranking! Teachers and Parents: Enjoy pulling off a creatively delightful (and harmless!) joke at home or in the classroom. What looks like an ordinary activity soon turns into an unforgettable experience is expecation vs. reality. These six reprintable eye-catching impossible-to-solve word-find puzzles have stumped even the smartest of students and puzzle enthusisasts (because the words are really hidden good so they can't be found!) and have delighted teachers, parents, and pranksters worldwide since 2005.
Writing What You Know
3 Steps to Overcoming Messages from Your Inner Critic
Lisa Collazo, LCSW
When I think of the concept of the inner critic, I find it's useful to envision an entity outside of myself, something getting in the way of what I'm attempting to create with my writing. In the coaching world, that entity is referred to as a gremlin — described in the Wiktionary website as "a mythological mischievous creature…depicted as mechanically oriented and devious." How does the gremlin work its magic? For writers, gremlins can erupt anytime we sit down to write. Negative messages from the past begin to creep into the present, hindering our writing.
Riding Lessons for Artists
The Basics are Basic
By Judy Wood
One of the irritating facts of life in many endeavors, and riding and art creation are right in there on this one, is that "the basics" are basic. As I have mentioned before, none of us came into this world knowing how to do these things. They need to be learned. Some of us have a greater aptitude than others, but we all have to learn from the ground up no matter what our area of interest may be. The "lucky" ones are those who do have that "natural" ability that makes learning and application of the learning less difficult than it is for many of the rest of us.
Inspiring Creativity
How Society Tells Us Not to Create
By Dave Storer
What we must remember is that at a very basic level of the human psyche, we are all strongly encouraged by winning versus strongly discouraged by losing. For many, it takes just one loss to stop creativity cold. My own writing career is a case in point.
Rock Painting Tutorial
Painted Desert Cactus in Flower Planter
By Ernestina Gallina
You don't need a green thumb to grow this cactus, only rocks and acrylic paint! This everlasting, non-thorny cactus with its bright colors will decorate any corner of your home or office. Just choose an ordinary rock whose shape suggests the plant's shape, pot it, and finally paint it to resemble a real cactus!