July 2005 Newsletter #2

"You are immensely more creative than you could even begin to imagine. You came fully equipped as a creative being, on the day you were born." — Chris Zydel, Just Say 'Yes' to Your Creative Self

In This Issue

• July 2005 Journal
• What's New @ the CP
• Inspiring Creativity Book Giveaway
• Q & A: Help Along The Way

July 2005 Journal

by Chris Dunmire

The Day My Creative Life Began
About six months before I decided to leave my corporate job in 2000 to pursue a creative path, the company I worked for was running a week-long schedule of lunchtime presentations geared towards professional growth. …

Chris Dunmire
Publisher, Creativity Portal

What's New @ the CP

An Interview with Contemporary Folk Artist Violette
Creativity Portal
Violette discusses her coloring book for grown-ups, the Chickenlady, visual journaling, the creative process, and other inspiring things related to her art, vision, and philosophy with the Creativity Portal.

Six Myths of Creativity Blasted
By Chris Dunmire
If I was still punching a time clock as a cubical dweller, I would print hundreds of copies of this article by Bill Breen and stuff it into every manager's mailbox I could find. Attached would be a big yellow Post-it note with the message:

Attn: Managers — Creativity Quashing STOPS TODAY!

Make EVERY DAY an Artist Retreat Day
By Linda Dessau
A retreat gives us the opportunity to step outside the day-to-day and look at the big picture of our creative dreams. It gives us freedom from obligation and responsibilities and guidance from a facilitator and/or our artist peers. Here are five ways to bring some of these elements into your life EVERY SINGLE DAY.

How to Succeed as a Writer
By Michele Pariza Wacek
As a professional copywriter, I'm often asked by aspiring copywriters what they need to do to succeed. Most of their questions center around writing ability. Writing ability has very little to do with a writer's ultimate success.

Altered Purse Project
By Violette
This is a fun project if you want to resurrect an old purse and exercise your creative juices!

Pterodactyl Paper Sculpture
Creativity Portal
Create your own mini Jurassic Park with this creatively fun Pterodactyl paper sculpture based on Joy Sikorski's dinosaur drawing lesson.

Inspiring Creativity Book Giveaway

Watch this Space!

In promotional partnership with Rick Benzel, founder and executive director of the Creativity Coaching Association and publisher of the CCA Press, the Creativity Portal has obtained several copies of the book "Inspiring Creativity: An Anthology of Powerful Insights and Practical Ideas to Guide You to Successful Creating".

This book, with a foreword by Eric Maisel, author of "Coaching the Artist Within", and "Fearless Creating", contains top-notch advice from 22 professional creativity coaches to ignite your creative potential.

The Creativity Portal will be giving away copies of "Inspiring Creativity" in upcoming newsletters, so keep an eye on this space for your chance to get one.

Learn more about the book here.

Q & A: Help Along The Way

I have a Web site. Now what?

Q: I read your article about making a Web site to promote my artwork online. I found some free space on a popular Web directory and will get my own domain later on after I see how this works. Am I headed in the right direction? — Sam

Answer...