Persist


Author Spotlight

In Praise of the Creative Spirit with Author Peter Clothier

On Persisting, Mind Work, and Slow Looking


Peter ClothierPeter Clothier is a long time observer of the contemporary art world, and a widely published writer. His publications include fiction, poetry, and a memoir, as well as David Hockney (a monograph), and a collection of political essays, The Bush Diaries. His books include Persist: In Praise of the Creative Spirit in a World Gone Mad with Commerce, Mind Work: Shedding Delusions on the Path to the Creative Core, and Slow Looking: The Art of Looking at Art.

A graduate of Cambridge University, Clothier came to the U.S. in 1964 for the Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa. Graduating with a PH.D. in Comparative Literature, he came to L.A. in 1968 to teach at USC. He became Dean and Director of Otis Art Institute, and was Dean of Fine and Communication Arts at Loyola-Marymount University before leaving academia in 1986 to devote full time to writing. He has been happily unemployed since then and describes himself as a recovering academic.

He received fellowships from the Rockefeller Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and was honored for his contribution to the arts at the L.A. Artcore 17th Annual Awards. He has appeared on numerous radio and television shows, and has served in a leadership capacity in The ManKind Project. Visit PeterClothier.com for more information.


Slow Looking


Slow Looking


Peter Clothier's Slow Looking: The Art of Looking At Art (Toad Rampant Books, 2012) is based on the “One Hour/One Painting” sessions he began offering a number of years ago to practice a more profound and rewarding way of looking at art. Combining the skills of meditation and contemplation, it invites participants to sit with a single work of art for a full hour; and by extension it models the way in which the mind benefits from the simple practice of paying close attention — whether in art or, more broadly, in life itself. Learn more and enjoy sample audio and video demonstrations on the process at PeterClothier.com.


History of SLOW LOOKING: The Art of Looking At Art

This book has its origins in my "One Hour/One Painting" sessions, a different and more rewarding ay of looking at art. Excerpted from chapter 1 of Slow Looking: The Art of Looking at Art.


SLOW LOOKING: Eyes Open Meditation

The simple experience of opening the eyes can be, well... eye-opening. Excerpted from chapter 9 of Slow Looking: The Art of Looking at Art.


SLOW LOOKING: Silence

Silence is the aural complement to space: once you find it, it is limitless, it reaches everywhere. Excerpted from chapter 4 of Slow Looking: The Art of Looking at Art.


Persist


Persist


Peter Clothier PERSIST Interview

Peter's creativity-inspiring responses to questions about his writing process, inspiration, and persisting in the creative life.


PERSIST: Making Space

The writer stands to benefit as much as the artist or the musician from the empty mind.


PERSIST: Heeding the Call

Each of us, I firmly believe, has that mission, that sense of purpose.


PERSIST: Nurturing the Artist Within

From lecture for a group of art teachers engaged in a summer workshop at Texas Christian University.


PERSIST: The Big Lie

Written after "Write For Your Life," a workshop at the Holiday Inn in Hollywood, California, in 1986.


Mind Work


Mind Work


MIND WORK: Interview with Peter Clothier

A discussion on Intimate Portraits, Authenticity, and Shedding Delusions on the Path to the Creative Core.


MIND WORK: Today Is Thine: Tempus Fugit

Coming back home to the reality of the present moment.


MIND WORK: Not Just a Number

Stripping down to essentials to attain greater clarity.


More with Peter Clother

Peter ClothierPeter Clothier writes chiefly about art and artists in Southern California. He has published widely in national magazines, and is the author of David Hockney in the Abbeville Modern Masters series. ...


Peter Clothier 'Persist' Interview


Making Space


Heeding the Call


Nurturing the Artist Within


The Big Lie: The Root of Self-Sabotage


Peter Clothier 'Mind Work' Interview


Today Is Thine: Tempus Fugit


Not Just a Number


The Art of Looking At Art


'Slow Looking' Meditation


'Slow Looking' Silence