Creative Flow: Outside the Box

I continue to sketch and freewrite each day, as well as keep my eyes and ears open to current thinking on creative flow exercises that assist writers (in particular) in thinking outside the box. I thought I’d take a moment to list a few resources I’ve enjoyed most recently:
Creative Block: Advice & Projects from 50 Successful Artists by Danielle Krysa (The Jealous Curator): This book is worth every penny and while I’m only 2/3 of the way through my copy, it is already marked up with tons of Post-It tabs. Each featured artists answers a series of questions about creative practice, creative blocks (and un-blocks), inner critiques, and inspiring individuals. The full-color, full-page images of each artists work likewise inspires and for those who want more, the book includes numerous of URLs and book titles for further reference and exploration.
A weekly e-newsletter from artist and author Austin Kleon: Let me begin by saying I subscribe to very few e-newsletters. Delightful mixed-media artist and writer Suzi Banks Baum introduced me to this man’s work and, while I’ve only subscribed for a few months, I’ve rarely missed reading through what he sends out. His newsletter is simple: A list of ten things that are interesting to him at the time, from music to interviews to art books to things he discovered or experienced on his current book tour. This week, I most especially loved this 30-minute YouTube video of a talk he gave in a bookstore. If you’re pressed for time, just watch the second half, which has great images of famous artists’ and inventors’ journals.

 

Last but never least, one of my favorite books to turn to every winter, Wilderness by Rockwell Kent (with a foreword by Doug Capra). A truly inspiring series of journal entries are paired with the utterly breathtaking woodblock prints of this artist, all set in one of my favorite places on earth—Alaska, dead of winter.

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