It took me a long time to realize that while artists may seem to have an inborn talent, they actually develop their art making skills by practicing. Doodles? Practice. Sketching? Practice. Staring into space? Practice.  They work it out over many attempts. Just like a toddler toddles and then walks, artists scribble and then draw.  […]

Do you allow your perceived limitations to stop you from starting? I do it, all the time. The other day I had an absolute bolt of inspiration about how to begin the first of  a series of recordings I have been wanting to create for about two years. I have had the tools to make […]

Since creativity is not easy to measure, you can’t consistently quantify your daily creative effort beyond the simple question: Did I show up today? Showing up means arriving at the studio or desk or workspace ready and willing to do the work as required. Some days, what is required may be the joyful task of […]

I’ve been thinking a lot about the subject of  “Time” lately, especially in terms of how we view it and use it and abuse it. Since watching the time and meeting deadlines and so forth seem to be fairly common concerns among  so many creative people,  I’ll be writing about time and our beliefs and […]

UPDATE As of March 2012, this book is no longer for sale. However it is on offer as a free promotional item at Bridget’s blog.Please check there for future developments. (post revised accordingly) It’s rare for me to become an affiliate mention an e-book product because so much of what is offered on the interwebs seems subpar.  When I […]

Showing Up to Create

by Barbara Martin

in Uncategorized

Today’s post is about showing up. I think Woody Allen is the one who is quoted as saying winning or success is 99% about showing up. (Or was that Charlie Sheen?) Nevermind, the point is I made a commitment to publish a photo or two each day during this week-long photography challenge and I am keeping […]

Many creative people apparently believe or subscribe to the idea that “inspiration” must strike so that we can be creative, regardless of how motivated we may feel about our creative work.  Do you believe it? More important:  How have you tested your belief? What conditions make that spark of “inspiration” more likely to happen? Is inspiration the same as flow? […]

  The more I read and experience and observe creative people, the more I notice how we get in our own way and limit our creativity by imposing rules about the conditions we require in order to create. We might be convinced we can only create using specific tools or in a certain setting or […]

Creativity can be so Messy

by Barbara Martin

in Creativity

A behind the scenes look at a Real Artist or Real Writer or Real Creative-Person-Doing-Fill-in-the-Blank in action frequently reveals a less than neat and tidy process going on. Let’s face it, the creative product is the result of many forces at work over a period of time. Some of these forces are predictable, like learning […]

The devil’s propensity for details pokes specifically at perfectionists. The details of any project are the perfectionist’s easy target. Let’s dot each i and cross each t and for heaven’s sake let’s make sure the apostrophes line up just so. Can you relate to this vision of hell? I’ve written about perfection before, and recently […]