It’s Monday and time for the “secret color challenge with a twist” BIG REVEAL! Three pieces, ten days, required elements. WITH GRAFFITI! Just for fun, I’ll let you study the photos and guess the 3 colors and figure out the twist. Yes, there is a quiz! After that, we can ruminate on the value of doing […]
Today Jordan Hill and I reveal the results of the secret art challenge! Last week we set up a private color challenge: we independently selected two colors each and then combined our choices. We were to make 5 pieces with these colors. By today. And we did! The secret challenge colors: lime green soft yellow red silvery lilac […]
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. […]
Twyla Tharp’s new Sinatra music show is coming to town. This reminded me about The Creative Habit: Learn it and use it for Life, her richly practical and inspiring book. Among many valuable insights, she describes “the spine” and its essential role in creative projects. Can you guess what this week’s creativity tip touches on? […]
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 […]
Have you ever worked on a creative project only to have it fall short in the execution stage? Of course, we all do! Well, now we have a formal term and a scientific measurement scale for judging that kind of outcome: creality. Best of all, the creality scale is not relegated to the negative end of […]
Earlier this month I spent an agreeable day attending a hand made journal making workshop with Lisa Sonora Beam — you may recognize her as author of the excellent visually-oriented creative business primer, The Creative Entrepreneur. If you aren’t familiar with her work, read on because you might want to experiment with making a journal or two of your […]
I have been working on a new habit. As a coach, of course I am familiar with theories about how to change habits, or how to stop doing one thing and start doing something else. Unfortunately, in defiance of all logic, my mind generally refuses to play “those games” so progress can be difficult at best. Like many creative people, […]
The phrase “beginner mind” ran through my head this morning while I considered how to approach my photography challenge today — and what to post here on the blog in terms of relating the challenge to creativity. Here’s the rub: Although I have taken thousands of photographs over the years, and sold hundreds of them, they […]
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 […]