creative process

Matisse’s 13 Sketches, 13 Prayers, Before Painting ‘The Dream’

Henri Matisse likened his state of mind when making art “close to that of prayer. So we’re viewing each one of these 13 ravishing sketches in preparation for painting The Dream as a sort of prayer…

When An Artist Fails as a Person, Is Their Work Invalid?

When I was young, I thought that an artwork reflected the values of the person who made it. Over time, I learned that this was very often not the case…

What We Do When We’ve Done Everything We Can and Feel We Should Do More (Chris Eldredge, Pat Steir)

When we’ve worked hard taking care of something and feel there is still more we should do, leaving us restless and worried, we employ this 10-word reality check, learned from a psychotherapist friend.

Being Matter of Fact about Failure and Other Lessons from Mary Oliver

Of the many tributes we’ve read about poet Mary Oliver’s passing, the most moving was Summer Brennan’s short remembrance about what her teacher taught her…

Playing with Aluminum Foil Yields Knives, Balls, Stunning Sculpture (John Chamberlain)

The latest DIY craze of hammering tin foil to make metal-hard objects led us to discovery of artist John Chamberlain’s dazzling foil alchemy…

Three Artists Approaching Their Canvas Inspire the Coming Year

Looking through the archive of images and quotes I keep for inspiration, I came across a theme I hadn’t realized I was collecting and heartening words from Agnes Martin…

Poem and a Wish for a New Year

In this perfect poem for the New Year, Poet Christian Wiman nails the mysterious process of growth that we cannot control, and often aren’t aware of, but is part of every life, guaranteed.

Lollypop Menorah Near Vegas is a Lesson in Free Association (Gary Snyder, Freud)

Artist Ugo Rondinone’s Seven Magic Mountains, fluorescently-painted 32-foot-high totems in the desert outside Vegas, reveal the poetry of free association…

Warhol’s Oxidation Painting: Alchemy of Metallic Paint, Great Eye and a Surprising Catalyst

Wandering through the Warhol retrospective at the Whitney yesterday, I was stopped dead by a remarkable 17-foot long abstract canvas I hadn’t seen before, made with materials I’d never considered…

A Wounded Cello’s Lesson in Navigating Change in Things We Love

When a virtuoso cellist found his rare, beloved cello changed after massive repairs, he had to find new ways to elicit its unique sound — a lesson in navigating change in things we love.

Brian Eno’s Oblique Strategy: Don’t Wait for Inspiration. Do this instead…

This video of artist and musician Brian Eno is full of interesting ideas about the creative process. The best, to us, is right up front in the first 1:44 minutes…

The Deep Internal Realizations to be Had from Fooling Around

In his wonderful TED talk, Gever Tully describes the “deep internal realizations” to be had from having the freedom to fool around, tinker, improvise…

Sardinian Women Show How to Wash Dishes with Passion and Joy

Our friend Peggy Markle took this remarkable little video of women in a church rectory’s kitchen in Sardinia washing dishes as one sang loudly in dialect, refusing to be shushed…The BEST way we’ve seen to transform an ordinary household task.

Viewing the Day as a Blank Canvas

Every morning when we open our office for work, we take a minute to look at this image of artist Lucio Fontana. We love its enduring message.

10 Enduring Rules for the Creative Life (Sister Corita Kent + John Cage)

This remarkable set of 10 “rules” for creative living and working taught by Sister Corita Kent and John Cage have guided artists for over 50 years.

Using Limitations As If They Were a Tool For Your Benefit

In this unique view of constraints, not having enough —money, help, whatever— can be a good thing…

Listen to Your Favorite Artists Sing A Capella (Lady Gaga, Marvin Gaye…)

A capella “raw vocals” music videos— instruments stripped away to leave only pure voice tracks — got us hearing thinking about voice in a new way.

Why Walking Helps Us Think (Rilke + Ferris Jabr)

Science has proven what painting, poetry, and our own experience know: walking helps us think, and be.

Doubt Allows for Alternative Ways to See the World (Albert O. Hirschman, Colorni, Christopher Columbus)

The very counter-intuitive views of Albert O. Hirschman turns commonly accepted ideas of productivity on their head: Doubt is essential to the creative process.

Sally Mann on ‘Relishing the Limitations of the Ordinary’

Hold Still, A Memoir with Photographs, by legendary photographer Sally Mann reads like an epic novel shot through with photographs and remarkable insights about the creative process, and embracing the “limitations of the ordinary”.

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