Living The Creative Life

How DO they do it? If you could ask your favorite artist or crafter only one question, chances are you'd ask about creativity: Where do your ideas come from? How did you get started? What are your tricks for overcoming blocks? In Living the Creative Life, author Ricë Freeman-Zachery has compiled answers to these questions and more from 15 successful artists in a variety of mediums—from assemblage to fiber arts, beading to mixed-media collage. Creativity is different for everyone, and these artists share their insights on the muse (if you believe in her), keeping a sketchbook (or not), and prioritizing your art, whether you aspire to create solely for your own pleasure or to become a full-time artist. • Try your hand at creative jumpstarts straight from the pros. • Glimpse the artists' innermost thoughts and works in progress as you peruse pages from their journals and notebooks. • Share textile artist Sas Colby's triumph over creative block during an exotic art retreat. • Learn how internationally acclaimed artist James Michael Starr uses experience from his former "day job" to fuel his creation today. • Explore the work of Michael deMeng, Claudine Hellmuth, Melissa Zink and the other artists right alongside their insights. No crafter or artist should live the creative life without Living the Creative Life! The inspiration is contagious.

Cultivating Your Creative Life: How to Find Balance, Beauty, and Success as an Artist is a multifaceted book where creativity and wonder intermingle to show how to live a creative and balanced life while moving toward your goals.

For artists and painters who wish to create not only projects of beauty, but ones that also reflect inner spirituality,Making Pearlsis the ultimate primer for expanding creativity and spirituality in every area of art and life. Filled with dozens of lush, reflective paintings,Making Pearlstakes the reader, step by step, through the seven stages of the creative cycle: Waiting, Opening, Closing, Holding, Releasing, Emptying, and Sitting. Within each chapter are several evocative essays and inspirational exercises that demonstrate how each of these creative stages affects the mind, body, and spirit. Chapters also include meditative exercises, as well as an evolving painting project for the readers that serves as a microcosm of the full creative process. This reflective, inspirational guide demonstrates the essential process and purpose of creativity: to make pearls of meaning and beauty of our selves and our lives. For the new-age artist on the path to spiritual awareness,Making Pearlsis the ultimate resource for living a totally creative life, body and soul.

'Live Big' guides people to access and accelerate creativity in order to live their biggest lives. It includes 20 themes (patience, boldness, resilience, love, fear, play, to name a few). Each theme includes a set of exercises that readers can use to practice and build skills related to the topic.

A comprehensive approach to the much-misunderstood artist's life, this book, contains both nuts-and-bolts ideas and exercises and inspiration to nurture growth as an artist and a person. It includes an update and expanded material from Maisel's "Life in the Arts."

This national bestseller from celebrated novelist and memoirist Dani Shapiro is an intimate and eloquent companion to living a creative life. Through a blend of memoir, meditation on the artistic process, and advice on craft, Shapiro offers her gift to writers everywhere: a guide of hard-won wisdom and advice for staying the course. In the ten years since the first edition, Still Writing has become a mainstay of creative writing classes as well as a lodestar for writers just starting out, and above all, an indispensable almanac for modern writers.

Creative souls have always craved a space in which to bring forth their artistic ideas and develop their practice. Continuing the tradition of the contemporary arts practitioner working from a home studio, many creative folk will often prefer to carve out a space within their own residence. Artists Homes examines the residences of a select group of professional artists who work across a broad range of artistic styles, from writing, photography, and painting through music, sculpture, and pottery (and more), and shares how each of these modern craftspeople and artists takes inspiration from the transformation of their home interiors and surroundings to live a creative life.

The instant #1 NEW YORK TIMES Bestseller "A must read for anyone hoping to live a creative life... I dare you not to be inspired to be brave, to be free, and to be curious.” —PopSugar From the worldwide bestselling author of Eat Pray Love and City of Girls: the path to the vibrant, fulfilling life you’ve dreamed of. Readers of all ages and walks of life have drawn inspiration and empowerment from Elizabeth Gilbert’s books for years. Now this beloved author digs deep into her own generative process to share her wisdom and unique perspective about creativity. With profound empathy and radiant generosity, she offers potent insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.