The Storm Of Creativity

The stages of the creative process—from “unlearning” to beginning again—seen through examples from the practice of artists, architects, poets, and others. Although each instance of creativity is singular and specific, Kyna Leski tells us, the creative process is universal. Artists, architects, poets, inventors, scientists, and others all navigate the same stages of the process in order to discover something that does not yet exist. All of us must work our way through the empty page, the blank screen, writer's block, confusion, chaos, and doubt. In this book, Leski draws from her observations and experiences as a teacher, student, maker, writer, and architect to describe the workings of the creative process. Leski sees the creative process as being like a storm; it slowly begins to gather and take form until it overtakes us—if we are willing to let it. It is dynamic, continually in motion; it starts, stops, rages and abates, ebbs and flows. In illustrations that accompany each chapter, she maps the arc of the creative process by tracing the path of water droplets traveling the stages of a storm. Leski describes unlearning, ridding ourselves of preconceptions; only when we realize what we don't know can we pose the problem that we need to solve. We gather evidence—with notebook jottings, research, the collection of objects—propelling the process. We perceive and conceive; we look ahead without knowing where we are going; we make connections. We pause, retreat, and stop, only to start again. To illustrate these stages of the process, Leski draws on examples of creative practice that range from Paul Klee to Steve Jobs, from the discovery of continental drift to the design of Antoni Gaudí's Sagrada Familia. Creativity, Leski tells us, is a path with no beginning or end; it is ongoing. This revelatory view of the creative process will be an essential guide for anyone engaged in creative discovery. The Creative Process Unlearning Problem Making Gathering and Tracking Propelling Perceiving and Conceiving Seeing Ahead Connecting Pausing Continuing

Whether you're writing a novel, painting with watercolors, composing a symphony, or baking peanut butter cookies, creativity plays a crucial role in achieving satisfaction and excellence. But, for many of us, accessing our creative core is difficult, if not impossible. Now, acclaimed film producer Don Hahn offers his own unorthodox, yet highly effective methods for reawakening the creative spirit.

Can a creative mind thrive in a corporate landscape? Can a business leader use creativity to guide teams more effectively? From one of today’s leading creative minds comes a book for modern rebels on building a rewarding life without losing your edge. Written for uncompromising creative thinkers and aspiring changemakers, The Art of Creative Rebellion encapsulates insights and wisdom collected over a life of creative and professional prosperity. In these frank and insightful reflections, John S. Couch shares with young free thinkers the uncompromising principles needed to thrive in a world that seems to reward conformity. Above all, The Art of Creative Rebellion is a guide to shaping a life, career and reality that nourishes the spirit and feeds the soul—without compromises or apologies.

A passionate and purposeful book on finding real creativity through nature. An essential book for our times and all artists at whatever level. In her most passionate and personal book to date, acclaimed watercolour artist Ann Blockley takes both budding and more experienced artists through a series of ideas for working with nature – in its widest sense – to nurture our creativity, inspire us, make us more sustainable artists, and replenish energy and flow when our artistic streams run dry. In 'Go Outside and Play', the author exhorts artists to recapture a fun, no-pressure way of being outside and use that feeling when creating. In 'Connecting Materials to Place' she creates her own paint from the local pond. In 'The Slow Movement', the artist reveals her year of working on a specific local hedgerow and painting a series of different interpretation in its every-changing detail. She created regular creative rituals, using her weekly playing card as a starting point for a new painting to reflect the season each week. She reuses old paintings, and tissue and paper – wabi-sabi style – to create new textures and even new paintings. Including work from other artists as well as her own, she shows the ideas and work from textile and mixed-media artists. From allotment inspiration to reusing old painting and from nature prints to the alchemy of found materials, this is a journey to find new creativity through our connection with our natural world.

“Brimming with ideas. . . . The Origins of Creativity approach[es] creativity scientifically but sensitively, feeling its roots without pulling them out.”—Economist In a stirring exploration of human nature recalling his foundational work Consilience, Edward O. Wilson offers a “luminous” (Kirkus Reviews) reflection on the humanities and their integral relationship to science. Both endeavors, Wilson argues, have their roots in human creativity—the defining trait of our species. By studying fields as diverse as paleontology, evolution, and neurobiology, Wilson demonstrates that creative expression began not 10,000 years ago, as we have long assumed, but more than 100,000 years ago in the Paleolithic Age. A provocative investigation into what it means to be human, The Origins of Creativity reveals how the humanities have played an unexamined role in defining our species. With the eloquence, optimism, and pioneering inquiry we have come to expect from our leading biologist, Wilson proposes a transformational “Third Enlightenment” in which the blending of science and humanities will enable a deeper understanding of our human condition, and how it ultimately originated.

People who know how to harness their own creative juices can tap into their creativity and believe in the vast powers of their own ideas will become successful in virtually everything they do. Just as we learn other skills -- to read, to write, and to do math -- it is necessary to train ourselves to properly harness the power of our brains in order to think originally, brainstorm, and utilize that huge creative power. No matter what you do for a living or where your personal interests lie, you can become more successful and achieve greater heights if you're willing to "pop the top on your brain" and learn how to think more creatively as you confront life's trials and tribulations. Once you begin to discover how to generate incredible ideas, your true success will come from learning how to transform those ideas into reality. Brain Storm is your personal roadmap to a better understanding of creative thinking and the brainstorming process. With this book, as an individual or in a group setting, you can begin generating ideas with the power to change the world around you. Jason R. Rich will teach you the basics of how to produce many ideas, evaluate each of them, and pick the best one. You will learn directly from fascinating people who have already achieved incredible success as a direct result of their ability to think creatively. Within a short period of time, you too will be generating new ideas, building upon other people's ideas, using your brain to find creative solutions to problems and challenges, and coming up with ideas that will improve your personal, professional, and financial life. Book jacket.

How to confront, embrace, and learn from the unavoidable failures of creative practice; with case studies that range from winemaking to animation. Failure is an inevitable part of any creative practice. As game designers, John Sharp and Colleen Macklin have grappled with crises of creativity, false starts, and bad outcomes. Their tool for coping with the many varieties of failure: iteration, the cyclical process of conceptualizing, prototyping, testing, and evaluating. Sharp and Macklin have found that failure—often hidden, covered up, a source of embarrassment—is the secret ingredient of iterative creative process. In Iterate, they explain how to fail better. After laying out the four components of creative practice—intention, outcome, process, and evaluation—Sharp and Macklin describe iterative methods from a wide variety of fields. They show, for example, how Radiolab cohosts Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich experiment with radio as a storytelling medium; how professional skateboarder Amelia Bródka develops skateboarding tricks through trial and error; and how artistic polymath Miranda July explores human frailty through a variety of media and techniques. Whimsical illustrations tell parallel stories of iteration, as hard-working cartoon figures bake cupcakes, experiment with levitating office chairs, and think outside the box in toothbrush design (“let's add propellers!”). All, in their various ways, use iteration to transform failure into creative outcomes. With Iterate, Sharp and Macklin offer useful lessons for anyone interested in the creative process. Case Studies: Allison Tauziet, winemaker; Matthew Maloney, animator; Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, Radiolab cohosts; Wylie Dufresne, chef; Nathalie Pozzi, architect, and Eric Zimmerman, game designer; Andy Milne, jazz musician; Amelia Bródka, skateboarder; Baratunde Thurston, comedian; Cas Holman, toy designer; Miranda July, writer and filmmaker

Leadership lessons from Captain Sandy Yawn, a renowned superyacht captain with over 30 years of international maritime experience, and star of the reality show Below Deck Mediterranean. Everyone experiences a moment in life when they need to lead. Sometimes it's a team, sometimes it's a company, a classroom, a patient ward, a family, or simply your own individual self. Based on the leadership lessons she's gathered from her resourceful and resilient life, Captain Sandy, a superyacht captain and star of Bravo's Below Deck Mediterranean, shares the leadership skills and critical thinking inherent to being a captain that can empower anyone to navigate their way to a successful life. Among some of the stories/lessons she'll share: How she selects and sizes up her crew even before embarking on a charter, deciding who to invest in and how to bring out their best. Things happen at sea. No matter how much you plan and train, so much can go wrong so she'll discuss the level of persistence and faith that's required in solving an especially knotty problem. Authority and discipline are required to lead, but they must be leavened with compassion, understanding, and a desire to see your crew succeed. She describes the seamless flow that happens in great teamwork and how she loves seeing the way her deckhands pitch in with the stews when needed. For Captain Sandy, this represents leading with empathy, figuring out who your teammates are and what motivates them, then communicating in a way that motivates and makes them feel understood. As a captain, Sandy is constantly upgrading her knowledge and skill set, which is as much a part of her job as steering a vessel. Sustaining excellence requires constant effort, whether you find yourself at the end of a journey, halfway through or at the start of a new one. And the learning never stops. Woven throughout her stories are Captain Sandy's optimism and abiding faith that, given the right tools and opportunities, individuals are capable of so much more than they realize, especially when they can find someone to believe in them.