Books about creativity

I love reading books about creativity, it’s so interesting to get a peek into other artist’s creative process, thoughts around creativity, techniques, workspace and inspiration. Here’s what’s on my bedside table just now.

4 Inspiring Books About Creativity

• Taking Flight: Inspiration And Techniques To Give Your Creative Spirit Wings by Kelly Rae Roberts. Beautiful mixed-media techniques and projects as well as thought-provoking prompts and quotes to give your creative spirit wings.
• Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists by Ricë Freeman-Zachery. A true gem of a book based on interviews with 15 very interesting and different artists on topics like the muse, creative blocks, keeping a sketchbook and prioritising your art. The first two books on the list are recommendations from artist Dana Barbieri, whose blog Create Share Inspire is full of inspiration.
• Creative Time and Space: Making Room for Making Art by Ricë Freeman-Zachery. A priceless book that puts the idea of making time and space at the core of creativity. It’s not just about managing your time or setting up a studio space in a way that suits you, it’s about your mindset, mental space and soul space, and about making room in your life for your art. Illuminating!
• The 12 Secrets of Highly Creative Women: A Portable Mentor by Gail McMeekin. An empowering guide to maximizing your creative energy.

And a Silver Bookmark

Sterling silver bookmarks by Amy Ambroult of Elemental

These books about doing what I love mean so much to me that I think they deserve a very special bookmark and I’ve settled for a bookmark made by talented metalsmith Amy Ambroult of Elemental, who makes beautiful jewelry and three sterling silver bookmarks that adorn your books like a jewel. Isn’t her work simply amazing!?

I think I’ll pick the heart! And to thank my readers for all your support, I’ll buy one bookmark for one of you. All you need to do is comment on this post and tell me which your favourite book is (it can be on any topic), and which of Amy’s bookmarks you’d like!

The last day to participate will be the same day that the icon contest closes, on Friday 19th of March.

Tags: books, creative process, Creativity, Inspiration

Resources. Leather bound book with green apple.

Its time for a new icon contest! Tell me what you want me to design for you! If you could pick one icon, that you’d have an enormous use of, what would it be?

I’m going to design a new collection of beautiful and handy icons. There will be around ten icons in the set, based on the ideas of the winners who’ll get the collection for free!

This time the theme is taking care of business, whether it’s the administrative aspect of your life such as filing taxes, planning your next vacation, dealing with your budget or running a small business, it makes it much more fun and easy when you can locate what you need with ease! Adding beauty to your digital space will make these tasks more enjoyable too.

As an example, this icon of a leather bound book and a green apple with dew from the Organizer Collection is an icon symbol for “resources”, but it would also work for “to read”, “legal”, “stash”, “research”, “reference”, “writing”, “book”, “learning”, “teaching”, “nutrition”, “tutorials” or anything else you feel that it represents.

Which files and projects do you need to find with ease? What kind of files and folders do you create on a regular basis? What do your most important and favourite projects look like? It might be an icon that’s a metaphor for documents that need printing, receipts from online purchases or sales, travel expenses, itineraries, art and crafting supplies, invoices, marketing materials, there are endless possibilities! You can enter the competition with one idea for an icon and one idea for the name of the set.

I’d love to hear if you have more ideas or thoughts around the project, but to make it fair to everyone, your main idea will be the one that you can enter the competition with.

The deadline for the icon contest is in two weeks, Friday 19th of March. So take the chance to influence this collection of icons with your ideas and thoughts and needs. Win the icons you really, really want! Please comment to enter the competition.

Tags: getting organized, Icons, organize, productive, productivity

Tags: snow, winter

The studio in the winter

This morning I could finally park my crutches in the hall and hobble off to the studio all by myself. It’s great to be back!

The studio has been entirely redecorated and there’s lots to do. Dust all over. Boxes to sort out, paintings to hang up, modem, printer and phone to reconnect and a brand new iMac to unpack! It’s very exciting.

Once the dust has settled, or rather been removed, I’ll post some pictures of the interior and give you the grand tour of the studio!

Tags: studio

Airplane in the blue hour

I’ve been hibernating after twisting my ankle two weeks ago while escaping huge icicles falling off a rooftop on a narrow medieval street paved with cobblestones. Lets just say that there’s a whole lot of things I’d rather do than walk with crutches in snow and on ice.

It’s interesting to see how much comes with the role of “being injured”, at first I was so surprised when someone offered me a seat on the bus and then I remembered oh yes, I’ve got these crutches. People can see that… Then again, this is a role I’ll soon be able to step out of, and I’m so grateful for that.

This whole thing has been a drain though, so things have been quiet round here. But enough with the drama!

I found a desktop wallpaper with Forsythia, that somehow didn’t make it into the move to WordPress, and re-released it. I hope it brightens your day with thoughts of spring to come!

Tags: blue, gratitude, winter