In these extraordinary and challenging times, the arts offer much-needed solace, connection, upliftment and inspiration. Fortunately, many artists and arts organizations are making all sorts of offerings available for free online right now. So, just because you can’t go out doesn’t mean you cannot stay inspired and connected to the gifts that only art can […] Continue Reading
Creative Sparks
Real tools and firelight for artists and dreamers to create inspired lives
Embracing Failure as a Necessary Step in Art
Dancing near the edge For over a month now I have been working on a poem called “Tango Near the Edge,” and in the end, it might not be any good. I am writing it in response to a very complex prompt I found in a book of difficult writing prompts called Challenges for the […] Continue Reading
Pam Houston on Writing and Creative Process
A couple of weeks ago I went to a talk and reading by much-loved author Pam Houston and then took her writing workshop the next day. I came away inspired, with her latest memoir, Deep Creek, under my arm, and new tools to use and teach, but I was also troubled. Houston is an engaging […] Continue Reading
How to Measure Success as an Artist
How you measure success as an artist affects your creativity, health, happiness and more. I look at how I measure success, how the culture measures success, external and internal measures of success and how you can increase your own success as an artist. Continue Reading
Why We Need to Make Art Now (More Than Ever)
When we make art, we aren’t destroying. We are uniting, rather than dividing. When we create, we find and build connections between things, instead of separation. We knit pieces of the world together. We hold up the beauty, magic and magnificence of the world, so that we all can awaken from the trance of not […] Continue Reading
2019 My Year In Review
This is my 2019 Year in Review. I encourage you to do your own. This is a good time of year to pause and reflect. When we take time to harvest the outgoing year, we help pave the way for a heart-centered, soul-aligned year to come. Make note of the highlights of the year, the […] Continue Reading
New Avenues for Income as an Artist
This is part II of the series on Making a Living as an Artist, in which I share my trials and tribulations and triumphs on the road. If you missed part I, you can read it here. (That’s my desk in the photo.) I’ve been working for the past few years to put my art […] Continue Reading
Making a Living as an Artist, Part I
This is part I in a series on Making a Living as an Artist. In which I explore what it means to be an artist-entrepreneur and what my own stumbling blocks are with that. Continue Reading
The Great Mistake That Keeps You From Your Dreams
One of the greatest mistakes artists and dreamers make that keeps us from following our dreams is all or nothing thinking. We tell ourselves: “I have to leave my family, quit my job, move to another part of the country” or take other radical actions in order to pursue our heart’s desire. This stops most […] Continue Reading
Are Artists Born or Made?
The great creativity debate: Everyone is creative. Creativity is reserved for the special few. Which is it? And what does it mean for us?
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