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Whenever I see artists like Alice Chiang put themselves out there, my heart swells a little because I admire her for taking steps towards building her dream. She started a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter so that she can self-publish her book called My Memory Map. Her goal is to draw a series of books, and her first will be about her days growing up in Tainan and Kaohsiung City, in Taiwan.
Go ahead and support here over at Kickstarter.
Also, how can you go wrong with a dog named Soybean?
I was away for a couple of days last weekend up north at the in-laws with Mr. T. Internet connection was intermittent and we were lucky that the heat wasn’t as bad as a few weeks ago while we were there then (in that we weren’t dripping with sweat after a bath!)
It was hectic before we left and guess what – it’s still hectic now that we’ve returned. I guess it’s all a cycle. Some weeks move along faster than others while other days it feels like it’s dragging its feet. Taking some time away from our desks reminded us that time can stand still in some aspects: work being one of them. Maybe it’s an equation that needs us in it in order for it to fully compute. Without us, there would be no work. And likewise, what are we without work?
I’ve always thought that when I arm myself with a book and some time on the couch, I can escape work for a little while. I know now that it’s fleeting – I still have work at the back of my mind. Or at least I’m subconsciously still trying to link my problems with a possible answer. All these synapses trying to connect while reading a book. It’s exhausting.
Maybe one needs to physically get away from work before they can ever see it from the rearview mirror. One thing’s for sure though: it’s always waiting with open arms when you return. But if you’re lucky it won’t be tugging at your sleeves – asking when you’ll be back or begging you to come back sooner.
Share with me: How do you guys take your mind off work? Are you able to tell work to stay where it is and don’t move, while you shift gears and sit in another room; or must you completely leave your studio or your workroom in order to have some semblance of a life outside of work?
People have always been a little wary of the word “steal” – especially in the art world. There are those who go so far as to refuse any put up their works online for fear of others stealing, or copying their work.
According to Austin Kleon, author of Steal Like an Artist :
“What a good artist understands is that nothing comes from nowhere. All creative work builds on what came before. Nothing is completely original”.
I completely agree with him. And I enjoyed his book immensely.
It’s a short book that can be read in just under a couple of hours (or less if you’re really zippy.) I took that long to digest the nuggets of information that Austin packed into ten chapters – rereading some points because some of them don’t quite flow into each other that smoothly. But it’s okay. Imagine being pelted with tiny little balls of inspiration all at once. It felt a lot like that, except I have to pause for a moment, pick up a ball and have it hit me again so that I can remember how it feels like.
The format is a little like the book Rework, by 37Signals (here’s my review) – black and white illustrations paired with text throughout the book. It’s short, simple and sweet – musings that will fill any aspiring artists (and illustrators) with hope and steps to build a more creative life.
Steal like an Artist is a great little book for those who are looking for a bit of push towards bringing their ideas to life by tackling a few misconceptions; thereby arming you with kicks that you can self-administer on your creative derriere!
And you can get a copy over at Amazon.
Happy weekend folks!
