"We have enough experiences in a day to make art for a decade. Never fear a shortage of great ideas."
—Eric Maisel, Making Your Creative Mark
I say no to a lot of requests for book reviews, but when I was asked about reviewing Making Your Creative Mark: Nine Keys to Achieving Your Artistic Goals by Eric Maisel, I knew I had to see this book. Who doesn't want to learn more about achieving artistic goals?
First Impressions
The book is divided into nine keys: mind, confidence, passion, freedom, stress, empathy, relationship, identity, and societal. Each chapter helps you find solutions to your specific challenges in that key area with tips, case studies, and follow-up questions. The case studies involved all types of artists. I found them strikingly vivid and memorable: the musician struggling between playing something technically perfectly or playing with more heart but a few mistakes ... the painter whose work sold well, but still couldn't come to call herself an artist ... the writer from a war-torn country too stressed about his past to write ... I could go on and on. Every single one captivated me.
Read an Excerpt from the Book
I had the choice of several passages to share with you. The one I chose is titled "Passion and Voice." It begins:
"A logical — and vital —
relationship exists between passion and voice. It is very hard to be passionate
about what you’re doing if you haven’t found your voice as an artist."
This excerpt is definitely relevant to the new artist, the one who is having trouble finding her form or completing projects. But if you've been around awhile, you're not off the hook! One of the tips that I identified with as a longtime creator was:
"Try not to repeat yourself. Repeating successful work
has a way of reducing anxiety and can bring financial rewards as well. But it
may also prevent us from moving forward and discovering what we hope to say."
Read the excerpt: "Passion and Voice" - 10 Tips for Finding or Reclaiming Your Voice [4 pages, PDF format]
About the Author
Eric Maisel, Ph.D., has been working with artists for 30 years, including work as a creativity coach. He's a blogger for Fine Art America and Psychology Today. He also writes a column for Professional Artist.
Win a Free Creativity Coaching Session
One thing that struck me when reading this book was how the author was able to get to the heart of the problem with just a few directed questions. He deftly shone a spotlight on issues that had been nagging artists for weeks, months, or even years, allowing the artist to address them and move on.
You can win a 30-minute session with author Eric Maisel via phone or Skype. To enter, answer a specific question about creativity on the New World Library blog (not this one). Winners will be selected at random. Enter by May 3, 2013. Good luck!
Quotation Source: Maisel, Eric. Tip #48 in Appendix 2, "Refresher Course of Ninety-Seven Creativity Tips" in the book Making Your Creative Mark (New World Library, 2013).
Standard disclaimer: I received a free review copy of this book from New World Library. I did not receive any monetary compensation for the review. All opinions expressed are my own.