New Interview – Find Your Way

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Shortly after the opening of my new exhibition Land Within Land, Scott David Gordon recently interviewed me for his podcast Austin Talks. He picked up on many of the ideas I shared during my gallery talks … and ran with them.
As he said, “If you are looking for a technical discussion on Photoshop and cameras to choose this is not the one. We had a fairly philosophical conversation about many subjects including defining a mission in life, being present, nature, spirit of place, creativity, play, and how to find your own way as an artist and a human. I love how thoughtful and specific he is with his words and wisdom. It’s no wonder he is a sought-after lecturer and teacher.”
I hope you enjoy our conversation!
Find out more about Scott David Gordon here.
Listen to more Austin Talks here.

How To Be More Creative

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Want to be more creative? Whether you can’t seem to get going, find yourself stuck in a rut, or you want to break through to your next level, you’ll find these articles both inspiring and useful.
7 Simple Ways to Be More Creative in 2018
Why Exercise Makes You More Creative
Need a Creative Boost? Take a Look at Your Diet
Want to Be More Creative at Work? Take a Vacation
Why Meditating Might Make You a Better Artist
Some People Can See Sound, or Taste Color. Does It Make Them More Creative?
When Timothy Leary Got Artists to Take LSD
Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives 
The Creative Learning Spiral Envisioned
How Creativity is Measured—And Why It’s So Difficult
Pour your favorite drink, relax, and enjoy.
Hungry for even more?
Explore my creativity resources here.
Sign up for my newsletter Insights for more great content.

Seeing Color & Enhancing Creativity – Seth Resnick


“At B&H’s Optic 2018, photographer Seth Resnick discusses color, enhancing creativity, and processes you can employ to make better images and improve your photography. He stresses the importance of being aware of the details in your environment and mentally taking note of what you see BEFORE you start shooting with your camera.”
Learn more about Seth Resnick here.
Find out more about our Digital Photo Destinations Workshops here.

27 Great Quotes On Enthusiasm

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Enjoy this collection of quotes on Enthusiasm.
“Enthusiasm is the electricity of life. How do you get it? You act enthusiastic until you make it a habit.” – Gordon Parks
“Fires can’t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.” – James A. Baldwin
“Enthusiasm is the mother of effort, and without it nothing great was ever achieved.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment.” – Norman Vincent Peale
“If you have passion, there is no need for excuses because your enthusiasm will trump any negative reasoning you might come up with. Enthusiasm makes excuses a nonissue.” – Wayne Dyer
“I know of no single formula for success. But over the years I have observed that some attributes of leadership are universal and are often about finding ways of encouraging people to combine their efforts, their talents, their insights, their enthusiasm and their inspiration to work together.” – Queen Elizabeth II
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
“A man can succeed at almost anything for which he has unlimited enthusiasm.” – Charles Schwab
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How To Keep Going – Austin Kleon


Austin Kleon (Steal Like An Artist) shares a preview of his next book How To Keep Going addressing an important challenge that all creatives face – persistence.
His list of 10 things to do include …

  1. Every day is Groundhog Day
  2. Build a bliss station
  3. Forget the noun, do the verb
  4. Make gifts
  5. The ordinary + extra attention = the extraordinary
  6. Art is for life (not the other way around)
  7. You are allowed to change your mind
  8. When in doubt, tidy up
  9. The demons hate fresh air
  10. Spend time on something that will outlast them

View more Creativity Videos here.

6 Great Artists Show You How To Be An Artist

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Georgia O’Keeffe

We all learn a lot from each other.
Artsy has featured a number of useful lessons that can be learned from great artists.
Think of this less about learning to be an artist and more about learning to be more creative.
You’re sure to learn something useful in these six posts.
5 Lessons Creatives Can Learn from Andy Goldsworthy
How to Be an Artist, According to Georgia O’Keeffe
How to Be an Artist, According to Louise Bourgeois
How to Be an Artist, According to Wassily Kandinsky
How to Be an Artist, According to Josef Albers
How to Be an Artist, According to Paul Klee
Remember, superstition is optional – but just for fun check out the strange superstitions of great artists.
The Superstitious Rituals of Highly Creative People, from Salvador Dalí to Yoko Ono
Find more in my social networks – Facebook and Twitter.
Get more curated content with my newsletter Insights.
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Josef Albers

 

28 Great Quotes On Flexibility

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Enjoy this collection of quotes on flexibility.
“The hallmark of creative people is their mental flexibility… Sometimes they are open and probing, at others they’re playful and off-the-wall. At still other times, they’re critical and faultfinding. And finally they’re doggedly persistent in striving to reach their goals.’ – Roger von Oech
“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.” – Albert Einstein
“The conscience is the most flexible material in the world. Today you cannot stretch it over a mole hill; while tomorrow it can hide a mountain.” – Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton
“The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” ― Albert Einstein
“We learn flexibility and adaptability.” – John Roper
“Freedom always deals with ‘the possible’; this gives freedom its great flexibility, its fascination, and its dangers.” – Rollo May
“Peak performers see the ability to manage change as a necessity in fulfilling their missions.” – Charles A. Garfield
“Be flexible, but stick to your principles.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
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56 Great Quotes On Words

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Enjoy this collection of quotes about the power of Words.
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” – Robin Williams
“Words to me were magic. You could say a word and it could conjure up all kinds of images or feelings or a chilly sensation or whatever. It was amazing to me that words had this power.” – Amy Tan
“Words are containers for power, you choose what kind of power they carry.” Joyce Meyer
“Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.” – Rudyard Kipling
“Words are loaded pistols.” – Jean-Paul Sartre
“Words can be like X-rays if you use them properly – they’ll go through anything. You read and you’re pierced.” ― Aldous Huxley
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36 Great Quotes On Concentration

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Enjoy this collection of quotes on Concentration.
“The power to concentrate was the most important thing. Living without this power would be like opening one’s eyes without seeing anything.” ― Haruki Murakami
“Concentration is the secret of strength.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Concentrated attention is the collection of units of power on a chosen point of intention.” – James Arthur Ray
“If you don’t concentrate on what you are doing then the thing that you are doing is not what you are thinking.” – Alfred, Lord Tennyson
“Don’t dissipate your powers; strive to concentrate them.” – Goethe
“One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular.” – Anthony Robbins
“Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.” – Plato
“The difference in men does not lie in the size of their hands, nor in the perfection of their bodies, but in this one sublime ability of concentration: to throw the weight in one blow, to live eternity in an hour.” – Elbert Hubbard
“The five essential entrepreneurial skills for success are concentration, discrimination, organization, innovation and communication. -Michael Faraday
“Concentration is my motto — first honesty, then industry, then concentration. -Andrew Carnegie
“The ability to concentrate and to use time well is everything.” – Lee Iacocca
“Singleness of purpose is one of the chief essentials for success in life, no matter what may be one’s aim.” – John D. Rockefeller
“The joy of life is born of concentration. When you are having a cup of tea, the value of that experience depends on your concentration. You have to drink the tea with 100 percent of your concentration.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
“To be concentrated means to live fully in the present.” – Erich Fromm
“Concentration is the ability to think about absolutely nothing when it is absolutely necessary.” – Ray Knight
“Intelligence is the door to freedom and alert attention is the mother of intelligence.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn
“Concentrate on your motivation… and the thought of what about the scene made you stop to look.” – Richard K. Kaiser
“The artist works with a concentration of his whole personality, and the conscious part of it resolves conflicts, organized memories, and prevents him from trying to walk in two directions at the same time.” – Henry Moore
To be able to concentrate for a considerable time is essential to difficult achievement.” -Bertrand Russell
“I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time…” – Charles Dickens
“Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.” – Alexander Graham Bell
“The only way I could work properly was by using the absolute maximum of observation and concentration that I could possible muster.” – Lucian Freud
“Concentration comes out of a combination of confidence and hunger.” – Arnold Palmer
“The more intensely we feel about an idea or a goal, the more assuredly the idea, buried deep in our subconscious, will direct us along the path to its fulfilment.” – Earl Nightingale
“Great art is always a way of concentrating, reinventing what is called fact, what we know of our existence – a reconcentration… tearing away the veils that fact acquires through time.” – Francis Bacon
“Who knows how many artists fail because the light that shines through them is defracted in a thousand directions and not concentrated in a single beam?” – Eric Maisel
“Nothing more wonderfully concentrates a man’s mind than the sure knowledge he is to be hanged in the morning.” – Samuel Johnson
“Concentrate: you can’t have it all.” – Twyla Tharp
“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four hour days.” – Zig Ziglar
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal.” –
Henry Ford
“Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.” – Mark Twain
“I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals and I try to ignore the rest.” – Venus Williams
“Concentration is a fine antidote to anxiety.” Jack Nicklaus
Focusing is about saying “No”. – Steve Jobs
“Without touching my subject I want to come to the moment when, through pure concentration of seeing, the composed picture becomes more made than taken. Without a descriptive caption to justify its existence, it will speak for itself – less descriptive, more creative; less informative, more suggestive – less prose, more poetry.” – Ernst Haas
“Elegance is achieved when all that is superfluous has been discarded and the human being discovers simplicity and concentration: the simpler and more sober the posture, the more beautiful it will be.” – Paulo Coelho
Explore The Essential Collection Of Creativity Quotes here.
View The Essential Collection Of Creativity Videos here.
Discover more quotes in my social networks.