I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in working on becoming/being an artist. It is inspirational and a joy to read. ( )

Embracing one's own Creativity is a hugely important act of setting oneself free - which makes this dangerous subversive act so much feared by those who want to stay in power so much that they have forgotten what it us, and how, to be human.

Which is why, on the deepest level, many people are terrified of Creativity, convinced (being taught by the influences of the day?) that they have no talent at any creative activity at all, afraid of what the always surprising outcome if the creative process reveals.

Years ago, I witnessed a man of upper middle age who took part in a week-long endeavour offered by an art teacher who presented her workshop under the title "Drawing for the Terrified". He never had done anything like art, or drawing, for that matter - yet, at the end of the week, there he was, sharing his drawing: a self-portrait. He spoke of his life's experiences, and how utterly, deeply surprised and moved he was (and all those witnessing him) about what the drawing workshop had unlocked in him, and through his self-portrait, for all of us.

It's funny but my creativity is unleashed differently through writing compared to other outlets. Singing, painting, sketching. But the writing seems to engage a different part of my brain.

Some of my stuff:

https://manuelaantao.blogspot.com/2020/02/drawing-for-terrified-everyday-matters... ( )

This is Danny Gregory's sketchbook/journal, begun after his wife's tragic accident that led to her paralysis and to the family's transformation. Though the story loses steam partway through (the raison d' etre fades and Gregory's place based sketches come to the forefront), the book works well as an invitation to journal visually, to process emotionally and to heal by any means necessary. ( )

I knew Danny Gregory by reputation for a long time before really encountering him through Sketchbook Skool. I found I really appreciated his take on art and sketching and journaling. I liked the idea of connecting with something by drawing it. This book is basically a memoir through sketching of the time following his wife's tragic accident that left her paralyzed from the waist down. It's sad and beautiful and hopeful and inspiring. I read it in one sitting and will definitely be reading it again and again. ( )

My second illustrated memoir in as many weeks. A friend shared her copy with me. It is a piece of art, an honest story of growing up (in a very real sense), of slowing down, of being grateful even when you're not so much. The drawings are wonderful and for me, coupled with reading Suzy Becker's illustrated memoir, have me drawing and writing as I've never done before. ( )