As you can see, I have collected a lot of art and creativity books over the past dozen-or-so years. The number hovers around 200, with "various creativity" being the largest pile, followed by painting, then drawing, then art journaling, then mixed media, then bookbinding, writing, stamp carving, lettering, color and finally, ornamentation. I have learned a lot from all these books, even the ones I don't love and rarely go back to. I don't like to get rid of art books. Sometimes I don't love a book at first or discover I'm not currently drawn to a particular medium or technique. But each time I go through all the books, I find at least a few that now seem interesting instead of boring, for whatever reason. But if I were in the proverbial desert island scenario, which books would I choose to bring? Which ones would nourish me as I lived alone on that island (with regular deliveries from Dick Blick)?
I really hate tropical locations, so I'll just tell you what books or authors I go back to again and again (here in Texas) when my creative well is running dry or I want to rediscover the pure simplicity of the basics or I need to clarify something about my life or my practice.
Natalie Goldberg - any of her non-fiction, especially Writing Down the Bones, The True Secret of Writing, and Living Color. Ms. Goldberg is a writer, a poet, a painter and a zen practitioner. Her writing is grounded and cuts to the heart of why most of us want to write, and she reminds us to have interest and compassion for our own lives, and to develop a willingness to write the truth through the fear. Her chapters are short and full of practical help for our writing lives as well as simple but profound wisdom about the human condition, as well as interesting particulars of her own life. I have learned much from her but haven't yet been brave enough "to burn through to first thoughts, to the place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor, to the place where you are writing what your mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see or feel.” I'm not sure if I'll ever get there, but with every re-reading. Ms. Goldberg's books make me want to keep trying.
Natalie Goldberg - any of her non-fiction, especially Writing Down the Bones, The True Secret of Writing, and Living Color. Ms. Goldberg is a writer, a poet, a painter and a zen practitioner. Her writing is grounded and cuts to the heart of why most of us want to write, and she reminds us to have interest and compassion for our own lives, and to develop a willingness to write the truth through the fear. Her chapters are short and full of practical help for our writing lives as well as simple but profound wisdom about the human condition, as well as interesting particulars of her own life. I have learned much from her but haven't yet been brave enough "to burn through to first thoughts, to the place where energy is unobstructed by social politeness or the internal censor, to the place where you are writing what your mind actually sees and feels, not what it thinks it should see or feel.” I'm not sure if I'll ever get there, but with every re-reading. Ms. Goldberg's books make me want to keep trying.
Gwen Diehn is a bookbinder and watercolor artist. Over a decade ago, her book The Decorated Page was my very first exposure to bookbinding and art journaling, which (along with zines) became the foundation of my creative practice. With her instructions, I stitched my first single-signature pamphlet journal and, a few years (and another one of her books) later I bound my first multi-signature, closed spine hardcover book. Ms. Diehn's books are accessible to beginners but not limited to that level. She doesn't overwhelm you with long supply lists or difficult techniques, and she encourages you to make the book form your own, so it holds your content in a way that is organic to you and your purpose for the book. I consider her to be one of the founding mothers of the currently glutted mixed media/art journaling instruction world.
The Zine Scene is a book published in the later 90's, which I picked up at a library sale for a dollar in the early 2000's. I had been making zines for years by the time I got it, but had rarely seen another person's zine in real life. This was my first glimpse into the world of DIY, cut-and-paste zines, made at a time when a lot of people still didn't have personal computers or printers for self-publishing. This book inspired me with fun and interesting examples of zine features like poetry, comics, interviews, social rants, morose navel gazing and other stuff I regularly include in my own zines. It also gave me a feeling of pride to be standing in the long and distinguished line of self-publishers, which goes back to the early days of the printing press.
Last but certainly not least, the art journaling/business planning classic, Lisa Sonora Beam's The Creative Entrepreneur. This book was my first exposure to actual business planning, and also the first time I saw work by some of my favorite journaling artists like Tracy Bunkers and Jennifer Joanou Frank. The book takes you through pre-business-planning psychological exercises, as well as actual business planning, with art journaling assignments. I revisit this book when I am feeling "structural tension", defined by Lisa Sonora as "the pain of the difference between where we are right now and where we want to be".
Honorable mentions for Most Beloved Creativity Books go to:
Julia Cameron, any of her non-fiction, including The Artist's Way, Walking in this World and Vein of Gold.
LK Ludwig, her art journaling books True Vision and Creative Wildfire
Dawn DeVries Sokol, 1000 Artist Journal Pages and A World of Artist Journal Pages.
Julia Cameron, any of her non-fiction, including The Artist's Way, Walking in this World and Vein of Gold.
LK Ludwig, her art journaling books True Vision and Creative Wildfire
Dawn DeVries Sokol, 1000 Artist Journal Pages and A World of Artist Journal Pages.
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