Art is long and life is short.
Before the wonderful TV show Mad Men made us conscious of how we have exchanged sophistication and "dressing up" for casual comfort in our clothing in the last forty years, I had felt for some time that something was "off" with clothing design and quality. Buying modern, unique, quality clothing at mid-range prices has been... Continue Reading →
For almost three years now, I've been watching my art of oil painting unfold smoothly. Until now. I hit an unexpected wall on a painting I had been working on for three months. This occurrence is so common among artists that it is practically cliché, yet I am struggling to not view this as a... Continue Reading →
I began the practice of writing "morning pages" three years ago this week and wanted to celebrate this milestone by sharing my experiences with you. If you already keep a journal or do morning pages, bravo! If not, maybe this post can help motivate you to start. I began writing morning pages every day upon... Continue Reading →
I had a recent experience, the details of which aren't necessary to get into for this post despite their high entertainment value. The experience solidified my viewpoint on the subject of copying, and I wanted to share my thoughts with you, my readers, in a way that would provoke, engage, and encourage some good dialogue.... Continue Reading →
I heard someone say today that engineers and IT people have an "emotional barrier" and that top-level messaging coming out of my team should be more rational. As a marketing change agent trying to push through a big idea, I sat back, listened, and took notes. This topic preoccupied me for the rest of the... Continue Reading →
I have a great friend I'll call W for writer. We worked together for six years in marketing at a high-tech company and respected each other very much. I wouldn't say we were "friends" at the time; in fact, we didn't always agree on everything at work for a long time, until our last year... Continue Reading →
A few posts ago, I wrote about letting go of uncertainties in art-making. Like most, I keep bumping into this difficulty, and my lizard brain has recently been prone to such thoughts as "is this what I want to be painting right now?" or "what will my new boss think of this idea?" or "will... Continue Reading →
This post is Part 2 of an exploration on creativity in the workplace, inspired after reading Josh Linkner's terrific book Disciplined Dreaming. I encourage my readers to pick up or download this book. As I did in the previous post on this topic, for now I am skipping the first four steps in Linkner's process... Continue Reading →
I just finished devouring Josh Linkner's Disciplined Dreaming. In it, Linkner asserts, in my opinion correctly, that we live in an era in which business cycles are measured in months, not years, and that the only way to sustain long-term innovation and growth is through creativity - at all levels of an organization. Said another... Continue Reading →
Where's my paintbrush? 