Celebrate Your Creative Self [Spiral-bound]

Mary Todd Beam (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 2001

Artists and creatives of all kinds who are looking for new ways to liberate their artistic imagination will love this book. Readers are invited to playfully explore various aspects of visual art, such as light, color, texture and design through a series of imaginative art projects. Artists will experiment with a range of techniques and mediums in new and unconventional ways including: Capturing whites with crayon and wax resist; Glazing and floating colors; Portraying the patterns of nature with sedimentation and precipitation; Loosening up with gesso painting and printing with plastic; Constructing a new piece of art from old work; Experimenting with three-dimensional assemblage; Creating a street map; In addition, artists are prompted to challenge their imaginations by building new painting surfaces, creating their own personal symbols and more. Celebrate Your Creative Self is a fun, no-fail guide every artist should have.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Todd Beam is one of the best-known workshop instructors in the realm of artistic creativity. She has been giving workshops all over the country for a number of years and is an award-winning artist. She divides her time between Cambridge, Ohio and Cosby, Tennessee.

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 128 pages
• Publisher: North Light Books (October 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581801025
• ISBN-13: 978-1581801026
• Product Dimensions: 11.4 x 9.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,653 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > Arts & Photography > Other Media > Mixed Media

More About the Author

Mary Todd Beam is one of the best-known workshop instructors in the realm of artistic creativity. She has been giving workshops all over the country for a number of years and is an award-winning artist. She divides her time between Cambridge, Ohio and Cosby, Tennessee.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

148 of 149 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Help for climbing out of that rut, December 18, 2001

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Celebrate Your Creative Self (Spiral-bound)

I had a very great teacher who taught creativity from discoveries he'd made about that mysterious process. He once told me that artists break rules and then make new rules of their own. For example, look at Picasso. He broke rules about classical drawing and painting as he had done early in his career, and then created new rules for his style of Cubism.

I paint, and have a very definite set of rules about what I do and what I do not do. My painting teacher years ago had a lot of rules about watercolor, such as never using black or white paint. Later in her own career, she started breaking those rules with techniques not unlike those in this book (for example, she uses crumpled plastic wrap and laundry starch to texturize.) Her paintings really took off.

You may not like all the techniques presented here, but it's worth trying them out. One of them may turn out to get you out of a rut and onto new and great things. Even though "Celebrate Your Creative Self" sounds like books such as "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain", "Making Pearls" or "The Artist's Way", it is not about the inner artist. Those books have a very important place in freeing up the unconscious mind and the imagination. This book is about freeing up your technique and finding new methods of expression. Personally, I love it.

155 of 157 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars No Experience Necessary!!, August 11, 2002

By 

Plein Jane (new england) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

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This review is from: Celebrate Your Creative Self (Spiral-bound)

Even if you are not entirely sure which end of a paintbrush goes into the paint, with this book you can learn to create a painting in an afternoon which will convince your friends you've got an M.F.A. If you've ever bought art supplies and books and not used them because you felt you could not create satisfactory representational images, give yourself a break and try these techniques of meaningful abstraction. Compared to the cost of a workshop, this book is inexpensive and well worth every penny. It's packed with worthwhile content. I truly believe every person who loves art has all they need inside them to make great art themselves. It's not about expensive materials or years of education--which are great if you happen to be fortunate enough to have them--all you really need is the passion for color and paint. You don't even need a brush. Start where you are and go for it! P.S. That piece of stiff cardboard that comes in the bottom of your Amazon box makes a great painting support with some canvas taped to it!

59 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Workshop in a Book!, April 30, 2002

By 

dennis marshall (paterson, new jersey United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Celebrate Your Creative Self (Spiral-bound)

This book is a must for anyone wishing to explore different methods and ideas.The book is beautifully laid out and is a pleasure to look at.The artist presents her ideas in clear concise language with many good illustrations.I liked the small 'boxes' that contained suggestions or comments.There is also a helpfull list of materials used with each project.If you are unable to be at a workshop with Mary Todd Beame this is will help create one in your studio.It is a book that you will return to often for ideas and inspiration.