Customer Reviews

Living the Creative Life: Ideas and Inspiration from Working Artists

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is a keeper, a touchstone to come back to on those awful, dark
days when I'm sure there isn't a drop of creative energy left. It will sit
in an honored place beside my worktable between Everyday Matters by Danny Gregory and Kaleidoscope by Suzanne Simanaitis. This is where I reach when
the muse sneaks off to play the horses.

Let's face it, many of the books published about collage and mixed media art are profit-driven or a surface scratching prettifying of the creative life. I've bought and been disappointed by several. This book is the real
thing-something to dive into and come up with a pearl of a kick start to
goat-butt you out of your self pitying trough of creative dispair.

Buy the book-you will not be listing it on half.com in two weeks. It will
sit in a honored place for those moments you need something special.

If you are an artist and thinking about quitting your day job to become a full-time artist, you should definitely pick up this book. If you are thinking about doing art full-time sometime in the future, you should pick up the book. Even if you just need a creative kick-in-the-pants... you get the idea. This is a gorgeous book with tons of dialogue with real working successful artists. It is one of the few art books that I have read eagerly cover to cover.

There's a very interesting mix of artists in this book, which I really like. They all give their wisdom and pieces of their lives so freely and that is a rare thing these days. Most artists want to keep their creative secrets to themselves. There are some clever suggestions from the artists for ways you can jump start your own creative juices as well as tips from the author. This book is a definite must have for artists who want to know what it is really like being a working artist.
My biggest complaints are about the design of the book. It is very small which makes the text hard to read. Some areas of the pages are dark and textured which makes the text even harder to read. The cover of the book is a good representation of the inside of the book. The earthy colors dull the bright art by some of the most lively artists. The color scheme works great with the art by Michael de Meng and James Starr but it does a huge disservice to the more whimsical artists like Linda Woods and Violette. Despite those flaws, this book is definitely worth getting. You just have to read it in a well lighted room.

What an amazing book. In the art/craft/creative publishing industry this book is a breathe of fresh air. If you're the kind of creative person who wants to really create your own art and your own life -- rather than simply reproduce someone else's projects or methods, this book is for you! Rice interviewed 15 working artists. As a an art quilter, I am thrilled to see Bean Gilsdorf, Wendy Huhn and Susan Shie included. The book is full of a dynamic discussion of questions like: Where do your ideas come from? Do you believe in the muse? Do you use a sketch book? Plus, the layout of the book is deliciously inspirational. It feels like a journal or a conversation or a scrapbook -- or the very best combination of all of those things. And it's a perfect little square format.... just right for stashing in tote bag along with a sketch book and a bit of embroidery. The photography is stunning and the artwork is endlessly inspiring. I see something new every time I peruse the pages.

I was excited to get this book and "get inside the heads" of some of my favorite artists and authors, like Linda Woods and Claudine Hellmuth, and I've really liked some of Rice's other works. There are a lot of cool insights from the artists in the book, who you can tell shared honestly and openly. The design of the book was very distracting, though. It was really hard to read in places, with small print, or the background was too dark and it was hard to read. The overall palette of the book is dreary and murky, really at odds with what the artists are saying. I love the way the artists shared inspiration, but I really hated having to grab a flashlight and magnifying glass to read the book.

I haven't bought many of the art/craft books that have come out this year because they are all too much alike, the same art, the same approaches, the same stuff. This book, which I bought because I know one of the artists and have taken a class from another, was fabulous! I read it during 2 weeks where I was creatively burnt out. I savored each chapter and at the end felt so jazzed that I was ready to get back into the studio. Great work on picking the artists, the questions, the art and tying it all together! If you only buy one art book this year - put this at the top of your list!

I totally love this book. I'm new to the creative world, and am really looking for ideas and inspirations from established artists, this book quickly has become a "go to" for me! I've started to carry it with me to look at if I'm sitting waiting. The book is packed full of visuals, and I still find little things in all the illustrations that I didn't see the first time! Awesome! Buy this!

This book just got better and better to me as I read it. The text is filled with eye candy, lots of ideas, and prompts. The "try this" boxes are filled with great ideas to get the creative juices flowing. The mix of artists included in this volume means that there are differing viewpoints and differing ideas -- something is bound to resonate and get any reader excited about making art.

I have enjoyed Ricë's articles and profiles for several years, now; but the book has given me even more appreciation for her sparkling wit! Unlike many 'creative guides' this is not a workbook -- rather a suggestive reference for your own unique, personal, creative journey. It is so very helpful to read how SO many different types of people approach creativity! Featured were some of my current favorite artists (Sas Colby, Michael DeMeng, and Claudine Hellmuth) with the built-in bonus of some NEW favorites (James Michael Starr & Melissa Zink). Neat 'do this' additions keep you from sitting still, thinking "that's cool" by making the different techiniques highly approachable! Lavishly illustrated and easy to read, I highly recommend this for any artists' bookshelf.

I ordered this book as a fill in to get free shipping - how many times do we do that? To my surprise, I found it worthwhile and would definitely recommend it. I had expected it to be ... I don't know, not new or interesting I suppose - I think I'm feeling innundated with similar books. But I did start reading it and found myself enjoying it. Oddly enough, I returned the other book that inspired the order in the first place, but kept this one.

The one thing I found annoying was that it is written with the assumption that anyone reading it is creativity-challenged. I have had to ignore some pretty simplistic bits of advice on how to bring out my creativity to get what I want out of the book - which is not how to be creative and inspired in the first place (which is not my issue), but how to make that creativity a central part of my daily life. It's too easy to bog down in day to day stuff - important stuff, but time consuming stuff - and not get down and dirty and make art. That's what I need help doing, and I will say that there is inspiration for doing just that.