creativity – Page 26 – Content Catnip

Wild Woman Quote: Who We Used to Be

Comforting thought: cat life love and connection

I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be, whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind’s door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, whoContinue reading “Wild Woman Quote: Who We Used to Be”

Finding the flow with writing and polishing a raw piece of meat into a powerful monster

I recently began a course with one of the most famed writers in the world teaching creative writing. I already know things, having studied creative writing years ago, however at the time I had zero confidence in my abilities. So I languished for a while in a corpo doing finance admin after my degree –Continue reading “Finding the flow with writing and polishing a raw piece of meat into a powerful monster”

Narrative arcs: a funny and simple explanation by Kurt Vonnegut

This amazing explanation of narrative arcs by Kurt Vonnegut had me laughing out loud. To actually be present at this lecture would have been totally awesome. This video is great starting point for narrative structures and point of view, although really only the tip of the iceberg of a very gigantic topic. I hope otherContinue reading “Narrative arcs: a funny and simple explanation by Kurt Vonnegut”

Book Review: The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore

“It was hard to be a tsar. Russia is not an easy country to rule. Twenty sovereigns of the Romanov dynasty reigned for 304 years, from 1613 until tsardom’s destruction. by the revolution in 1917″ The Romanovs were actually the most spectacularly successful empire builders since the Mongols” , So begins an epic 300 yearContinue reading “Book Review: The Romanovs by Simon Sebag Montefiore”

Find the thing that you lose yourself in…and do that for the rest of your life

The Maori legend of Pania: Kaitiaki and taniwha of the reef retold in street art

After much pussy-footing around and oscillating around the place like a pinball, trying just about every aspect of marketing and comms in the commercial world I realised finally what I knew all along….that I need to just simply do what I lose myself in deeply and conclusively. By that I mean I can simply dissapearContinue reading “Find the thing that you lose yourself in…and do that for the rest of your life”

Wild woman quote: Love

Thanks Tish for your wonderful reminder the other day of the legendary writer Clarissa Pinkola-Estes. In case you don’t know of her, Clarissa wrote the book Women Who Run With the Wolves: Myths and Stories of The Wild Woman Archetype, This book calls upon the eternal feminine qualities in each of us and asks usContinue reading “Wild woman quote: Love”

All About Amazing Op Art

Op Art descended out of geometric art of the 50’s and the Bauhaus movement in Germany, which I have previously written about in the Origins of Flat Design. The 60’s was a period of discovery in science, psychology and new technology. This type of art reflects the experimental mood of that era. The pieces normallyContinue reading “All About Amazing Op Art”

The Sensual World of The Unseen By Photographer Duane Michals

The Sensual World of The Unseen By Photographer Duane Michaels

Photographer Duane Michals pushes the boundaries of photography with evocative, erotic and sensual images. I’ve written about Polish poet Anna Świrszczyńska before, she also has a similar aesthetic. I think photographs should be provocative and not tell you what you already know. It takes no great powers or magic to reproduce somebody’s face in a photograph.Continue reading “The Sensual World of The Unseen By Photographer Duane Michals”

Forgotten Pop Art Pioneer Dorothy Grebenak’s Rugs Are Awesome

Dorothy Grebenak was born in Nebraska in 1913 and was a self-taught rug maker who originally made rugs stocked in a Brooklyn museum. Although these weren’t rugs in the folk style, they are designed to be displayed on walls as art. These rugs were depictions of humble and everyday objects, which brought them into theContinue reading “Forgotten Pop Art Pioneer Dorothy Grebenak’s Rugs Are Awesome”

Book Review: Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini

A surreal art book that redefines the meaning of imagination. Codex Seraphinianus has a lot in common with other bizarre books like the Voynich manuscript. This new edition by Italian publisher Rizzoli was republished in 2013. It has been redesigned by the author Luigi Serafini with includes new illustrations. The fascination and curiosity for CodexContinue reading “Book Review: Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini”