art – joshua chamberlain

all you can do is the work

I’ve fought with my desire to control for years. We’re all hurtling through the world, like pinballs ricocheting off one another. While it’s reasonable to expect today will look a lot like yesterday, the truth is we’re thrust head-first into the unknown each morning. This is something I’ve always struggled with. I don’t like change.Continue reading “all you can do is the work”

on being the portal

I’ve written about how the best art acts a portal, transporting us somewhere else entirely. Be it a story that takes us on a journey with its characters or a painting that swallows us whole, we engage with these works to get outside of ourselves. But what if we’re the portals? I’m revisiting Steven Pressfield’sContinue reading “on being the portal”

not trying hard enough

The last few days, I had this wild idea for an art piece that involved stenciling silhouettes, painted canvas, and melting crayons with a hairdryer. However, when I went to melt the crayons, the gust of heat from the hairdryer not only didn’t melt the wax, it detached the stencils from the canvas. Safe toContinue reading “not trying hard enough”

unlimited freedom

In a recent interview on obscurity, Austin Kleon had this to say about unlimited freedom when creating: …obscurity can be this great gift. You can experiment. It’s a kind of freedom. Now, unlimited freedom can be very paralyzing, too. Freedom is not necessarily the best thing ever for art; there’s a tension between freedom andContinue reading “unlimited freedom”

Kleon on collage and discovery

Austin Kleon on how one creative effort leads to the next: “That’s the beauty of collage and working with real materials: when you don’t have a plan, when you don’t know where you’re going, you end up somewhere you didn’t anticipate. It’s real discovery.” As my dad is so fond of saying, “a plan isContinue reading “Kleon on collage and discovery”

notes taken during a creative failure in progress

You get to the best parts of yourself on accident. Your job as an artist is to orchestrate those accidents. After all, it’s always better when your unconscious does the work.

an unstoppable force and an immovable object

Debbie Millman knows how to conduct an interview. Ai Weiwei knows how to navigate interrogation. Their pairing on a recent episode of Design Matters made for a few golden moments: Millman: I was wondering if you have memories of the first time that you remember being creative. WeiWei: I never think I have been creative.Continue reading “an unstoppable force and an immovable object”

the doodle game

I had a blast listening to Wendy MacNaughton’s Draw Together podcast this week. The second episode introduces “The Doodle Game,” an easy way to tap into creative flow. You begin by scribbling on a piece of paper, then adding features and details to what you see in the mess you’ve created. After all, drawing isContinue reading “the doodle game”

a poem or a prayer

I’ve always loved how poetry comes from somewhere deep, almost as though it’s the language of the soul. Austin Kleon, in addition to being famous as the Steal Like an Artist guy, is known for his blackout poems. He takes newspaper clips and blacks out most of the words to create a poem. After all,Continue reading “a poem or a prayer”

let it be awful

I’ve been playing around with paint recently. I’m not good at painting, but that’s the whole point. Allowing the work to be terrible to a joyful kind of letting go. Without the pressure of trying to meet anyone expectations (including my own), there’s a freedom to play, to wonder, to explore. And isn’t this whyContinue reading “let it be awful”