creativity – joshua chamberlain

dance to your own music

I was at a party recently where a professional DJ was curating the music on the dance floor. He wasn’t a particularly good DJ. No one seemed to be into what he was playing. It didn’t matter though: he was the most excited person in the room. He danced to his own music. He wavedContinue reading “dance to your own music”

studio time

One of my favorite conversations ever took place in a donut shop on a fall afternoon. I was there with a musician friend of mine. We drank coffee and ate donuts and talked about creating stuff. I told him I was jealous of him. I’d always wanted to be a musician because I loved theContinue reading “studio time”

“inviting in”

In a recent piece for Variety, Seth Rogen writes how Mills’ most recent film, C’mon C’mon made him rethink the old adage that good artists borrow and great artists steal. “[Mills] made me realize the best artists include,” Rogen writes. “Mike is the first filmmaker I’ve seen to actually credit other artists for their workContinue reading ““inviting in””

summoning something

Here’s a great interview Mike Mills gave on Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, in which Mills discusses how working on his most recent film, C’mon C’mon, was almost an act of summoning something otherworldly. “I don’t think I’m in any control of what I make or what I do. I feel like you summon things, butContinue reading “summoning something”

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”

don’t waste the good days

Stolen from Seth Godin’s blog: If you’re feeling creative, do the errands tomorrow. If you’re fit and healthy, take a day to go surfing. When inspiration strikes, write it down. The calendar belongs to everyone else. Their schedule isn’t your schedule unless it helps you get where you’re going.

lessons learned in 2021

It’s become my practice to spend the last day of the year reflecting on what I’ve learned over the last twelve months. Here are a few of my favorites lessons: Create from the heart, never the head. You get to the best parts of yourself on accident. The job of an artist is to orchestrateContinue reading “lessons learned in 2021”

the job of an artist

In a discussion with Paul Holdengraber on the Library Talks podcast, Junot Diaz dives into how he defines his role as an artist in society: I feel like my job as an artist is to make people more critical minded about even the thing I’m asking them to be in conversation with…If someone resists myContinue reading “the job of an artist”

how to have more than one success

In a conversation on Illeana Douglas’s podcast, Matthew Weiner recounts asking Larry Gelbart the secret to having more than one success. Gelbart, famous for M*A*S*H and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, responded: Don’t do anything for money, don’t do anything you’ve done before, and don’t do anything that’s boring. BecauseContinue reading “how to have more than one success”

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.