A little about the book

It all started with a challenge. 2 years ago I wrote a guest blog for Lori Putnam that was called "Bring something to the table", it was pretty well received. Perhaps because it is something that I believe in, a message at the core of everything I've taught since 1990. And at the end of the post there were the comments. One in particular was from a gallery owner who said, "You should write a book". So I did. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process of figuring out the creative process for the purposes of explaining it to a broad reach of artist and non-artist types. I say figuring it out, but it was really more about organizing what I inherently knew. I was never really taught critical thinking or divergent thinking, but somehow I developed a process for getting to an idea. I'm pretty sure that it's not a new discovery, from my years of exposure to advertising, graphic design, illustration and fine art, I've seen parts of this method show itself in the work of others... but no one has really explained it in a way that is useable.

In the nearly 30 years of my teaching and workshop instruction I witnessed the same patterns over and over again in the students. People were afraid to take chances, unsure about exploration, living on assumptions based on what others had told them. What started as a challenge became a mission for me, a purpose borne out of a lifetime of problem solving and ideating. I want everyone to have these skills. And they can be learned.

While some folks are seemingly more creative/innovative than others, I believe that they simply have less fear. The key components of the creative process can be learned by anyone but overcoming the fear of applying them, that's the trick.

So the first half of the book is about just that. Not an academic overview and case study compendium but actually how to do it, how to identify what's holding you back and what to do about it. All based on observation and experience. This stuff, sadly, is not taught in schools. But it should be. The nuts and bolts of this process are what made this nation great. Innovation, invention, inspiration, intent, connectivity, problem solving and problem finding.

The book is called, "Fishing for elephants. Insights and exercises to inspire authentic creativity." And it should be available by November one as an ebook. No, I won't be creating a print version, unless a publisher decides to pick it up... then yes. But ebooks are way less expensive to make and purchase, making it more accessible to everyone.

It's really designed for artists but anyone can use the nuts and bolts of it.