Creative Something

Inside the colorful mind of Brook Reidt.

Once in a while you stumble upon an artist with such inspirational talent that you can’t help but bookmark their website or blog or online store.

Brooke Reidt is this type of artist ‒ the type of artist that has a powerful style that is all her own, and it shows.

Reflective of her unique painting style, Brooke’s resume beings: “I’m just like you, searching for something.” How many resume’s do you think begin with phrase like that?

Brooke doesn’t only take a creative and unique approach to her CV though, her paintings and illustrations are equally inspiring. Her blog is what this post is all about today however.

If you’ve ever wanted to peek inside the world of a creative artist, now is your chance.

Whether it’s a photo collaboration of her work space, a unique snapshot of the process she uses to create a work of art, or just a summary of her experiences, Brooke’s blog is a creative nest of ideas and insights.

So, while you may be tempted to bookmark Brooke’s website or her online store, you positively have to subscribe to her blog. You rarely get a chance this good to look inside the world of such an inspiring creative artist.

A quick creative exercise you can do today.

Try this today:

Ask questions constantly, but don’t pursue their answers.

Why do conference chairs typically have gaps in the back of them? What if vending machines had a “Surprise Me” button? Who invented the umbrella, anyway?

Asking questions is the easiest way to gain a new perspective of the world around you. The wondering mind is a creative mind, or so said the great inventor and thinking Albert Einstein. By not actively pursuing the answers to the questions your asking, you’re training your mind to freely think, without constraints. There’s no pressure to know something. You’re simply being a curious observer.

Don’t stress yourself with answers, simply focus on asking questions as often as you can today. To quote Nancy Willard, “Sometimes questions are more important than answers.”

Try asking questions as often as you can today.

Not your typical Public School.

It’s not every day that you discover a creative group of people that are actually doing something with their abilities.

Spotlight on Public School, a collaborative effort between several creative designers, thinkers, writers, and all‒around awesome people. Or, as the agency says themselves: “The same studio, different professions. Similar tastes, varying favorite Bob Dylan song. Consistently unified love for the Mexican food on the east side of town.”

So what makes Public School such a great source of creative inspiration?

Besides their incredibly creative portfolio of design work, Public School maintains a regular blog on their website where they post interesting projects and work from artists, designers, and general creative thinkers.

After visiting their website, be sure to subscribe to their blog or follow Public School on Twitter. You won’t be disappointed with all of the creative juice they send your way.

Frank Chimero and the lazy hammer

“It’s exercise. It’s flexing muscles and it’s a valid creative endeavor. I’ve been calling it meta‒content, where a person uses preexisting creative work as a foundation for new work. It uses other art as a reference, and its the stuff that forms the foundation of the internet. But, it also makes things frustratingly meta.”

This is what Frank Chimero is describing in his article “Lazy Hammer”, when he writes about creating work that is 90% inspired by already existing work.

You’ve undoubtedly felt what Frank is describing at one point or another. You have a creative urge, but no message to convey. You want to create something but there is no purpose behind actually producing something. You are working with a lazy hammer. But you don’t have to. If you are feeling creative but don’t have anything necessarily creative to convey, you have an option: collaboration.

Working with someone else is the perfect way to release some of your creative tension, build up new ideas, and improve your talents or creative capacity.

Frank writes:

“ So, I’d say the next time you’ve got the impulse to make something but don’t have a message or story of your own, consider collaboration. Instead of piggy‒backing off of something that is already out there, why not take a look around and see if there is anyone doing something interesting and ask them to collaborate?”

If you’re feeling creative but can’t find the necessary outlet or message, look to partnering with someone. Ask someone who inspires you if you can work with them. Look to the authors, designers, painters, bloggers, and anyone else who is producing great work. Collaborate with them.

And before you do anything else today, be sure to read all that Frank Chimero has to say about toys, meta‒design, and creativity.

What to do when your creativity wears thin.

Have you ever been working on something creative for a certain amount of time and eventually found yourself feeling mentally drained?

Maybe you’ve tried painting or drawing or writing or designing for a few hours, only to find yourself completely exhausted and unable to press forward due to lack of creativity.

Do you know what it means when the ideas simply won’t come?

Some people believe that they can’t come up with ideas for the simple fact that they’re not creative. But that’s not true. Some would have you believe that if you ever wear thin with ideas, it’s because you’re not a Picasso or Einstein or Edward de Bono. But that’s not entirely accurate either.

The reason you ran out of ideas or began to feel uncreative wasn’t because you’re not creative.

You ran out of creative mojo when you did because your brain was tired. That’s all.

You have to remember that the brain works like a muscle. If you try to exercise it too often you’ll only end up getting hurt. Your brain, like every other muscle in your body, needs a break from time‒to‒time.

So the next time you begin to feel worn mentally thin, or the next time you’re working on something and the creativity seems to suddenly stop, remind yourself that it’s natural. Put away whatever it is you’re working on and take a break. Let your brain relax for a while and the creativity will come back almost automatically. In‒fact, a break could be exactly what you need to come up with even more creative ideas in the future.

Not feeling creative? Maybe all you need is a mental break. Try letting your mind rest for a few minutes today in order to build up your creativity. You may be surprised by the results of a well‒deserved mental break.

Illustration by Pablo Boffelli.