Photo Credit: Photograph of Maurits (M.C.) Escher, around 23 Nov. 1971. Photograph probably made by Hans Peters (ANEFO), Ga het na (Nationall Archief NL): Vysotsky/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY SA 3.0 Many artists talk about the creative process. It’s one of those illusive ideas that fascinates non-artists and weighs heavily on the minds of artists because creativity … Continue reading Adventurous Perception: The Individual Creative Process
Photo Credit: Canadian singer Leonard Cohen in Trouville-sur-Mer (Normandy, France), taken 26 January 1988 by Roland Godefroy: Teddyyy/Wikimedia Commons/CC BY 3.0 “If words are the arrow, we ourselves — our interior landscapes, our outward actions, the authenticity of our lives — are the bow.” (Popova, par. 1) As many of my blog readers know, I … Continue reading The Emotional Badlands of Language, or, Language is Not Just Data
Photo Credit: The Blue Veil by Edmond Tarbell, oil painting, 1898: freeparking/Flickr/CC BY 2.0 “The creative personality never remains fixed on the first world it discovers. It never resigns itself to anything ... “ (Nin, location 3587) I love this quote from Nin because it’s so true of many creative people. The nature of creativity … Continue reading First Worlds: Writing and Blogging in New Directions
***This post is part of the Spencer Tracy & Katharine Hepburn Blogathon, hosted by Crystal of the In the Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood blog. *** ***Some spoilers*** James (Ralph Richardson): “I’m not you’re jailor. This isn’t a prison.” Mary (Katharine Hepburn): “No. I know you can’t help thinking it’s a home.” In my … Continue reading Thinking of a Home: Katharine Hepburn in Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962)
Photo Credit: a crucible used in the Czochralski method (a method of extracting crystals), taken by Twisp on August 25, 2005: Twisp/Wikimedia Commons/PD self "[T]he writer who possesses the creative gift owns something of which he is not always master—something that, at times, strangely wills and works for itself." (Bronte, “Editor’s Preface”, location 561) One … Continue reading Wild and Knotty Worlds: The Psychological Crucible
***This post is part of The 2nd Annual Olivia De Havilland Blogathon, hosted by Crystal of In The Good Old Days of Classic Hollywood and Phyl at Phyllis Loves Classic Films blogs. *** ***Some spoilers*** As a fiction writer and lover of classic literature, I usually come to watch a film based on a book … Continue reading Taught By Masters: Olivia De Havilland in The Heiress (1949)
Photo Credit: Young Girl Writing a Love Letter, Pietro Antonio Rotari, 1755, oil on canvas, Norton Simon Museum: Wmpearl/ Wikimedia Commons/CC PD Mark 1.0 Photo Credit: The Man Writing a Letter, Casper Netscher, 1665, oil on canvas, Gemaldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden, Germany: Mattes/Wikimedia Commons/PD Art (PD Old 100) “Write immediately, yes! But … Continue reading Transposing Fiction
Photo Credit: Vintage retro antique radio photo, created February 26, 2016 by Lubos Houska: LubosHouska/ Pixabay/CC0 1.0 I am so excited to post my first radio interview! A friend of mine, author/performer/radio host Jovelyn Richards chatted with me for KPFA’s Cover to Cover Open Book about my new release Gnarled Bones and Other Stories. You … Continue reading Radio Interview on KPFA Radio
Anais Nin had a dream of a houseboat which led her to write the short story “Houseboat” which appeared in her collection Under a Glass Bell and Other Stories, and also to rent a houseboat on the Seine in the 1930’s. Photo Credit: Houseboats, Loch Lomond, George Leslie Hunter, 1924: Pimbrils/Wikimedia Commons/PD Old 70 “Why … Continue reading Dream: Influence of Dreams on Reality
Photo Credit: Freud with some of his followers. Otto Rank is standing behind Freud’s chair. 1922. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division: Prosopee/Wikimedia Commons/PD EU no author disclosure “[I]f we want to catch glimpses of the truths that govern human culture and behavior, we must open ourselves to the wisdom, no matter how surprising … Continue reading Strangers Working in Strange Lands
