Finding creativity and building a community on Instagram and beyondSynopsis: In Hashtag Authentic, social media guru Sara Tasker provides tips, advice and guidance on how to turn your personal Instagram account into a profitable creative outlet. Since setting up her Instagram account (me_and_orla) while on maternity leave in 2013, Sara has become a celebrated influencer and iPhoneographer, and through her calm, atmospheric and authentic style has garnered legions of followers. Here, Sara presents the lessons she has learned along the way. Sara’s nurturing voice and enchanting photography provide guidance on: Storytelling, with tips on finding your own visual style and personal...
Welcome to My Creative Notebook, I’ve always been fascinated by the creative process and believe that everyone has their own personal collection of skills and abilities, which just needs time and encouragement to develop.
Finding the time and space to be creative is vital to sustain creativity, one of the most important actions in any day is to seize the moments which sometimes occur when you least expect it; to simply stand and stare, to be inspired by a beautiful view, hear a bird singing, or to watch your family laughing together. Treasure these moments; they form the rich tapestry of living in a creative way.
There are so many amazing sources of inspiration and I hope in this space to share ideas, thoughts, words, books, resources, art, photography, events and interviews, which I hope you will enjoy and find inspiring.
Despite this space being rooted in technology, I see My Creative Notebook as a starting point from which to go and do things!
The Writer’s Creative Workbook: Finding Your Voice, Embracing the Page – Joy Kenward
Synopsis: The Writer’s Creative Workbook is a practical and insightful guide into the joyful craft of mindful writing. Focusing on the transformative process of writing and conscious creativity, this beautifully illustrated part-manual, part-journal explores the holistic value of writing for writing’s sake. Author Joy Kenward invites story-tellers, poets, travel-writers, journalists and letter-writers – in fact anyone curious about the ancient wisdom of mindfulness and its relevance to the modern creative voice – to embrace affirmations, meditations and Buddhist wisdom. With practical exercises and astute notes on dissolving creative block, planning, time, and caring for your words, this is a must-have companion...
Botanical Illustration from Life – Işik Güner
A visual guide to observing, drawing and painting plants Synopsis: Observe, draw, paint, explore and master the art of botanical illustration. Award-winning botanical artist Işik Güner shares her passion for drawing and painting living plants from around the world. Her work is both artistically accomplished and scientifically accurate, and will inspire you to master the skills you need to produce your own botanical illustrations from life. • Discover how to select, preserve and position your specimens.• Develop your understanding of perspective and composition.• Learn the techniques of drawing and watercolour painting. With the help of Ekin Özbiçer’s striking photography and numerous illustrations...
Interview with author Liz Fenwick
I love Liz Fenwick’s new book One Cornish Summer and I had the wonderful opportunity to interview her about her love of Cornwall and how she gets inspiration for her novels. We love that you have chosen Cornwall as the location for many of your novels, what do you enjoy most about living there? Tough question as I love so much about living in Cornwall, but first and foremost is the wonderful community in which I live. They make living here a joy. Second and very close to the community is the landscape. It’s magical from the trees that are shaped...
The Flower Fix – Anna Potter
Modern arrangements for a daily dose of nature Synopsis: Blousy blooms, speckled branches, rich foliage and delicate petals; nature has the power to inspire and energise, calm and soothe, focus and still. Anna has harnessed this magic with 26 tailor-made combinations of flowers to bring a floral boost to your home, no matter what your mood. With easy-to-find seasonal blooms, found items such as twigs and dried fruit, and any assortment of containers, discover how simple it is to bring a little bit of nature’s mystery into the everyday. Spanning all seasons and including both larger installations and smaller, simpler projects, there is something for anyone looking to...
Anna Mason’s Watercolour World – Create vibrant, realistic paintings inspired by nature – Anna Mason
Synopsis: Learn to paint with Anna Mason, using this inspiring, practical watercolour guide. Anna Mason’s vibrant, detailed and uplifting watercolours have earned her worldwide recognition. In this, her second book, she goes beyond flowers to explore her inspirations from across the natural world, including fruit, birds and animals. The book gives you a very personal insight into Anna’s way of working; with clarity and warmth she will help you find inspiration, choose scale and composition, see things correctly and work with discipline and flow until you produce fabulous work of your own. Packed with advice and inspiring finished pieces, this gorgeous...
Conscious Creativity – Look, Connect, Create – Philippa Stanton
Synopsis: How often do you notice the texture of a painted wall or the scent of a friend’s house and, importantly, how they make you feel? Connect your observations and your emotions and transform your creative practice with this essential toolbox packed full of exercises, tips, stunning images and personal experiences from dynamic artist Philippa Stanton. There is creativity in all of us, but it can easily be buried beneath our everyday concerns, or need a spark to bring it back to life. Whether you’ve lost your mojo or just need some fresh ideas, artist and photographer Philippa Stanton’s lively guide...
The Writer’s Eye – Amy E. Weldon Observation and Inspiration for Creative Writers
Synopsis: Learning to write starts with learning to do one big thing: pay attention to the world around you, even though just about everything in modern life makes this more difficult than it needs to be. Developing habits and practices of observing, and writing down what you notice, can be the first step away from the anxieties and doubts that can hold you back from your ultimate goal as a writer: discovering something to say and a voice to say it in. The Writer’s Eye is an inspiring guide for writers at all stages of their writing lives. Drawing on new research into creative...
Interview with Claudia Carroll, Author of The Secrets of Primrose Square
What inspired you to start writing? Like a lot of authors, for about as long as I can remember, I’d been scribbling down stories and embarrassingly rough drafts for novels. But then like most people, I just assumed that book deals were something that happened to other people so I’d just shove what I’d written into the back of a drawer and vow not to mortify myself by even talking about it. Took me a very long time and a LOT of courage to get brave and actually put a book out there. In the meantime though, I was working...
Interview with Annie Robertson – Author of My Mamma Mia Summer
We loved the way you brought Mamma Mia references into your book, is it a favourite film of yours?It took me a while to fall in love with Mamma Mia. When it first came out I really didn’t get it but then, after several years, I was re-introduced to it and I began to see it differently. Now I can’t get enough of its energy and joy. I’ll be first in the queue when Here We Go Again is released! Your descriptions of the island are so vivid, that as a reader, you feel utterly transported there, how did you...