An Artist's Book of Inspiration: A Collection of Thoughts on Art, Artists, and Creativity

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0940262762 ISBN 13: 9780940262768

Publisher: Lindisfarne Books, 1996

This collection of thoughts from artists and thinkers of the past and present has been lovingly gathered over many years in the personal journals of the artist Astrid Fitzgerald and reveals something of the mystery in which creativity finds its way from the energies of the cosmos into the imagination and faculties of the individual artist and eventually into the solitude of the studio and finally into a work of art.

From the reports of mystics to the observations of scientists, these passages have been arranged in this volume to provide brief glimpses into the recesses of artistic being, into the tentative formations in consciousness, the first glimmers of imagination, the distinctive faculties of the creative mind, and the tensions of artistic expression in the workshop and the creative life.

Fitzgerald's great contribution has been to gather into a meaningful collection the words of 2,500 years of genius as a resource and inspiration for all those who would break out of creative limitations and take a bold step into the future.

Illustrated with the art of the author and others.

CONTENTS:

• The Ground of Artistic Being
• The Field of Creative Play
• The Universal Qualities and Forces of Creativity
• The Flowering of Creative Energy
• The Faculties of Creative Expression
• The Nature of the Calling
• The Ideals of Artistic Expression
• Infinite Forms of Expression
• The Dynamics of Creative Work
• The Experience of the Creative Life
• Bibliography and Index of Authors

About the Author:

Astrid Fitzgerald is an artist, a writer, and a passionate student of the Perennial Philosophy who has applied its principles to her life and art for over thirty years. The author of An Artist's Book of Inspiration: A Collection of Thoughts on Art, Artists and Creativity, Fitzgerald's writing is based on the philosophy and practice of self-development, study groups, as well as individual self-inquiry and reflection. She is a member of the Society for the Study of the Human Being, Inc. in New York City.

Review:

“The nature and contribution of art has been hidden in recent times, buried under a too-rational and mechanical world. This beautiful and inspiring collection is honest, fresh, and enlightening. I hope it marks a return to the depths of art. Read these great words and make a manifesto of them, or at least guidelines toward the rehumanization of art and our world.” ―Thomas Moore, author of The Planets Within and Care of the Soul

“This eclectic and intelligent collection of artists’ discoveries, explorations, and insights guides its readers into the myriad byways of the creative life. These brief quotations act not only as maps, but also as divining rods, awakening one’s own perceptions on how the world may spring more imaginatively alive.” ―Jane Hirshfield, poet and editor of Women in Praise of the Sacred and author of Given Sugar, Given Salt: Poems and Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry

“Astrid Fitzgerald’s work of love and mind cultivates a ‘garden of art,’ displaying and preserving endless varieties of imagination. Open to any page before, during, or after making art and receive an infusion of the creative spirit.” ―Shaun McNiff, is the Provost and Dean of Endicott College in Beverly, Massachusetts, and the author of Art As Medicine: Creating a Therapy of the Imagination and Trust the Process: An Artist’s Guide to Letting Go