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The bestselling author of The Artist's Way draws on her many years of personal experience as both a writer and a teacher to uncover the difficult soul work that artists must do to find inspiration.
In The Sound of Paper, Julia Cameron delves deep into the heart of the personal struggles that all artists experience. What can we do when we face our keyboard or canvas with nothing but a cold emptiness? How can we begin to carve out our creation when our vision and drive are clouded by life's uncertainties? In other words, how can we begin the difficult work of being an artist? In this inspiring book, Cameron describes a process of constant renewal, of starting from the beginning. She writes, "When we are building a life from scratch, we must dig a little. We must be like that hen scratching beneath the soil. 'What goodness is hidden here, just below the surface?' we must ask."
With personal essays accompanied by exercises designed to develop the power to infuse one's art with a deeply informed knowledge of the soul, this book is an essential artist's companion from one of the foremost authorities on the creative process. Cameron's most illuminating book to date, The Sound of Paper provides readers with a spiritual path for creating the best work of their lives.
Creativity expert Julia Cameron once again inspires the blocked artist in The Sound of Paper, a series of essays that serve as a roadmap to rediscovering the creativity that Cameron believes is the lifeblood at the core of everyone's soul. Designed for artists, writers, musicians, actors, sculptors, and anyone else whose desires lean toward the creative, Cameron's book reads similar to The Right to Write, another book of essays tailored more toward the impact writing can have on the creative life.
Written during the summer months spent while living in Taos, New Mexico, Cameron begins each essay with a description of the weather, the landscape, or the culture of one of Taos, one of America's hotbeds of artistic inspiration. Cameron makes comparisons of the natural world around her to the creative lives of the individuals she seeks to help unblock. The essays are short, running on average two or three pages, and the initial paragraphs of explicit description of Taos and the weather can become frustrating after a while. Keep reading. Get past the mundane to the core of the essay, and you will find inspiring expert advice.
Many of the concepts explored in The Sound of Paper are the same as in Cameron's best-selling creativity workshop, The Artist's Way. The Sound of Paper serves as outstanding supplemental reading for anyone undertaking The Artist's Way. Each essay is followed by an activity intended in helping the reader experience first-hand the concepts discussed. Cameron explores all aspects of creativity, from the root causes behind blocked artists to dealing with creative reawakening and even surrounding ourselves with supportive and encouraging friends. She takes things a step further by encouraging her readers to explore their deepest desires, imagining themselves as fulfilling their creative dreams and setting goals - both long and short term - to achieve them.
Cameron discounts common stereotypes of artistic people, explaining that artists need not be loners, eccentric, alcoholic, or unhappy. So many of these stereotypes force individuals to shy away from an artistic life. Cameron explains creativity as the reason for life on earth, linking creativity to spirituality and a higher power she refers to as God, or the Great Creator. Her perspective is unique in that she asks her readers to consider themselves as conduits, or channels, tapping into the creative energy of the universe and bringing art to life. Cameron encourages the removal of the ego in the process of making art.
A worthwhile and inspiring book for anyone seeking to get in touch with their creativity, The Sound of Paper will challenge readers to go outside of their comfort zone and take a chance on implementing a happier, more fulfilling existence. Aside from the often too details prose regarding New Mexico and the stretching comparisons, the book is filled with solid advice and inspirational stories of creative awakening.
Anonymous
Posted February 19, 2004
Julia Cameron's new book delves right into the heart of the matter of creativity. She starts off mentioning her own blocks, her own fears, her own hardships in finding inspiration to create. She knows the road upon which she travels and speaks frankly. Will this book help you? Yes. In a word, if you practice what she practices; she is an artist who shares her journey with readers. In her new set of essays and simple exercises, she comes off as humble, humourous and HUMAN. She's not just a new age guru or creative maven; she struggles with her manuscripts, her musicals and her vocation like all of us. This is The Artist's Way in smaller, gentler doses.
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Overview
The bestselling author of The Artist's Way draws on her many years of personal experience as both a writer and a teacher to uncover the difficult soul work that artists must do to find inspiration.
In The Sound of Paper, Julia Cameron delves deep into the heart of the personal struggles that all artists experience. What can we do when we face our keyboard or canvas with nothing but a cold emptiness? How can we begin to carve out our creation when our vision and drive are ...