Wrap up your creative return – the big picture
I started this month with a reflection on the French tradition of la rentrée – the return to normal after the summer holidays. It seemed to me that we could all do with a chance to celebrate this return, and why not apply it to our creative lives as well as our return to school or work? So, each week in September I have recommended books that might help you to put your creative life into perspective, giving you the focus you need for the last few (often incredibly busy) months of the year. This week we are shifting slightly – the book I’m recommending has a broader approach, it isn’t written explicitly about creativity, but its focus on introducing small moments of happiness into your everyday routine will no doubt have an impact on your creative practice.
Continue your creative return – Locate your practice
Last week I recommended the excellent book – What they didn’t teach you in art school: what you need to know to survive as an artist. By Rosalind Davis and Annabel Tilley – a book full of excellent, practical advice on how to survive in your chosen career.
This week, I thought I’d recommend a book that will help you think more broadly about your practice, and how to locate it within the context of contemporary craft/art/design.
Start your Creative Return – how to survive as an artist
After last week’s post contemplating the idea of la rentrée créative (a creative return to normal after the summer break) I thought I’d continue with the theme of reflection and review ready for the end of the year ahead.
I have a few book recommendations which I’ve been meaning to share and they offer opportunities for thinking holistically about your creative practice, your creative business and your work/life balance. First up:
A creative return
There has been an undeniable shift in mood during the last week. Some days it seems I can perceive the light changing and the weather shift. Although not cold, the mornings are chillier and I can no longer pretend that the evenings are balmy and long. A new season is here. Every year I try to remind myself not to grasp, not to try to hold onto time beyond what is natural. Summer passes into autumn and it is right that it does. Whether I feel ready or not is beside the point.
This year, I am more aware of the French notion of la rentrée. This season, which goes beyond merely ‘back to school’ at the beginning of September, infuses life at this time. It is a return. A return to life as normal after the long summer. Now, this probably makes more sense for a country which definitely experiences a long hot summer, and which almost closes up shop for a month or two. This return is a very real thing. Children return to school, adults return to work, politics gets going again, the media begins a new schedule and even the literary world joins in, launching hundreds of new titles. But, I think it is also something which we can embrace, psychologically, as creatives.