"Blaze of Colour: Embracing Creativity", non-fiction about the creative process, is suitable for anyone wishing to develop his or her own creativity or nurture it in others. Everyone is born creative, and connection to that inner genius-exploring, developing and expressing creative capacity-holds the key to finding one's path in life. This book provides a blueprint for claiming creative voice. Designated Notable Indie Book in the 2014-15 Shelf Unbound Writing Competition for Best Indie Book, "Blaze of Colour: Embracing Creativity" weaves together 4 content strands in 18 chapters: current research about creativity; personal narrative that explores the creative process in action; strategies for developing creativity with examples; 90] exercises designed to guide hands-on experience. Readers are invited to find their own creative abilities and voice and use them. Doing so is an enjoyable and enriching voyage of discovery that is sufficiently absorbing to last a lifetime, open to everyone, and can be taken up immediately. For those already on the journey, "Blaze of Colour: Embracing Creativity" offers strategies for continuing development. This book will be of particular interest to anyone who's struggled to find his or her own path and voice in life. The author shows through personal and professional experience that losing touch with our innate creativity, the silencing of voice, is an all-too-common cultural phenomenon. Readers will be prompted to recognize influences at work in their own lives. When the pace of life is such that we become preoccupied with the myriad tasks and responsibilities of everyday life we may lose sight of who we are and the gifts we are born with. We wonder how to begin. Where do we find good ideas, how much time and energy do we have to allocate, and how do we deal with the inner critic while exercising creative soul? Creativity requires problem-solving, convergent and divergent thinking skills, and we are not always taught these in ways that are useful to the development of creativity. We may need a little help recognizing, reclaiming and developing the skills and talents unique to our creativity. "Blaze of Colour: Embracing Creativity" offers strategies for issues that surface in the creative process: giving the critic a makeover, setting the creative genius free, and establishing a sustained creative practice. This book demonstrates that creative activities can happen in short bursts of time and over a longer time frame. Participation with family, friends, complete strangers or on our own can improve health, develop valuable skills, build community and provide life satisfaction in ways that nothing else can. Readers, whether newly interested or confirmed creativity practitioners, will find the 90+ exercises useful for accessing and expressing personal vision, creating authentically, and cultivating habits that support creativity. Our quality of life is at stake. We are happier and more productive when we know what our talents and abilities are-and use them. The world needs what each of us has to offer from our authentic creative selves. Creative energy is effervescent and transmittable, capable of generating inspiration and ideas for anyone who comes in contact with it: ourselves, the people around us, society and the world at large. We are all richer for these ideas and inspiration. Our voices need to be heard in the global conversation about creativity. "Blaze of Colour: Embracing Creativity" is strongly narrative: part spiritual memoir; part cultural mirror; part how-to. It's an excellent resource for people looking for new interests and ways to de-stress; parents and grandparents wishing to nurture creativity in children and grandchildren; teachers planning to encourage its development in students or professionals working in the healthcare field. All will find helpful tips, ideas and perspectives in this book. Enjoy!
Diane Eastham is an award-winning artist, photographer, writer, teacher, creativity coach and mentor. She completed her undergraduate work at Queen's University, holds an M.Ed. from the University of Toronto, and a counseling certificate from Wilfrid Laurier University (Canada). Now working full-time in her creative career, she brings many years of experience and expertise as a teacher to her classes, workshops and practice. Publishing credits for her writing, artwork and photographs include "Handmade and HomeGrown" for which she is the illustrator; "Unlocking the Muse" and "Writers Undercover", two poetry anthologies; and articles for a number of professional journals and newspapers including "Somerset Studio" and "The Rubber Stamper" magazines. In 2011, Diane received the 'Rogers Oktoberfest Woman of the Year' award for her community and creative work. She participates in juried, group and one-woman shows, in both art and photography and her work is found in private collections throughout North America. She has this to say about her own creative journey: "I wrote this book after discovering I had lived for decades out of touch with the creative abilities at the heart of who I am, and this happened by the time I was 21. Through much of my twenties, thirties and forties, I felt a nagging dissatisfaction with life but could never identify the problem. I took up a career in teaching, got married, became something of a shopaholic and eventually divorced. Through it all, I wondered if there was a path in life that was uniquely mine and if so, how could I find it? In my forties, I made the discovery that losing touch with my creative abilities had left me vulnerable, distracted and missing the joy in life. I took a "time out" to travel the world, seek answers and begin my creative journey. Even in the early days of this l journey, my life began to feel more interesting, engaging and rewarding. I rediscovered happiness. I wrote this book to speed others on the creative path." You can learn more about her and view her work at her website, www.dianeeastham.com. And her blog, "pandoracreating" on Tumblr. Diane and her book, "Blaze of Colour: Embracing Creativity" are also on facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter @diane_eastham.
