Five on Friday: 5 Books + Podcasts for Creatives

Welcome to another Five on Friday! Today I'm sharing a few books and podcasts that are keeping me in the creative mind set as I go about my daily business of living. I typically read quite a bit, but over the last few years I've gotten a little spoiled by audiobooks and podcasts. They make house chores, driving, and grocery shopping way more enjoyable so I find myself listening to something pretty much every day. I like a variety of topics and genres, but I've noticed that when I regularly consume content that is motivational or related to the creative arts (instead of scary mysteries that make me afraid to go outside alone), I get more accomplished in my own art practice and I feel more excited to try out new things. Check out the list below and feel free to share any of your favorites in the comments. Enjoy!

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Fake Like Me by Barbara Bourland

This is genuinely a favorite book of mine. It's a fiction novel about the self journey of an artist who loses everything in a fire and is forced to recreate her own art pieces to save her career. What's great about this book is the immersion into the artist's world, her painting process, and her emotions. While reading this, I feel like I'm there in her studio and working right alongside her. I find that I have even more desire than usual to paint abstract paintings and maybe even try my hand at large scale art. I wish I could see the paintings she makes in real life and not just in my mind. While this book has some good themes to make you think, it's really the marvelous feeling of inspiration I get that makes me want to read it again and again. You may not love this book in the same way I do, but it's worth a try if you like art and a little bit of melancholy mystery.

Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon

So...this book came out a decade ago but I just came across it a couple of months ago. I listened to a podcast interview with Austin Kleon and liked his viewpoint on the creative process. I ordered a copy of his book and was not disappointed. It has helped me to better understand how to be a beginner and show up to do the work every day. I can finally see how it's possible to find my own style through the inspiration and understanding of other artists. (aren't we always searching for that??) It's surprisingly a small book, but I think it works best that way. It's easy to read because he gets straight to the point and provides fun illustrations of his ideas and his work process. I highly recommend this for anyone looking to advance their creative side of life. I've ordered his follow up book and am looking forward to reading it too.

The Creative Genius Podcast by Kate Shepherd

This is a great podcast focused on creatives and their stories. I've struggled quite a bit with feelings about my past, calling myself an artist, and shoving down my creative desires until late in life. I felt like everyone else was way ahead of me. In this podcast, Kate shares her story and has deep discussions with her guests about their creative journey. When I started listening, I was surprised to hear so many women and men describe almost EXACTLY what I have felt all these years and then go on to be successful when they finally follow their dreams. I am truly grateful to Kate and all the guests for sharing their experiences. This podcast makes me believe in my own possibilities.

Windowsill Chats by Margo Tantau

I just love this podcast, especially the older episodes. Margo has a great personality and the little ukulele intro song makes me dance. I thought I would end up skipping through the intro like I do on most shows, but that song grew on me and I enjoy it every time. The podcast itself is another great conversation style show with artists and creatives from all different walks of life. Margo has had a full journey in the creative world and she has some very enlightening and encouraging conversations with her guests. I've binged most of her back episodes and look forward to new ones every week. Check out her episode list and I'm sure you'll find an interesting guest or topic of interest.

P.S. She also inspired me to name my newest cat Margo.

On Writing by Stephen King

I get a lot of inspiration from reading biographies and hearing stories of other people's lives. Fiction is great, but it's even better to learn the stories of the creative people who have influenced our culture in some way. Stephen King is definitely a creative and I don't know many people who haven't read or watched a movie of one of his books. Horror isn't typically my thing, but I've read several of his books (many when I was waaay too young) and his writing is remarkable to me. This book of his isn't an official biography, but he shares many stories of his childhood and life as a writer along with his viewpoint on writing. I absolutely love this book and have read it many times since it was published in 2000. One of my creative outlets has always been writing so many of my creative heros are writers as well. Although writing is the focus of this book, there is so much that also applies to the creative mindset needed for artists of all kinds. If you haven't read it, please do. You'll love it. And if you have read it, please read it again. It gets better each time.

Ok that's all for now! Happy Friday and have a great weekend!

~ Anna B.