A moving portrait of a father and daughter relationship and a case for late-stage creativity from Emily Urquhart, the bestselling author of Beyond the Pale: Folklore, Family, and the Mystery of Our Hidden Genes. “The fundamental misunderstanding of our time is that we belong to one age group or another. We all grow old. There is no us and them. There was only ever an us.” — from The Age of Creativity It has long been thought that artistic output declines in old age. When Emily Urquhart and her family celebrated the eightieth birthday of her father, the illustrious painter Tony Urquhart, she found it remarkable that, although his pace had slowed, he was continuing his daily art practice of drawing, painting, and constructing large-scale sculptures, and was even innovating his style. Was he defying the odds, or is it possible that some assumptions about the elderly are flat-out wrong? After all, many well-known visual artists completed their best work in the last decade of their lives, Turner, Monet, and Cézanne among them. With the eye of a memoirist and the curiosity of a journalist, Urquhart began an investigation into late-stage creativity, asking: Is it possible that our best work is ahead of us? Is there an expiry date on creativity? Do we ever really know when we’ve done anything for the last time? The Age of Creativity is a graceful, intimate blend of research on ageing and creativity, including on progressive senior-led organizations, such as a home for elderly theatre performers and a gallery in New York City that only represents artists over sixty, and her experiences living and travelling with her father. Emily Urquhart reveals how creative work, both amateur and professional, sustains people in the third act of their lives, and tells a new story about the possibilities of elder-hood.

“There are more than 50 creative prompts for the artist (or artist at heart) to explore. Take the title of this book as affirmation, and get started.” —Fast Company More than 50 assignments, ideas, and prompts to expand your world and help you make outstanding new things to put into it Curator Sarah Urist Green left her office in the basement of an art museum to travel and visit a diverse range of artists, asking them to share prompts that relate to their own ways of working. The result is You Are an Artist, a journey of creation through which you'll invent imaginary friends, sort books, declare a cause, construct a landscape, find your band, and become someone else (or at least try). Your challenge is to filter these assignments through the lens of your own experience and make art that reflects the world as you see it. You don't have to know how to draw well, stretch a canvas, or mix a paint color that perfectly matches that of a mountain stream. This book is for anyone who wants to make art, regardless of experience level. The only materials you'll need are what you already have on hand or can source for free. Full of insights, techniques, and inspiration from art history, this book opens up the processes and practices of artists and proves that you, too, have what it takes to call yourself one. You Are an Artist brings together more than 50 assignments gathered from some of the most innovative creators working today, including Sonya Clark, Michelle Grabner, The Guerrilla Girls, Fritz Haeg, Pablo Helguera, Nina Katchadourian, Toyin Ojih Odutola, J. Morgan Puett, Dread Scott, Alec Soth, Gillian Wearing, and many others.

Fourteen artists and picture book illustrators present self-portraits and brief descriptions that explore their varied ethnic origins, their work, and their feelings about themselves.

Never has contemporary art been so popular as it is now; never has its audience been so big. In the rapidly changing and vastly expanding art world one thing hasn't changed, however: it is the artist that remains at the center of artistic universe. In fascinating and personal interviews seventeen outstanding contemporary artists reflect on what does it mean to be an artist today. By doing so, they provide a great material to analyze the most urgent questions of the current art system. What artistic values should prevail? How to define the artist when the notions of shaman, revolutionary and bohemian are no longer valid? What is the relationship between artist and their public? How to stay relevant for the artist herself/himself and for the world? As artists operate in close connection with curators, collectors, and gallerists, Marta Gnyp has given voice to a few excellent actors from these categories to make the picture more complete: Fran ç ois Pinault speaks about his experiences and his vision of contemporary art as a collector; Anthony d'Offay reflects on artists and the post-war art system from the perspective of a gallerist, while Demetrio Paparoni reflects on the state of contemporary art as an art historian, curator, and critic. Thanks to her profound knowledge of the art world as theorist and as insider - being art advisor, collector, art journalist - Gnyp could engage in deep conversations and when needed was not afraid to ask difficult questions. Reading the essay and the interviews, the reader gets a great sense of what do the artists do and think, and also what are the most challenging issues of our art system in general.

A FAST-PACED ROMP THROUGH THE HISTORY OF WESTERNPAINTING WITH ONE OF NEW ZEALAND'S BEST-KNOWN PAINTERSThroughout his long career, New Zealand painter Dick Frizzell has often goneway out on a limb to see where it would take him. From his early Pop artinfluencedapproach to his experiments with landscape and the contested area ofappropriation, he's always been brave. Now, he takes on the history of art, startingright back at cave art to discover the key threads of Western art that sit in his DNAas a painter in the 21st century. The approach is essential Frizzell: bring everyonealong for the ride.

For Thou Art with Me is the incredible memoir of a man's long and difficult journey through a career in law enforcement that spanned nearly four decades. The chapters are filled with excitement and suspense as he deals with the worst in society--broken families, oft deplorable conditions, death and violence, and citizens who always seemed to be at their worst. When victimized, citizens suffer some of the worst experiences of their lives; and those who victimize them are often frightened, angry, and sometimes violent. The prospect of losing one's freedom brings out the worst in people. The author's reason for choosing law enforcement as a career was based on a strong desire to help others, serve his country, and find excitement. He finds all that and more, much of which is discouraging. It isn't long before he begins to realize that one of his primary goals had been to ensure justice for those he served. This leads him to realize that the justice he has been seeking is elusive and flawed because it is from man. What takes him even longer to realize is that he has been looking in the wrong place for his answers. As he sinks deep into depression and alcoholism caused by post-traumatic stress and other career stressors, he fails to notice that God had been patiently waiting for him to see the light--that, as is often the case, God allows his children to suffer in order to bring them closer to him. Once he realized this, the writer's story becomes one of joy, faith, and renewal of the spirit. He accepts Christ as the true author of his life, and conveys his faith to the readers in the fervent hope that they will experience a similar life-changing awakening. As he finds his redemption and the answer for his life's challenges, he becomes convinced that others will also find them through our only true source, Jesus Christ.

Art on a Journey It started with an idea Darren Di Lieto had: Challenge illustrators and designers to create works of art on packages, envelopes and postcards - then actually send them to him through the mail. The response was overwhelming, and Di Lieto posted photos of each piece of art on MailMeArt.com , so people the world over could follow the art on its journey from artist to post office to computer screen. The images are preserved in this book to inspire you as well. Inside, discover: 200 of the best pieces of mail art from the project, showcasing the variety and depth of the international illustration community. Interviews with 17 of the artists - including Jon Burgerman, Dan May, Kristian Olson, Michael Slack, Catalina Estrada and Jeff Miracola - that give insight into the work and the spirit of the project. Darren Di Lieto's firsthand experience of the challenges and joys of organizing this worldwide project, from storing the mail art to the daily anticipation of art in the mailbox. Mail Me Art began with an idea. It became a community. But it doesn't end there. Open this book, experience the array of mail art illustration, and become part of the journey.