The Artist's Journey
On Making Art & Being an Artist
Kent Nerburn
“Remember this: if, in the act of creation, you find yourself, just for a moment, losing all sense of time and being lifted up into a great, all-embracing 'Yes!' . . . you have found the place where creation takes wing”
Available as Paperback, eBook
Guidance and wisdom for young artists, from award-winning artist and writer Kent Nerburn
The creative life is not easy. From the outside it can seem romantic and exciting, but in fact it is a unique journey filled with doubts and dreams and complex challenges that most people never imagine. From the obvious issues of making a living and dealing with rejection, to more rarified questions like how to know when a work is finished and the delicate balance between inspiration and craft, the creative artist – whether writer, painter, actor, or dancer – lives in a world of profound questions and subtle choices.
The Artist’s Journey takes you into this world with an emotional honesty that few books offer. At once practical and spiritual, it is a rare exploration of the inner landscape of the artistic experience and an essential guidebook to the artist’s journey, for creative artists in all fields, whether young or old, accomplished or just beginning.
“Helpful, deceptively simple, straight-shooting, celebratory”
Margaret Atwood
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“With a poet’s grace and a craftsman’s precision, Kent Nerburn has written a powerful and deeply moving meditation on what it means to live the life of an artist – and, ultimately, what it means to be human. The Artist’s Journey might be the most inspiring book you’ll read all year”
Daniel Pink
“Kent Nerburn’s understanding of the transcendent nature of the creative process is vividly on display in his uplifting new book. His enthusiasm is contagious. Tune into his wise words and make something beautiful”
Rick Rubin
“A master teacher with the most generous heart, filled with lifetimes of wisdom”
Darren Aronofsky
“A tender and beautifully written guide for anyone working in the arts … [a] little gem of a book”
the Wee Review
Kent Nerburn
Kent Nerburn is a sculptor and award-winning author of sixteen books. He has been writing about Native American history and culture for almost thirty years, and is the founder and director of ‘Project Preserve’, working on the Red Lake Ojibwe reservation helping students collect memoires of tribal elders. He lives in Portland, Oregon. kentnerburn.com