Cultured people feel less stress

Stressed? Head to the nearest art gallery. People who go to museums and concerts or create art or play an instrument are more satisfied with their lives, a study finds.
http://news.discovery.com/human/culture-happiness-art-110524.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1

When should you teach children and when should you let them explore?

http://www.economist.com/node/18741484

US Economic Innovation: Lessons for NZ?

Why Johnny Can't Innovate: The American Economy's Most Surprising Deficit
From Ian Fletcher in the Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ian-fletcher/us-innovation-economy-_b_868504.html?ref=fb&src=sp

Last Paradise

A movie by local film maker Clive Neeson featuring Kiwi sporting innovators and showing some scenes from my home, Taranaki, and its mountain and beaches.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knl3ifbfcCE&feature=share

John Jay of Weiden-Kennedy talks creativity

Fast Company offers us an exclusive video featuring John Jay of world renowned advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy. In the short clip, John speaks about creativity, including why Wieden+Kennedy has kept strong relationships with clients and why you should never adhere to someone’s particular terms or be put into a specific silo.
http://hypebeast.com/2011/05/john-jay-of-wiedenkennedy-talks-creativity/

Evaluative pratices in creativity

Alan Black shares a blog by Keith Sawyer . . . .
http://keithsawyer.wordpress.com/2011/05/28/evaluative-practices-in-creativity/

Can creativity be taught?

A brief blog from August Turak in Forbes.
http://blogs.forbes.com/augustturak/2011/05/22/can-creativity-be-taught/

Facing the biggest enemy of your inner genius

Dr Detlef Reis is the founding director and chief ideator of Thinkergy Limited (http://www.thinkergy.com), an ideation and innovation company in Asia.
Check out his article from the Bangkok Post.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/print/238967/

Natural Architecture

Tara Grey Coste shares . . .
http://www.designboom.com/contemporary/naturalarchitecture.html

Use art to turn the world upside down

JR, a semi-anonymous French street artist, uses his camera to show the world its true face, by pasting photos of the human face across massive canvases. At TED2011, he makes his audacious TED Prize wish: to use art to turn the world inside out. Learn more about his work and learn how you can join in at insideoutproject.net.
http://www.ted.com/talks/jr_s_ted_prize_wish_use_art_to_turn_the_world_inside_out.html

Increase your intelligence

"One should not pursue goals that are easily achieved. One must develop an instinct for what one can just barely achieve through one's greatest efforts." —Albert Einstein
This Scientific American blog explores ways you can increase your intelligence.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/blog/post.cfm?id=you-can-increase-your-intelligence-2011-03-07

The AHA Moment

What is it that allows some people to get creative breakthroughs while others get only creative breakdowns — alternately blaming themselves, society, their company, and their increasingly suspect astrological configurations?

More from Mitch Ditkoff at http://www.business-strategy-innovation.com/wordpress/2011/05/increasing-the-odds-of-an-aha-moment/

Know your brain

This link from Peter Lloyd of IdeaConnection
http://www.ideaconnection.com/right-brain-workouts/00222-know-your-brain.html%22

Conan O'Brien's Guide to Creativity

This link from Fast Company.
http://www.fastcompany.com/1754473/conan-obriens-guide-to-creativity

New Art Works

Two new works from series titled Artefacts.
Ever since I was a kid I collected stuff – from the beach, from the bush, and from the dump. My childhood was spent living not far from a dump – an ideal place for the neighbourhood kids to play ‘war’ or ‘Cowboys and Indians’. Whilst that was fun I was as interested in what I could find in our local dump and much to my parents horror lots of it I brought home. I am attracted to the textures, the shapes and the idea that what I use has already had a life and been used by others albeit for very different purposes. I am more excited by finding a piece of ‘worked’ flotsam and jetsam than I am with finding ‘natural’ materials.
My first exhibition in 1981 as a founding member of the Taranaki Artists Cooperative [TACO] was assembled from found materials and so it has continued.
The polite term for this is now ‘found art’ or ‘art from found materials’. This from that font of all knowledge Wikipeadia. “The term found art describes art created from the undisguised, but often modified, use of objects that are not normally considered art, often because they already have a non-art function.” I prefer the term Salvage Art.
Since 1981 I have been part of 28 exhibitions and have works in collections in New Zealand, The United Kingdom and The United States. My recent work has had a more functional element to it and includes mirrors and vessels for containing . . . more junk!

Finding inspiration when you are down

Life isn't always hunky dory. No matter how good we are at what we do, and how well we plan things out, we do get stuck. That's when we need inspiration - inspiration to move on, to do what we are supposed to do, to start something new, to build what we were trying to build...inspiration to carry on with life. More here:
http://www.dumblittleman.com/2010/09/61-ways-to-find-inspiration-when-youre.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+DumbLittleMan+%28Dumb+Little+Man+-+tips+for+life%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher

The most creative people in business

This 2011 list from Fast Company
http://www.fastcompany.com/most-creative-people/2011?partner=homepage_newsletter

The hidden art of creative flow

This from Zen Habits
http://zenhabits.net/creative-flow/

How to generate ideas

http://www.successmagazine.com/creativity-a-special-report/PARAMS/article/1301/channel/22

The creativity vacuum

Why Newspapers, Twitter and Facebook have run out of ideas.
http://www.business2.com.au/2011/05/the-creativity-vacuum-why-newspapers-twitter-and-facebook-have-run-out-of-ideas/

Becoming the designer you want to be

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2oSZSg/www.good.is/post/ten-steps-to-becoming-the-designer-you-want-to-be/?utm_source=supr

12 sparks for heads-up creativity

Do you find your creativity at a lull and needing a jolt at times? For extra spark, gain insights from leaders and designers to jump-start your creativity.
http://blogs.forbes.com/mindmakeover/2011/03/18/12-sparks-for-heads-up-creativity/

Another Rube Goldberg inspiration

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/adam_sadowsky_engineers_a_viral_music_video.html

Ten more ways to be creative like a kid

http://brainzooming.com/10-more-ways-to-be-creative-like-a-kid/7558/
This link from my friend Alan Black

Creativity Habit: Curiosity

http://www.journeysofdiscovery.org.uk/the-projects/maori/introduction.html
From my friend Deb Gillanders who was involved in this.
Great concept!!

Four types of designers

http://www.bradleyderry.com/2011/01/the-4-types-of-designers/
Could this apply to other creative practitioners as well?

Improv Everywhere

Improv Everywhere is a New York City-based prank collective that causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places. Created in August of 2001 by Charlie Todd, Improv Everywhere has executed over 100 missions involving tens of thousands of undercover agents.
http://improveverywhere.com/2009/02/09/high-five-escalator/

NASA's Rube Goldberg Challenge

This via Marci Segal and Rosemary Rein.
http://vimeo.com/23216282

Creativity and Agility

Imagination - creating the future of education and work.
Great blog - take a look at all the chapters.
http://creatingthefuturetoday.com/pages/144

6 techniques to ignite your inner creativity and passion

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronald-alexander-phd/inner-creativity-passion_b_853562.html

Why creative people need to be eccentric

Another great blog from Mark McGuinness.
Creative people have a reputation for eccentricity. It's not hard to see why when we consider the habits of some well-known creatives.
http://networkedblogs.com/hpDA7

Protecting your creativity

When creativity isn’t appreciated in your organization culture, what can you do if changing jobs isn’t an option?
http://brainzooming.com/how-do-youto-survive-in-a-culture-that-doesnt-value-creativity/7335/

77 Awesome Creativity Books

http://creativeemergence.typepad.com/the_fertile_unknown/2011/05/my-top-100-creativity-in-business-book-recommendations.html

Art, Drama, Creativity and Trauma

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoMwS_0PXOU&feature=watch_response_rev

Earthquake: a teaspoon of light

Actor/educators used drama to work with children affected by the Christchurch earthquake.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jznOhFrSvJY