Creative People — Third Thought

Bruno's Creative Life

27th of November ~

Today we’re spending time with Bruno, Creator of Sand Castles. We met while I was on vacation last year and I was completely charmed by his work and his creative passion. We talked not so much about techniques or habits but rather his beliefs.

Bruno is a landscaper, a painter and a sculptor of sand. He is the youngest child in a family of seven, the son of a fisherman. He believes everyone should wait tables or bartend and his wish is to be known as a good person.

Two years ago he came to St. Croix for a vacation and just stayed. Now, in the winter he works at a small hotel in St Croix on one of the most perfect beaches in the world. In the summer he runs his landscape business in Boston.

And every day he builds a sand castle.

Part of why Bruno was able to stay in St. Croix was because he had let go of most of his wordly possessions–or he had been relieved of them in a wholly deus ex machina way. Traveling lightly in the world makes him portable.

But more than releasing material possessions he releases conflict. He is kind and doesn’t hang on to resentment or anger. He tries to live in harmony with others and with nature.

Bruno notices signs. He pays attention to messages from the ‘unseen hand’. He prays and believes that he is an instrument of a higher power. He knows his spirituality and creativity are linked. He is not a pious man–he just knows this.

Above all Bruno encourages us to believe in ourselves, to take the risk. He’s made the leap to an expansive life and he is a remarkably happy fellow.

[Special thanks to the talented Zach at One Hundred Seconds. He took my overwhelming footage and found Bruno's story in there. If you need video I HIGHLY recommend Zach!]

Brilliant Innovation: The Aquaduct

6th of August ~

Google and Specialized (a bicycle company) recently sponsored an Innovate-or-Die contest which offered prizes for pedal-powered solutions to real problems.

The Grand Prize winner of the contest was The Aquaduct, a pedal-powered water-filtration tricycle.

All I can say is “Brilliant!”

The Future of Publishing?

22nd of July ~

International Data Corporation (IDC) reports that worldwide tablet computer shipments in 2010 totaled nearly 17 million units. The market research firm further predicts global tablet sales of 44.6 million units in 2011 and 70.8 million units in 2012. Elsewhere it was noted that e-book readers enjoyed 105% year-over-year expansion. Digital publishing is HUGE (which reminds me–I have got to get going on my own e-book!).

The Globe and Mail recently did a story about the changing nature of publishing and the evolving e-book. They speculate that reading from a Kindle or Nook will “force writers into shorter and more direct narratives”. The line between books and movies is blurring.

Lovers of the creative process can only admire the ingenuity of artists evolving the art form. As Kate Pullinger notes,

If you are going to put a work of fiction on the computer, why would you not use the multimedia components a computer has to offer you?

I encourage you to visit Pullinger’s online children’s’ book, Inanimate Alice. Or CityFish by J.R. Carpenter.

(image from CityFish)

These are lovely experiments in the possibilities of storytelling.

Some are wringing their hands over the demise of The Book. I am not. I am excited about the possibilities. So far, I don’t think hard cover books have been outlawed. Consumers and Creators are just getting more options. And that’s delightful.

Ducks!

6th of December ~

Saturday I joined the kids at Hollywood Bowl (not the one in LA) to watch the Oregon Civil war between the Ducks and the Beavers. Yes, we Oregonians like our woodland creatures. Both teams are beloved but The Ducks remained UNDEFEATED and now will head to the national game. Yay Ducks!

But let me not be accused of giving undue attention to sports over the arts.

The mens a capella group, On the Rocks, is all over the social media right now and they are adorable. There is a more professional version of their Bad Romance here but I like this rawer version.

Tonight at 8 pm they are competing on a show that is new to me: The Sing-Off. Such nice creative young men.

Creative Spark Channel on TED

21st of October ~

If you don’t spend much time on the internet you may not be addicted to TED. If you don’t know about TED here is their description from their home page:

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design.

Of course, all the speeches are fascinating. Happily, for those of us interested in creativity, TED has now organized speeches in a a few themes. Here’s the link for Creative Spark video channel.

For fun, here’s J. J. Abrams, one of the creators of Lost, talking about the attraction of mystery in storytelling.

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