Cool DC blog alert!

I just discovered the blog Thinking About Art, run by 27-year-old DC resident J.T. Kirkland, and am incredibly inspired by 2 of its features.

The first is Artists Interview Artists. Here's how it works: Let's say I want to participate. I send J.T. a list of 5 questions that he can use to interview another artist. In turn, he asks me 5 questions that another artist has submitted. From what I've seen, the project's strength is how interesting the questions are (far better than the questions I've been asking in my creative profiles)...on the blog, J.T. explains,

"As you likely know by now I find run-of-the-mill artist interviews to be incredibly boring. But there is a great possibility at attaining true insight into the artist's mind and I persist in trying to find the best way possible of getting inside."

Here are some examples of questions submitted for a recent interview:

"Dry spells. Blocks. Brain cramps. What ever you call them, we all get them. What do you do to rehydrate your creative muse?"

"Inspiration can come from anything and everything around us. Sometimes I feel like all the radio channels are full blown open and I am hearing a million djs yammering in my ear, hearing bits and pieces of various conversations. When you are "open" how do you mute the yammering and pick a channel to settle on an idea and work it?"

"Studio Space. Describe your work space. What makes is perfect for you? What would you do to make it better?"

Read more about the project, and/or read the most recent interview.

The second feature of this blog that caught my attention is the One Word Project, in which artists wrote 100-500 word reflections on a single word, which J.T. chose based on his impressions of their work. He published 39 of the 42 submissions he received in a book.

Cool stuff. By the way, my (brief) answers to the above questions are:

• Practice yoga. Take a walk with my dog. Take a nap. Immerse myself in nature. Watch a great film.
• I don't experience a lot of yammering. When I'm that inspired, I take pen to paper, or start typing, and that's when I write the stuff I feel best about.
  
• I don't have a dedicated space for practicing my creativity, but I'd say that having a house has played a huge role in keeping me inspired and productive... different rooms can fit different moods, and I just have more room to stretch out and play.

How about you?