Across the Zoom grid, I spotted someone holding up a gorgeous illustration paired with a C.S. Lewis quote. We were at the end of a FieldTrip where we had looked at art “like a pirate”, and our master facilitator Rachel Ropeik had us make drawings to “thank” the painting we had looked at. When I couldn’t puzzle out the words in the virtual square, I asked for the full quote in the chat. The responder had the Sketchbook Skool logo as their Zoom avatar. Lo and behold, it was their founder, Danny Gregory — a personal hero of mine. Danny Gregory’s sketch of a glass half full and the C.S. Lewis quote “You are never too old to set a new goal or to dream a new dream.” Sketchbook Skool played a huge role in helping me set up my creative practice. In 2021, I started ...

Reprinted with permission from You Need a Manifesto: How to Craft Your Convictions and Put Them to Work by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn and Stanford d.school, published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Join Charlotte on her CreativeMornings FieldTrip to write your own manifesto on November 17! (Photography credit Patrick Beaudouin.) Creative work—the work of bringing ideas into the world, whatever kind they are—is hugely powerful. It is a particular kind of power: the power to generate, to make something where before there wasn’t anything. The power to improve, to build on the work of others, and reach closer to an ideal. The power to influence, to engage people in new beliefs, activities, and behaviors. And the power to change it all. Making things better may hav...

This is an edited extract from Madeleine Dore’s new book I Didn’t Do the Thing Today. Join Madeleine on her CreativeMornings FieldTrip on Navigating Productivity Guilt on February 15! (Photography credit Giulia Giannini McGauran.) When we conflate productivity with worthiness, what we do is never enough. We can always do more, and there is always more to do. There’s the laundry thing, the catch-up thing, the replying to a text thing, the grocery shopping thing, the cooking thing, the cleaning thing, the creative thing, the exercise thing, the work thing, the medical thing, the thing we ought to do, the thing we don’t want to do, the thing we’ve put off despite it being the one important thing. With this pile of undone things often comes an undercurrent of guilt, anxiety...

How long is the path to self-discovery?

How do you reimagine life after a close encounter with your own mortality?

What will shape this season of your life?

Time Well Spent is a series from CreativeMornings and Harvest, featuring interviews with creative leaders about what works for them, and how we can reshape our own relationships to time.

Our global theme for September is Spectrum. This month our featured illustrator is artist Iandry Randriamandroso.

Every month, CreativeMornings works with an artist in our community to create an illustration for our global monthly themes. Our monthly themes help spark new conversations and ideas at our events. Speakers around the world are invited to share a story around the theme and what it means to them. Our global theme for August is Stress. This month our featured illustrator is Art Director and Illustrator Shanee Benjamin. Shanee specializes in brand work, and social content for “millennials and Gen Z.” Given that these illustrations spark conversations all around the world, it’s only right that we get to know the illustrator. Meet Shanee Benjamin Shanee Benjamin is a multidisciplinary graphic designer with a concentration in branded entertainment design. (event signag...

Our global theme for July is Underdog. This month our featured illustrator is Edinburgh-based artist and illustrator Astrid Jaekel.

Our global theme for June is Insecure. This month our featured illustrator is Kentucky native Rachael Sinclair, an illustrator and designer.

Our global theme for May is Nature. This month our featured illustrator is David Habben, a Utah-based illustrator, artist, and educator.

We turned to illustrators, photographers, writer, and designers to gather a list of helpful habits and self-care rituals for career anxiety that help provide a scaffold for their days — even if it’s just temporary.

Dealing with hardship is a hallmark of being human. We turned to writers, photographers, designers, and illustrators of CreativeGuild to find out how they navigate career anxiety in uncertain times. We think these insights from our thoughtful community — on what they’ve learned about feeling stuck, the comparison trap, and trusting yourself in times of uncertainty — are especially pertinent now.

This month our featured illustrator is Jason Ratliff, an Art Director at Bradley and Montgomery and freelance illustrator based out of Indianapolis, Indiana.

Nadya Noor is Jakarta-based graphic designer and editorial illustrator. A self-described "visual hunter," Nadya specializes in illustrations, comics, as well as art merchandise.

Even with inevitable setbacks, how can we learn to harness our daily routines and rhythms to move forward amidst chaos?

What practices can we cultivate to recenter our focus and, in return, help us create a heart-centered body of work?