I'm making my way through Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's great book Creativity again, and chapter 5, "The Flow of Creativity", challenges me to examine some deep places in my life of creative work. Csikszentmihalyi's seminal work on the study of happiness--Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience--proposes that states and experiences of deep joy are very different that …
Questions about Art and Critique
This post is simply a list of questions to consider when addressing the topic of art making and critique/criticism. Are there artistic values and standards that apply to all forms of art? Can those values and standards be articulated and meaningfully discussed? Are there values and standards within a particular discipline (painting, acting, etc.) that …
Wondering About Critique…
Here's a pretend letter from a pretend reader of a blog dedicated to thinking through various issues related to art-making and Christian faith. "Dear Blogging Person, How does a working artist deal with criticism? I don't mean mean-spirited people dishing out vindictive diatribes, but the simple, ongoing critique of one's work that comes from all …
An Audience’s Misty Eyes
The eyes of an audience mean more to me than their words. At last night's talkback after Man of La Mancha, there were audience members who were meaningfully lost in the experience of the play, eyes a bit misty. The "magic" of the play was working on them; you could see it. Simple delight was …
Each Man’s Life Is But A Breath
So says David the King in Psalm 39. This psalm gives us an image of a man wrestling with God, his relationship with Him burning in his chest. He resolves not to speak, but then must. He asks to know how long he will live, knowing that a "man's life is but a breath." From …
JEFF BERRYMAN 