Austin Kleon

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My interview with writer and artist Edward Carey

“It was dark, and I needed a little light. So every day I did a little drawing.”

Here is video of my interview with the excellent Edward Carey for Creative Mornings Austin. We talked about art, family, Pinocchio, and the challenges of making things during the past year:

When they asked me if there was a local Austin artist I’d like to interview for CM Austin’s 8th anniversary, I had a long list of folks in my mind, but when they said the topic was procrastination, I immediately thought of Ed, and, specifically, this clipping, which I cut out of a NYTimes years ago:

I’m shocked that his latest project still doesn’t have a US publisher. Editors, get on it!

I’ve written more about EC’s work here.

Drawing with Dan

Here’s a video my friend Dan Roam and I recorded for his Napkin Academy about how to stay creative in good times and bad. Dan is so good at what he does — I remember seeing him give a presentation at SXSW five years ago and 20 minutes later everybody in the room wanted to buy a copy of Show & Tell. We always have fun, and I’m already looking forward to the next time.

SXSW interview with Debbie Millman

I was delighted that Debbie Millman agreed to interview me live at SXSW for her podcast, Design Matters. I’ve cut and pasted a few highlights, below.

On acknowledging the role of luck:

Anyone who has any kind of audience and doesn’t acknowledge luck is deluding themselves. Of course we make moves that put us in the right place at the right time, but to not acknowledge luck just seems to me a great disservice to everyone.

On my books as bathroom reads:

“When someone tells me that they keep my books on the back of the commode, that is a great compliment to me, actually—because that’s where people read.”

On having parents like Milton Glaser’s:

“I had a mother who told me I could do anything, and a father who said, ‘Prove it.’” That’s the best school there was.”

On finishing a project:

“The great pain of creative work is that once the thing is done, it’s dead to you. I mean, execution is literally like an execution.”

Because I believe in credit where credit is due, there’s one little thing I want to clear up. There’s a really fun surprise at a certain point in the conversation, a moment so good that I hate to ruin it. Though I’ve been a fan of Debbie’s work for a long time, it was actually Mary Doria Russell’s 1999 commencement speech at Laurel School that inspired my wife.

You can watch our conversation on YouTube, or listen on iTunes or Soundcloud below

Going to church with Chase Jarvis

Chase Jarvis is one of my very favorite people to talk to, so I was thrilled that he agreed to interview me on the Seattle stop of the Keep Going tour. Here’s the video of our conversation:

The setting was a little different than what we’re both used to: We spoke in the University Temple United Methodist Church, across the street from the University Book Store.

Here’s a photo of the EXIT signs I mention during the talk:

I grew up in a Methodist church, so it brought back all sorts of feelings for me. Singing in the choir. Half-listening to sermons while reading the Bible. Lighting candles on the altar. Meeting my best friend while plonking on an old piano in Sunday school.

I think the setting gave this conversation a different tone than our others. Maybe more pensive. I don’t know.

Here’s our first conversation, from 2013:

Here’s us in 2014, riding around in the back of a car at SXSW:

And here’s our third conversation, from 2016:

Chase always makes it fun. My many thanks to him, his team, the University Book Store, and the great audience who turned out.

Creative is not a noun

Creative is not a noun

Here’s video of a 40-minute keynote I gave during the Scratch Conference at MIT’s Media Lab last month. It was one of the most enjoyable talks I’ve given — it’s a kind of mashup of my books, and it was received by a great room full of enthusiastic people. (Followed by a Q&A with the wonderful Karen Brennan.) If you’re interested in having me speak at your event, check out my speaking page.

Make it

This interview with the Adobe Make It folks was posted today, but it was filmed nine months ago, last August, which makes it odd for me to watch now, because I had no clue I was already working on the book I’m working on now. When Paul asks me what’s next, I say something about my kids and thinking about what creative people can learn from the way kids play. So funny. A lot can happen in 9 months. Whole humans can be conceived and born. Books, too…

How to keep going

How to keep going

A few weeks ago I gave a new talk at Bond in San Francisco. It’s a list of 10 things that have helped me stay creative in such chaotic times:

  1. Every day is Groundhog Day
  2. Build a bliss station
  3. Forget the noun, do the verb
  4. Make gifts
  5. The ordinary + extra attention = the extraordinary
  6. Art is for life (not the other way around)
  7. You are allowed to change your mind
  8. When in doubt, tidy up
  9. The demons hate fresh air
  10. Spend time on something that will outlast them

I really loved giving this talk. (And, as I’ve hinted, it is a preview of my next book.) If you’ve been struggling too, hopefully you’ll find something helpful in it. Please share it with anybody you think could use it. The full video is below.

(Special thanks to Andy McMillan for inviting me and Paul Searle for the great video.)

UPDATE: I’ve adapted “How To Keep Going” into a book!

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