5 comments about Creative Imagery.

1. I have had anxiety since my childhood, and I tried meditation several times to calm my fears down, however it was not for me. I purchased this book at a yard sale, read it that same night, and could immediately feel a difference with the first "scene" that I learned to invoke in my mind. I keep it at the foot of my bed to use whenever I have a hard time sleeping, too. I highly recommend it. I just wish there was a taped version of it, as it is sometimes awkward to read and imagine at the same time (or, you have to learn the scenes by heart, but they are only one paragraph long).



2. This book is very good, especially if you are interested in visualization, relaxation, meditation and the like. The author gives practical advice to improve your visualization, however, it is important to devote time to it, if you just read the book and forget about it you won't see many results; this is a guide to practice a skill that can help improve every aspect of your life. I whish there was a tape version with the exercises on tape, that will help a lot.



3. Fezler has worked with Kroger so his bona fides are impeccable. This book is very unusual. It essentially tells you how to focus on imagery in self-hypnosis rather than merely emphasise verbal self-suggestion. But although it is on one hand an excellent book on self-hypnosis per se (written in a very user-friendly tone), it's also something else. It's really a manual on how to build up the skill of mental imagery brick by brick. It's quite extraordinary. This book has nothing to do with New Age nonsense (though Fezler raises some open-minded questions), but it really does feel a little bit like a manual for cabalistic magicians, in as much as it tells you exactly what to do to develop vivid pictures. Indispensable. The other book you should get is Simpkins and Simpkins, 'Effective Self-Hypnosis'. The best book out there with this one a very useful and exhilirating complement.



4. I certainly agree with a previous reviewer that Dr Fezler's credential's are impeccable, and I would add that his intentions seem to be admirable: He comes across as a warm and caring man. And his explanation of the basics of self hypnosis in chapter two is the best I've ever seen. However, I have reservations over his application, and some considerable concern over his interpretation of hypnotic experiences.
   
   No doubt some people will like the set protocol Fezler presents; it certainly brings to the fore the need for self-hypnosis to be a multi-sensory experience. But in my view, there is little room for the reader to become self-directive as is permitted in books like Dr Christian Godefroy's *Super Health* or Drs Alman and Lambrou's *Self Hypnosis* - both of which are less subjective and more pragmatic.
   
   My greatest concern is that Fezler arbitrarily interprets an experience of free-flow thinking on his part as a communication from the dead, but without the checks and balances that are vital. I do not contest the existence of psi phenomena, having had such experiences myself. But I do believe we must take care to differentiate between psychic experience and fantasy. At times, Fezler seems to unwittingly step over the line, and to encourage his clients to do the same.
   
   I can imagine he would be very different in a face-to-face consultation, but I still can only give his book 2 stars in comparison to others of its kind.



5. Fezler's relaxation script is the best method of relaxation I've come across. It is fast--about seven minutes--and the relaxation is unusually deep. Tape record it from the book and prepare to zonk out. My own experience with the images is incomplete, but I immediately noticed increased sensory awareness and vividness. It's almost freaky. The book is padded with lots of new-age speculation and positive case examples. That doesn't do much for me, so I just skim over them. But the exercises are are bargain at twice the price. As others have mentioned, you have to DO the exercises to get the effect.

2 comments about Explore Yourself Through Art: Creative Projects to Help You Achieve Personal Insight & Growth & Promote Problem Solving.

1. I bought this book while searching for directives to do with my art therapy groups. The cover was so enticing I had to take a look, but I never expected to find the treasure trove inside. This is the book I have dreamed of writing myself. It is laid out beautifully, it is colorful, has great photos, good explanations, and is overall very inviting. Just thumbing through it makes me want to pull out some paints and play.
   
   One of my favorite features is the questions to think about after each directive.
   
   I think this is a great book for an individual to explore self expression through art, and also for the art therapy intern, hungry for ideas.



2. This book offers up solid advice for the person who would like to be more expressive but isn't sure where to start. There are easy projects that can readily be adapted to one's own ideas. Colorful photos accompany the clear, concise directions. Questions are prompts for exploring issues and feelings released as we explore ourselves using left-brain creativity. I simultaneously was reading Estes' Women Who Run with the Wolves, a Jungian interpretation of folk tales that provide clues about how to access our inner wild woman. Exploring Yourself through Art was the perfect practical manual to supplement that intellectual journey.

2 comments about The Art of Creative Thinking: How to Be Innovative and Develop Great Ideas.

1. I read an online version of this book in one seating. I thought it was very good, and covers all aspects of creative thinking. I also appreciate the author's concern in putting the key points in the end of each chapter, so you can quickly review them in the future.



2. I would strongly recommend this book. The author offers interesting guidelines for creative thinking that were used by some of the great minds of our time. A very helpful guide to pattern your thought processes.

No comments about I Can Do It Cards, Creativity (I Can Do It Cards).

2 comments about Ladies Who Launch: An Innovative Program That Will Help You Get Your Dreams Off the Ground.

1. The books was higly inspirational, when I looked into the groups, I felt like I was checking into tupperware or a pyramid project and that didn't feel as good. The ideas are wonderful and are not cheap. I wish them much luck and continued success with the project and helping to change women's lives. I don't however, have hundreds of dollars to join the groups to network... It was definitely a smart business for the authors and I am sure that they have created a highly lucrid business.



2. 
   [Book review I wrote for the hardcover edition of this book. See ISBN: 0312359543]
   
   The authors have co-founded an online networking and offline support system they call Women Who Launch. This book appears to be written to promote membership in their network and support system. I thought it was a well-written book and more motivational than substantive. It includes exercises, questionnaires and additional resource lists along with success stories of women who have bought into the program. I wasn't impressed with the companies these women started. I think the book is wonderful for women who want to "launch" a social life or diet program, but the advice provided here with regard to launching a small business is off the mark.
   
   The book tells wanta-be entrepreneurs that there is a feminine approach to launching a business that involves merely reflecting on a woman's true passions, skills and desires. What that translates into is to forget learning about finance, market research, and writing a sound business plan. Instead, it suggests to just throw "something" together on a shoe string and if it works then worry later about dotting all your eyes and crossing all your tees. What the authors fail to tell the reader is that more likely than not the "something" is bound to fail because of lack of planning and preparation.
   
   The book has 12 chapters as follows:
   
   1. Introduction to launching
   2. Launching as a lifestyle choice
   3. Women, the natural connectors
   4. It is not all about the money
   5. Just start: Jumping in using your creativity and intuition
   6. Preparation: Fill up first
   7. 3, 2, 1, Launch
   8. Step 1: Imagine It
   9. Step 2: Speak It
   10. Step 3: Do It
   11. Step 4: Celebrate It
   12. Let's launch it together
   
   I found it interesting that one of the tables included in the book indicated that women generally like to work for someone else (they are conservative), they are preoccupied with having healthcare coverage (for themselves), and they don't want to work all that hard at their jobs (some might say they are lazy). These are not the traits of someone who should be starting their own business. And for the authors to suggest that they should is an absurdity.
   
   Ironically much of what this book says is what a wanta-be entrepreneur needs to hear and do. I think I can recommend it to wanta-be entrepreneurs who are willing to learn about finance, do the necessary market research, and write the 25-35 page sound business plan as well as steps 1-4 included at chapters 8-11. Otherwise - skip it. 4 stars!

5 comments about When Sparks Fly: Harnessing the Power of Group Creativity.

1. There are many books now available on the general subject of "creativity" but relatively few on the subject of "group creativity." Leonard and Swap have selected an appropriate title for theirs. As they explain, if you create the appropriate physical and psychological environments for a group, creative "sparks" can "fly"...perhaps igniting a department, a division or even an entire organization. For whatever reasons, others do not share my high regard for this book. So be it. What I expected -- and what it delivers -- is a solid conceptual framework within which to generate and then sustain collegial creativity. If you've read Robert Fritz's The Path of Least Resistance for Managers, you are already aware of his assertion that an organizational structure can be designed for success. Leonard and Swap agree with Fritz, not only that such a design is possible but also that it is imperative. Their book consists of six chapters:

   What Is Group Creativity?

   Creative Abrasion

   Generating Creative Options

   Converging on the Best Options

   Designing the Physical Environment

   Designing the Psychological Environment

   These chapters are followed by several pages of Notes and a superb Bibliography. Their concluding thoughts reiterate that "creativity is a process -- and can be encouraged and influenced....Thinking of creativity as a process removes, we hope, some of the mystery -- and the temptation to step back from the challenge....Creativity, like learning, is not only a process but an attitude. An attitude that promotes creativity is a kind of alertness to innovation opportunities -- a constant mental challenge to routine and openness to change.... Some individuals thrive on the challenge of constant change and improvement; others recoil from the implicit chaos....But it takes only a small spark to ignite a large fire. Let the sparks!"

   I provide this brief excerpt for two reasons. First, it gives you at least some idea of how the authors think. Also and more importantly, their remarks imply some of the barriers to "group creativity" which must be overcome, if not eliminated: fears of being "wrong", of embarrassment, of rejection, of seeming "dumb", etc. As Leonard and Swap correctly suggest, it is as important to be alert to human sensitivities and vulnerabilities it is to "innovation opportunities." Without mutual respect, there can be no mutual trust. Without mutual trust, there can be no creative collaboration.

   If you share my high regard for this book, you may wish to check out the works of other authors such as Guy Claxton, Edward de Bono, Doug Hall, Michael Michalko, Joey Reiman, and Roger von Oech.




2. This is a successor to Dorothy Leonard(-Barton)'s excellent Wellsprings of Knowledge, and expands the treatment of knowledge generation or creativity that forms one of the important chapters of that book.

   The central message is that group creativity is a social process and that the process needs a sympathetic climate in terms of norms, beliefs, attitudes and physical environment and needs to be managed through a series of stages. Neglect of any stage seriously inhibits the process. The authors do not deny individual creativity but insist that all of us can contribute to group creativity if the conditions are right - and that individual creativity can be destroyed or at least suppressed if the conditions are wrong.

   These are very similar to the conditions required for organisational learning (see Nancy Dixon: The Organizational Learning Cycle), which is not surprising as knowledge generation and learning are different perspectives on essentially the same phenomenon. The two books in fact make good companions to each other.

   Chapter 1 draws out some principles, defines creativity and innovation for the purpose of the book and outlines the creative process.

   While saying that creativity is resistant to linear progress, the authors identify five steps as capturing the essential features of the creative process. They are: preparation, innovation opportunity, divergence (generating options), incubation, convergence (selecting options).

   The steps of divergence, incubation and convergence are the central (usually iterative) engine of creativity. Effective management of these steps is vital, and it is the balance or rhythm of the steps that has to be got right.

   The rest of the book is basically about the conditions necessary to ensure that each of these steps and their combination are fully productive. How should the group be structured? What norms, beliefs and behaviours are necessary for them to interact creatively? What leadership behaviours are needed? How should the process be managed and when, if at all, should there be external facilitation? What psychological and physical conditions are conducive to creative success?

   The authors conclude: "Creativity, like learning, is not only a process but also an attitude. Managing creativity is all about the values we enact."




3. Innovation in the workplace is difficult to achieve for all organizations. Most businesses do not have a resident genius, but rely on the creativity of many people over multiple disciplines. Managing these different perspectives and expectations can be a nightmare. Risks of alienation, creating winners and losers and outright failure inhibit even the most self-assured manager. Within the first 15 pages of the book the authors, Dorothy Leonard and Walter Swap, introduce Ken Iverson, the chairman of Nucor Steel who reported that, "when his company took on a new, extremely high-risk creative project, he slept like a baby -- he woke up every two hours crying!"

   According to the authors, group creativity requires thoughtful preparation, cultivation of different options, time to reflect and careful culling of the "right" ideas. Each step in the process will either energize the team to work harder or become part of a demoralizing and fractious process. As Leonard and Swap write, "Two (or more) heads are better than one, however, only if (1) there is useful knowledge inside the heads; (2) all that useful knowledge can be accessed; and (3) all that accesssed, useful knowledge can be shared, processed, and synthesized by the group."

   While reading the first section, I "borrowed" a legal pad from my spouse to pilfer the numerous creative ideas suggested. By the time I was done, I had filled the entire pad and was writing on the cardboard back, with designs for programs to reward creativity and groundrules for initiating appropriate creative sessions. Just about everything is covered -- from why preppy Tommy Hilfiger can design for urban youth to how Weyerhaeuser created new, cost effective particleboard. While the reader may not want to use every single idea, there are many new ideas to choose from, representing the best-of-breed these authors have found from around the world's corporations in their considerable body of research.

   When Sparks Fly: Igniting Creativity in Groups marks the publishing debut for a team of seasoned professors: Dorothy Leonard, of Harvard Business School, and Walter Swap, dean of the colleges at Tufts University. It is a rare business book: accessible, fresh and realistic. Perhaps it is no accident that the book was written shortly after the marriage of these two well-respected academics. Sparks do fly.




4. THis book shows how the true creativity (the one for everyday work) arises and how managers should do in their corps to leverage this invaluable asset.



5. In Leonard and Swap's book, "When Sparks Fly: Igniting creativity in groups," the authors acknowledge that with the right physical and psychological group environment, creativity can easily emerge from all members of a group. This creativity can be brought forth in groups ranging from five to five-thousand. The authors present their views and information in a congenial way, which gives the book a lighter sense. Their overall intention was not to create a guide which would be viewed as mentally cumbersome to absorb, but rather to write a book which bestows fresh ideas upon the reader in a non-technical way.
   The book begins by challenging the typical myths associated with creativity, and subsequently proving them to be incorrect. The authors assert that by using certain motivational and managerial techniques, greater overall creativity can be achieved, even by those who would not typically be referred to as the "creative" type.
   The chapters cover all of the basics of group formation and management, beginning with basic creative group problems, addressing techniques with which to harness creativity and keep it focused in the right direction, and leaving the reader with the knowledge and motivation to foster the proper environment for the foundation and formation of a creative group. This is achieved through a five-step process defined by the authors as: 1) preparation, 2) innovation opportunity, 3) generation of options, 4) incubation, 5) the convergence on one option. These steps are intuitively arranged and thoroughly explained throughout the course of the book.
   Overall, this book seeks to leave you with the idea that creativity, while an inherit ability to some, can also be thought of as a process. Once creativity is learned to be viewed as a process, many new avenues with which to inspire creativity can be realized and achieved through careful manipulation of the work environment. These authors truly provide a great prospective on a somewhat perplexing topic to most managers.

5 comments about Write for Life: Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit Through Journal Writing.

1. 
   Sheppard B. Kominars began teaching writing in 1956 at Washington College, has been a journal writer for more than fifty years, and has written two previous books on the subject of recovery. In "Write For Life: Healing Body, Mind, And Spirit Through Journal Writing", Kominars draws upon his more than half a century of experience and expertise in the subject to provide a wealth of insights and techniques into the utilization of writing to promote personal transformation, meet life's challenges, and acquire a deeper and more enduring satisfaction in our lives. "Write For Life" offers cogent advice and instruction on using a personal daily journal to confront emotional issues; break through frustrating mental blocks; deal with personal, professional, and medical crisis; renew and define life's meaning and purpose; free up intellectual creativity; and use or dreams and aspiration to build a better life. Although the principle focus of "Write For Life" is on using the material in this superbly written and highly recommended book as a self-help, self-improvement vehicle, there is also an invaluable relevance for aspiring writers who could utilize the keeping of a daily journal to enhance their own literary creativity regardless of the genre in which they are working.



2. I read this book cover-to-cover without doing any of the exercises or practices. I wasn't moved to. There wasn't anything inspiring in what or how the author wrote or what he suggested, and I've been keeping a journal for the last 39 years.
   
   More than half this book is loaded down with self-help self-improvement workbook projects! Whew! Talk about a journal that's a companion with you through life's journey! Do you want your companion to be constantly hammering: "C'mon, honey! Make a list. C'mon, honey, focus on this expectation today. C'mon, honey, write down a joyful memory. C'mon, honey, paint a pretty picture. C'mon, honey, meditate." If you're married to a harridan already, maybe you're used to it and take this sort of nagging and commanding for granted. "C'mon, honey, take the garbage out, but don't judge yourself. Stay open! That's a dear!"
   
   The other half -- qualitatively, not quantitatively, is insufferably loaded with woo-woo spirituality intermingled with traditional religious Christian ideas. Embrace Ayurveda foods! Don't you just love AA meetings? Remember your Higher Power. Hug a tree for the Native American Indian spirit! Zen meditate and then pray like a Christian! Don't forget your Yoga! With all of the "best" religious or spiritual practices in the world mentioned here, why on earth would one need to keep a journal at all? The author doesn't offer a clue. Isn't God or Nirvana or Enlightenment enough? Why isn't God enough?
   
   This book is supposed to be about your life, exploring your whole life, yet, interestingly, there's not one mention of sex, not one (and no mention of a body part)! There's your New Age PC spirituality for you!
   
   The book contains lots of black-and-white illustrations, mostly of old women. Do you catch who the author's trying to reach? And he has a whole chapter devoted to one's Legacy to others. Hmm.....rich, old ladies who want to leave a legacy . . . . Hmmm....
   
   The author is from San Francisco and, sadly, the stereotype shows.
   
   Insofar as originality of expression is concerned, or the enjoyment of a provocative or entertaining writing style, here's some typical samples from the book:
   
   "I feel like a child standing at the window of a candy store looking in."
   
   "Walk in a garden at sunrise or watch the sunset from the beach, paint a pretty picture or write a poem, play with a puppy or embrace a dear friend."
   
   Pretty stirring stuff, eh? Kind of grabs you, no? Bland isn't my favorite flavor either.
   
   This book was so totally, gut-wrenchingingly void of authenticity that, by book's end, it immediately stopped my flow for keeping a daily journal. It gave me a kind of self-talk constipation from the excessive, one-size-fits-all spiritual mullarky that gushed up between its covers. The cure for my constipation? The need to forget all and every "idea" that was in this book. At least the paper can be recycled.



3. If you had to pick a perfect doctor, Sheppard Kominars would come close to filling the bill: warm, compassionate, caring and knowledgeable. Happily, Write for Life gives you unlimited access to just that kind of doctor. Dr. Kominars, a/k/a "the journal doctor," has been through some of the roughest waters on the river of life, and he has not only survived but come up smiling. I know, as I've met the man. He's an inspiration and he's happy to share all his healing insights.
   
   Start reading his book and it's as if you're sitting in front of a fireplace with him, having a chat. There's no presumption or esoteric theories, just good, grounded wisdom, given straight from the heart. I especially liked the practicality of Dr. Kominars' advice. From finding a good journal and pen to overcoming writer's block and figuring out what to write about, he knows just where you're apt to get stuck and provides exactly the suggestions and encouragement needed to get going and keep going.
   
   Finally, as a kitchen coach and healthy eating guide, I was delighted to see an entire chapter on journaling about food and nutrition. I had never considered how journaling can help us take ever greater delight and comfort from this area of our lives. As the last 15 chapters reveal, however, journaling can heal and improve a whole lot of areas within our lives.



4. This book is easy to read, understand and follow. I have read many books on writing and journaling and this one got me started and is keeping me going.



5. I'm finding this book is helping me to "open up" my emotions. As the book describes so eloquently by its author, Sheppard K., it is much different from telling your thoughts and feelings to another person such as a friend or a therapist. He takes you through the steps to journal writing and helps one break down the "barriers" that so often prevented me from putting my thoughts on paper. Anyone could follow his gentle instructions and start on a new journey in life. You'll be surprised!
   
   Ginny P.

5 comments about Marry Your Muse: Making a Lasting Commitment to Your Creativity A Complete Course in Creative Expression.

1. Jan Phillips took me on a journey I had never been. I had sensed this part of my inner being, but stayed out, afraid of the power I may find. Then my eyes got wider and wider as I turned each page and suddenly, without being conscious of my change, I trusted her honest voice and slowly let go of fears that had restrained me from being and creating more. I became deeper and truer, because Jan was deep and true. And my writing and art expanded.

   Marry Your Muse is well-organized, rich and meaty, and void of fluff. Every chapter contains its distinct wisdom, realness, and a high calling to "Marry Your Muse."

   I strongly recommend this book to anyone who wants to go further in themselves and their art.




2. This book inspires the reader to move beyond limitations. Jan Phillips makes us see that every person has creativity... has the ability to create something of value... straight from our Creator... God. Wonderful!



3. This book was a joy to read, a total sensory experience!!! From the cover, which is breathtaking, to the very last word...I enjoyed every moment of it and look forward to reading it again. Great job, Jan Phillips!



4. A very concise book written with humor and sensitivity. Includes professional references and author Dr. Jean Shinoda Bolen is a rather prolific writer herself. Well worth purchasing ~ this is one of those books I will keep in my personal library and definitely share with close friends.



5. Jan Phillips says what you and I need to hear. Touching our inner creative selves allows us to learn to become authentic, which can heal ourselves and others. I cannot say enough about the power of these words. Similar to the Artist Way book series, this one seems to take us one step further. Good quotes in the margins and some suggested helpful activities to practice. I bought the book for a university course I'm taking, but am so very thankful that I ran across it at all.
   
   Debbie, Illinois

4 comments about The Writer's Portable Therapist: 25 Sessions to a Creativity Cure.

1. This little book packs a big wallop -- exploring those internal nooks and crannies and helping the writer to make sense of the emotional challenges many writers face when it comes to penning a screenplay, article, novel or short story. There's a reason Rachel Ballon is called "Doc Hollywood" and once you read this helpful and insightful book, you'll know why!



2. Rachel Ballon sure understands the challenges so many writers face. Her latest book is packed with gentle yet practical suggestions that will guide all writers out of their creative stumbling blocks towards completion of their project.



3. This book is wonderful. Rachel Ballon adddressed every issue I've ever had as a writer and then offered such imaginative solutions. Ballon seems to really understand writers and their process. Other books simply offer pat structures to writing. If you are blocked, it doesn't matter what structure you have in front of you. I'll read this book again and again.
   MGE



4. This book is a gem. And it really is what it claims: a portable therapist for writers.
   For every challenge a writer faces, Ballon has answers. For every day that a writer
   wants to give up, Ballon has a suggestion. But most importantly, for every problem
   a writer faces, Ballon has a solution.
   
   In too many situations we talk about problems and how they affect us or make our lives
   difficult. But rarely do we focus on solutions. Why? Because solutions are too
   straightforward. They deprive us of the ability to wallow in self pity. Somehow, we, as humans,
   want to go 'round in circles about problems. But a solution would cut the
   problem to a quick.
   
   Indeed this is the answer: to SOLVE the problems quickly - to keep us moving on and
   to keep us producing - sometimes against insurmountable odds.
   
   Ballon takes this brave step and offers many solutions - the most important tools we need to
   grow and evolve as writers. She understands the difficulties and the sometimes bizarre and
   complex problems writers face. For this reason, this book should be a requirement for every
   writing program in the country.

5 comments about The Yoga of Drawing: Uniting Body, Mind and Spirit in the Art of Drawing (Path of Painting/Jeanne Carbonetti).

1. This is a terrific book for those people who don't have fabulous drawing skills. It helps you understand how you can create wonderful drawings that are expressive even if you don't draw. It's a wonderful companion to Jeanne Carbonetti's other two books.



2. This is a terrific book for those people who don't have fabulous drawing skills. It helps you understand how you can create wonderful drawings that are expressive even if you don't draw. It's a wonderful companion to Jeanne Carbonetti's other two books.



3. But the simple drawing technique is also useful. Great if you want to paint or draw expressively. The pictures are inspiring.



4. Okay, so now there's the "YOGA OF DRAWING" "New & Improved!" Just like laundry detergent. There must surely be a catchy drawing book title combined with the perennial "ZEN" in the title going to press each month, and it's ridiculous. This book uses YOGA in the title to sell.
   
   [by the way, Carbonetti DOES have an art book with "ZEN" in the title! ]
   
   ****** PLEASE KEEP IN MIND...that what I am going to say here, NOT that either art instruction or Yoga instruction is wrong; but that it is counterproductive to combine beginning drawing with notions of YOGA, etc. If you remember this, my review will be studied with greater clarity. *******
   
   The author cannot distinguish between teaching art or teaching metaphysics.
   
   As a result of this MOVING-IN-TWO-DIRECTIONS-AT-ONCE gimmick, students face the dilemma of studying art and metaphysics. Reason might suggest that Art cannot be, de facto, equated with metaphysics. Wisdom might suggest not attempting both simultaneously. Book sales might benefit from the combination; but that's a benefit to the author, not the book buyer.
   
   Any human being is lucky to obtain mastery in a single field of endeavour, let alone presume to have mastered DRAWING and YOGA both; but one of these corny: A-WINK-IS-AS-GOOD-AS-A-NOD drawing titles comes out every month or so, and rarely does one of them offer justification or improvement on basic drawing texts already in print. The author who finds the subject of DRAWING, alone and of itself, inadequate to publish, must join DRAWING with something exotic, foreign and fantastical to con the general public.
   
   The author, by combining religion with "drawing" in the title, suggests that DRAWING, of, and by itself, without reference to personal religion, metaphysics, or New Age hucksterism, is INSUFFICIENT. This is an insult to DRAWING, and art generally, because DRAWING is sufficient unto itself; And any author who must parade their religious beliefs before the general public is merely relying upon a common gimmick to sell books. Selling books, and teaching drawing, are two distinctly different things, and where there is one, you will probably not find the other.
   
   I am very sympathetic to religion, inclusive of YOGA, and personal healing as well. However, the essence of YOGA [and why am I even discussing YOGA in an ART BOOK !!!???!! ] is that it is:
   
   A SYSTEM OF INITIATION.
   
   In Western Society however, it arrives watered-down, as a mere system of physical exercises, (Aerobics, if you will...) without the TEACHER, without spiritual initiation. (You can read precisely what I'm affirming here in Wikipedia. Look up YOGA)
   YOGA means "union" and it is about balancing the spiritual and physical.
   
   Also, the idea of YOGA is used in its most general sense by the author, without clarification as to whether it is: RAJA YOGA, KARMA YOGA, BHAKTI YOGA, KUNDALINI YOGA, etc. each of which is suited to specific personality types and are intended to accomplish specific results. Without a teacher suggesting to you what specific YOGA type you need for further development, the student could end up wasting his entire lifetime, or worse, producing harmful results for himself. This is MARKETING American-style at its worst.
   
   Moreover, even in the context of spirituality, the suggestion of YOGA is not an embrace of an entire spiritual system. It is an embrace in part, a most superficial affair. An "act" that wears thin with time.
   
   There are two common fallacies in the mind, that are exploitable here. Both are so subtle as to be generally invisible.
   
   (1) The KNOW-IT-ALL Fallacy:
   
   Here, the authorship implies that if we KNOW-EVERTHING, we can produce powerful art. Certainly, if one "knows about" art, and "knows about" Yoga also, isn't that just about ...everything? Sure it is. Consider how many How-to-Draw books carry on about ZEN, QUANTUM PHYSICS and other powerful and incomprehensible abstractions. The implication is that if we KNOW EVERYTHING we will find the power to produce powerful art.
   
   (2) The BE-IT-ALL, or WHOLENESS or WELLNESS Fallacy:
   
   Here, the authorship implies that, if we are WELL, or are ...HEALED by spiritual practices, then we will be WHOLE. Only if we are WHOLE, can we acquire 'spiritual power' and thus produce powerful art. It just is not so.
   
   
   These fallacies dwell in the hearts and in the minds of many people, and that vulnerability is exploitable by authors. Hence, they offer languange about HEALING or METAPHYSICS to their readership. Their readership, believing that powerful art is produced by people who are either KNOW-IT-ALLS or BE-IT-ALLS, in some holistic sense, buy these books by the truckloads. What's wrong with this?
   
   Even a little reflection upon the most powerful art known to us, will demonstrate exactly the opposite. Powerful art is not only NOT the product of men and women who lived "balance" in their lives, nor harmony either. They neither KNEW EVERYTHING, nor were WHOLE or WELL. The Rennaissance Masters were not "saints". Van Gogh is a wonderful example of emotional imbalance, and might even have been poisoned by some poisonous batch distillation of the popular new drink, ABSINTHE, and Picasso was such a sensualist that any reference to "spirituality" is laughable. Likewise with Modigliani. Jean-Michel Basquiat died of a heroin overdose. Does the phrase, "Bohemian Lifestyle" ring a bell?
   
   The art instruction Carbonetti offers here is too brief, and too pedestrian to distinguish it from other art instruction that at the very least, is not split into two distinctly different purposes in a single book. This is a case of an author looking for some catchy "angle" that will sell a book.



5. If you ask the average person to make an effort to produce a really, really bad drawing, he/she will definitely come up with something better than the drawings in this book, for, one thing is sure: the quality of the drawings in this book are very hard to match.
   
   I fully agree with the first reviewer of this book. To begin with, the drawings are so poor that I am still not sure whether the author was making an experiment to test the readers' gullibilty before the printed page, or whether she actually believed that such drawings are of quality? I honestly cannot fathom how someone would dare present such awfully ugly drawings as a model to be used for "guidance"!
   
   Further annoying is the author's constant use of names of painting masters (Matisse/Picasso, and more) for her own amazingly dreadful drawings, calling some of them "a study on Matisse's...." etc. etc.! In addition, her own incessant admiration of her own work with constant expressions like the "loveliness/beauty" of this drawing or that, or about "the power of beauty to heal" written under a dreadful drawing with just one pale ugly color that looks more like someone was sick over it.
   
   While the author repeats how "all things are related, everything is one", her book demonstrates the exact opposite: her very titles and headings, borrowing words from yoga and zen, are completely unrelated to the content and actually distract from it, and, her drawings do not display ANY of the principles of balance and beauty she talks about and, due to their unbelievable ugliness, do a disservice to the few interesting points which she makes once in a while, and which you will find if you sift carefully through a lot of dross and completely ignore her titles/headings and classifications.
   
   In order to get a crumb of benefit out of this book, you have to be extremely selective and very patient, because what is worthwhile in the end might be no more than a handful of pages. Besides, you have to have a strong stomach to take all those drawings.
   
   If you really, really must have it, buy it used, as you will really, really regret having paid its full price!