I've read so many of these types of books and was expecting something new but there wasn't really anything new to the book. May be great for someone new to this field.

This book is targeted for mixed media artists. The creative exercises in this book require significant monetary investment either way.

Bearing that in mind, I thought it was novel how the artist aligned the changing of the seasons with the themes of her creative exercises.

The author is an artist who inspires creative expression through this gorgeous book really geared to mixed media artists. It offers weekly exercises, timed to the seasons, that stir artistic juices but rely on costly materials to produce. Inspiring to look at but unrealistic for all but the most adept visual artists among us. 3/5 stars

Pub Date 16 Oct 2018   

Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. Opinions are mine. #AwakeningYourCreativeSoul #NetGalley

"Awakening Your Creative Soul: A 52-Week Journey to Artistic Discovery" by Sandra Duran Wilson is partially an inspiration, partially step by step mixed media book. Sometimes it is hard for me to distinguish where you should follow your own concepts when even the paint colors are names in the details section, and when you should go on your own, exploring own creativity and values.

Beautifully illustrated with the author's example arts, the book is deeply personal and encourages travel down your soul while working on the visual art projects. In fact, one of the projects evolves around a piece of the music, and how you do respond to it. The book is also a very spiritual one, although drawing equally from Native American as from India or other Eastern cultures. Its organization, weekly chapters grouped by the seasons, reflect concepts of Easter philosophy itself.

What I did not appreciate at first, but later realized is a part of the mix media art, is how many different suppliers are required to finish any of the projects. Papers, glues, paints, and this is just a beginning. And after you came back from the visit to the local art supplies store, you can also incorporate a number of items found around the house to create three-dimensional construction. At the same time, I recall at least one sculpture project.

I would recommend "Awakening Your Creative Soul to people wanting to explore visual arts on the more intimate, spiritual level.

I loved this year-long art journey book. It had such clever ideas in it. I love how it was made to last the year, and make the participant think and create in different ways as the year went on. I'd recommend it if you are looking for something to encourage your creativity.

This was a unique and enjoyable book meant to spark your creativity. There are 52 chapters meant to be completed weekly. Each chapter has inspirational, creative ideas for painting, writing, journaling and more.

Even if you just enjoy looking at the art Sandra has created you will enjoy this book and be inspired by it. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to be more creative. I think someone looking for a new hobby would enjoy trying several of her ideas and would find a new hobby to enjoy.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

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This book is split into 52 weeks of entries and projects meant to inspire creativity. Projects are mostly mixed media, many requiring supplies not everyone would have on hand. This can make them cost prohibitive. The style of this book didn't suit me well, but may be a good for someone else.

Thank you to Sandra Duran Wilson, F+W Media, North Light Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. All comments are my own, unbiased opinion.

My reaction to this title is that it is a great resource if you have an interest in a creative course in mixed media. But with that in mind this isn't necessarily a beginner's book nor is it appropriate if you have limited interest in mixed media projects. That said, I think this is the sort of book to pick up when you're creatively blocked or stagnating because the specificity of the projects takes away that tension of inspiration--it is a lot like taking an art class.

Very creative book. Lots of great ideas to either get your creative juices flowing or to inspire you when you have a creative-block.
Really loved all the pictures that went with the steps. Can't wait to try out several ideas I saw and read about.

This just didn't work for me. It was too prescriptive. I can see that it must be a gorgeous book to hold and look through, but it didn't work to inspire me to create.

I saw wanted to read this title. However, the protected file came in an unreadable format, The black with white and X-Ray looking photos made it unreadable.

This book is targeted for mixed media artists. The creative exercises in this book require significant monetary investment either way.

Bearing that in mind, I thought it was novel how the artist aligned the changing of the seasons with the themes of her creative exercises.

A beautiful book full of inspiring ideas and projects. I love the way the projects are tied into self development and explore spiritual subjects such as chakras. vision boards and affirmations. The projects are extremely creative and while they might not appeal to everyone they should definitely help light a spark of creativity in everyone. While I would only be interested in trying a few of them in my own way, I loved looking at all the projects and their instructions. A lovely book to dip into for inspiration. Thank you.

#AwakeningYourCreativeSoul #NetGalley

A therapeutic and powerful way to reinforce the creativity and feeling expression through the art. The tutorials show how to use different media and techniques for each week of the year.

I've thought I'd find helpful ideas for boosting creativity for professional artists, instead I've found "projects" that might be useful to persons who don't know how to kill time. Not my case, surely.