Expanding our Creative Horizons

"Highly recommend to all with a desire to expand their creative horizons -- The Creative Soul: Art and the Quest for Wholeness."

review by Mel Mathews

"Who we most deeply are is mirrored in our artistic work. Our need for mirroring simultaneously attracts us to and repels us from our creative callings and relationships. It is one of life’s great dilemmas.

"Artist’s block and lover’s block flow from the same pool. Often, we fear deeply the very thing needed to create original art, to experience intimate relationships and to live authentic lives: we are frightened by the impulse to be fully revealed to ourselves, and to others, as this most often entails exposing the unacceptable shadowy aspects of our humanity and risking rejection.

"Mirrors in all their manifold guises permit us to safely see and experience ourselves in reflection and become better acquainted with the rejected, ostracized aspects of our personalities. In The Creative Soul: Art and the Quest for Wholeness, Lawrence Staples explains how creative work is one of the few places where we can truly express, witness, and reclaim lost aspects of our authentic selves.

"Within us a treasure beckons. This is what we spend our lives pursuing. What slows and distracts us is not the object we long for, but where we search. To find this precious gem, we must eventually return to our own creative spirits. I highly recommend The Creative Soul to all with a desire to expand their creative horizons."

The Creative Soul: Art and the Quest for Wholeness is available from your local bookstore, from a host of online booksellers, and directly from Fisher King Press: The Creative Soul: Art and the Quest for Wholeness by Lawrence H. Staples / ISBN 13: 978-0-9810344-4-7 / Publication Date: Feb-2009 / Order your copy at www.fisherkingpress.com or call +1-831-238-7799.

In addition to being the artist who painted the cover image for The Creative Soul, Mel Mathews' book reviews have appeared in many syndicated publications and he is the author of several novels, including The Malcolm Clay Trilogy. His books are available from your local bookstore, a host of on-line booksellers, or you can order them directly from his website at: www.melmathews.com or www.malcolmclay.com