Letters to a Young Artist: Building a Life in Art

The advice in this book is stellar. If you are a real artist, you will recognize your own voice, doubts and desires.

This little book is wonderful. It's tone isn't especially coddling (though if you are familiar with the Author's work, that should be no surprise), though it is plenty gentle, and actually quite replete with encouragement. It is the perfect summarization of what Cameron has presented us with over the years, and an excellent reminder that our climb up one hill inevitably brings us to the foot of another, that the reward for living our truth is indeed in the journey itself. A fantastic treat.

Having had the pleasure of meeting and taking creativity classes with Ms. Cameron, I have been thrilled with how vividly and honestly this book conveys her loving, disciplined, no-nonsense demeanor. Her advice is focused and while it does go over ground she has covered previously, this book comes at the landscape from a new and refreshing angle. Again, Julia points the way for an artist to be both productive and sane, living a full and meaningful life. I am glad I bought my own copy since I found myself flagging page after page of her kind wisdom.

The last time I cried when I turned the final page of a book was Natalie Goldberg's "Writing Down the Bones." Julia Cameron's "Letters to a Young Artist" is quite different than Goldberg's work.... But the emotion was the same. "I was having so much fun `being with you', Julia - please don't stop now!" I am a long-term fan of Julia Cameron. The first time I read "The Artist's Way" it was because so many of my coaching clients were fans. The one thing about that book that bothered me was what I perceived as Cameron's whiny voice. I have really enjoyed watching her evolve through her follow-up books - and her tone shifting along the way. In "Letters" her ton shifts from the beginning of the letters to "X" as she goes along. I liken her tone to Simon Cowell of American Idol... because she tells the truth without any sugar coating... so it might make some readers angry. My recommendation is to look underneath those first appearances of temperament - and read the incredible truths which pour out of these pages - nearly every page of my copy is underlined and dog eared. Listen: "Making art takes guts. Choosing to be vulnerable and exposed rather that safely blocked is a risky venture. The ultimate reward, however, is truly great art." (p. 9) "Cultivate an attitude of expectancy, for it's expectancy that keeps us alert and optimisti. Attention and optimism are necessary to the long haul." (pg. 61). "Art is a spiritual calling, and like any vocation it is subject to the dark night of the soul." P. 94 "There is one trick to setting goals, I think. And that is to always leave enough breathing room for the divine to enter." (p. 138) Now you can see why I cried. This book is absolutely incredible and has been my almost constant companion, always open, since I read it the first time. It is literally packed with thoughts to prompt both my writing and my creative process. This is a book which would make Rainer Rilke proud - I get the feeling he would suggest we live the questions this book evokes - not judge the book on its tone, instead allow the truths within to take us on a journey through our days.

Cameron opens up her private letters to aspiring artists using her experience, wit, humor, and extensive wisdom gained from the many dues paid in her life. This is a nuts and bolts reply coming from a Hollywood insider whose been in the trenches and experienced the best and worst of the professional artist lifestyle. Cameron gives the harsh reality and breaks apart the myth of a lyrical existence. Art and commerce are a strange and deadly brew in L.A. - and Cameron gives her raw honest look at the life art can and can't offer.