The Artist’s Mind Virtual Blog Tour!
A month of exploring art and mental health across an amazing array of Substack pages!
Welcome to Create Me Free where I share all of my deep research into and musings about the complex relationship between art and mental health. While I touch on art as therapy and the benefits of creativity, I really dig into the ways that our mental health symptoms can impact our creative process, content, productivity, medium, self-perception, and reception by others.
I am thrilled to share that my newest book, The Artist’s Mind: The Creative Lives and Mental Health of Famous Artists is going on a virtual tour throughout August. That means that it’s going to make a stop at a different site each day to share author interviews, book reviews, behind-the-scenes stuff, excerpts from the book, guest posts by the author and more. I am so lucky and humbled to be able to share this work with such amazing stops on this tour.
And for this month-long leg of the tour, most if not all, of the stops will be right here on Substack - building the community and supporting the work of all of these other amazing people. It all starts on Tuesday, August 1, but before you begin, I want to tell you more about the stops on this tour.
TOUR DETAILS BELOW. Note, there are some blank dates but come right back here to this post because those will be filled in soon. The aim is to have a post every single day … when there isn’t another site available to post on, I’ll be posting something special here on my page.
PLEASE HELP ME MEET MY GOAL:
My goal is to find 1000 people who are interested in subscribing to this work at a rate of $100 per year. This shows the world that we as creatives believe artists and writers can and should earn six figures. I practice artistic tithing, meaning that at least 10% of my income automatically goes to support other artists, writers, makers, creatives, performers, etc. So if I meet my goal, we keep at least $10000 of that right in the creative community.
$100 per year feels like a lot. But it works out to less than $2 per week.
If this is something that you believe in, I really need the support of paid subscriptions to be able to keep doing this work that I’m deeply committed to. See benefits for paid subscribers here. On a really tight budget? Learn about my Pay What You Can option here.
Tuesday, August 1
Jodie Benveniste of Hey Young Writers will kick off the tour by publishing a guest post by the author. Jodie is a writer, published author, psychologist, TEDx speaker and wellbeing specialist with over 25 years experience who is passionate about helping young writers to achieve their creative dreams.
One of my favorite posts from Jodie is Everyone Has an Origin Story.
Wednesday, August 2
Martin Greenwald, M.D. of Socratic Psychiatrist will publish an excerpt from the book. Martin is a psychiatrist practicing in the midwest United States working mostly with patients who are psychiatrically hospitalized while also maintaining a small psychotherapy practice. His Substack is where he shares his personal thoughts and opinions on a wide range of topics including examples of art in the work that he does.
One of my favorite posts from Martin is Tidbits on Psychiatric Technique #2.
Thursday, August 3
The blog tour returns here to my page, Create Me Free, where I’ll share something special including a GIVEAWAY of a signed copy of the book.
Friday, August 4
Wendi Gordon of Changing Lives is publishing an author interview. Wendi is a freelance writer, mental health guide, and nature photographer who lives with depression and anxiety (about which she has created a survival guide). She is open about how writing helps with her mental health and how sometimes her mental health challenges win little battles anyway.
One of my favorite articles from Wendi is My Death Wish Led Me To Seek My True Self and Listen to Her Instead of Others.
See an interview of Wendi about her experience of the relationship between art and mental health.
Saturday, August 5
Loreteller will share a guest post from the author with bonus content that didn’t make it into the final book draft. Alex of Loreteller is a “storyteller, mythmaker, talespinner” who writes "about storytelling, narrative psychology, and designing experiences” as applied to character and worldbuilding.
A favorite post of mine from Loreteller is The Emotion Tapestry: A Model for Authors.
Sunday, August 6
Diamond-Michael Scott of Great Books, Great Minds will share a guest post highlighting some of the books that influenced the writing of this one. Great Books, Great Minds is a “community of rabid book enthusiasts and readers committed to a new world of community, connection, and belongingness, book at a time.”
A favorite post of mine is How I Discovered the Taoist Way.
Also check out the podcast of audio book reviews for paying subscribers.
Monday, August 7
Sue Clancy of A.M. Sketching will share on interview with the author on her website today and you can find a re-share of it later in the week on her Substack. Sue is an artist/ illustrator with an interest in how the arts can help us all be mentally healthy. She collaborated with psychiatrist Dr. Bob Hoke who did a series of "Emotional Repair Program" lectures to veterans, first responders and other people in high stress occupations and in the late 1990s then asked Sue to do cartoon illustrations for stories he told in his lectures; later they put those illustrations together with his lecture notes into book format, and I’ll actually be interviewing Sue here on Create Me Free about that soon.
One of my favorite posts from Sue is her story of Why I Make Kids Books.
Tuesday, August 8
Leon Macfayden of Policing Mental Health will share an interview with the author about her personal experience of living with depression. Leon is “a former police officer who has overcome PTSD, Depression, and Schizophrenia” and is doing really powerful writing about this unique experience. Alongside that, Leon publishes occasional interviews with mental health experts.
One of my favorites from Leon is The Week I Confronted My Nightmare.
Wednesday, August 9
Sara London of Sara London’s Psychiatric Showcase is sharing an author interview. Sara is an author, psychoanalytic personality, and freelance blogger who writes articles and blog posts about health, wellness, psychology, business news, work/life balance, and the future of work – primarily to fund her many hare-brained schemes. Her book “The Performing Therapist and Authentic Therapeutic Identity: Coming Into Being” comes out August 14th, 2023.
One of my favorites from Sara is The Cult of Trauma.
Thursday, August 10
Samantha Rose McRae of I Have Thoughts will share a review. Samantha is a storyteller who says, “I like to experiment with creative writing inspired by walks through town, stories I listen to, people I meet, art I see, places I go.” She shares personal essays and vignettes about the human experience as she experiences them herself, as well as themes of mental health, faith, and the people of her life.
One of my favorites from Samantha is I Have Depression.
Friday, August 11
Shinjiniof Studio Diaries will share a guest post. Shinjini is a self-taught artist and art educator, tarot reader, and podcaster based in India who shares art and writing to inspire others to live a more soul-centred life.
One of my favorites from Shinjini is Confronting the Fear Monsters.
Saturday, August 12
Sunday, August 13
Monday, August 14
Allegra Chapman of I Am Happy will share a guest post. She’s exploring creativity and taking a “look at how the seasons and natural cycles impact our emotions, and how we can use creativity to tune into our own emotional needs.”
One of my favorites from Allegra is Creativity is My Religion.
Tuesday, August 15
Tamzin Merivale ofResurfacewill share a guest prompt. Tamzin Merivale is an Irish artist, writer, and mentor. In creating her unique Soul Sign Energetic Portraits, Tamzin guides her clients through an immersive experience to unearth their powerful selves, their incomparable light and their strength, which she depicts in a portrait. Her mission is to hold space for diverse stories, to create greater empathy and understanding, as these are the true enemies of prejudice, judgment and discrimination.
One of my favorites from Tamzin is What If You Stopped Wondering “What If?”
Wednesday, August 16
Thursday, August 17
radicaledward of Wolf will share an author interview. On this page you’ll find “personal essays masquerading as reviews about games, books, movies, and whatever strikes my fancy. Also, serialized fiction and short stories.”
One of my favorites: What we talk about when we talk about style
Friday, August 18
Saturday, August 19
Sunday, August 20
Monday, August 21
William Collen of Ruins shares a book review and interview. William thinks and writes about art and aesthetics — specifically, the ways in which artists get their point across through the choices they make in their art.
One of my favorites from William: The proper response to an art of sorrow
Tuesday, August 22
Birgitte Rasine of The Muse will share a guest post related to what's going on right now for artists and their wellbeing due to generative AI. Brigitte is an award-winning Czech-American literary author who has also worn many other hats. “The Muse explores the extraordinary creativity, ingenuity, and the vast potential of human beings in a world that has become so painfully polarized, fragmented, and institutionalized that we’re starting to run the risk of losing our collective humanity.”
One of my favorites from Birgitte: Hallucination Nation – Part I: Three Words Do Us Part
Wednesday, August 23
Thursday, August 24
Friday, August 25
Saturday, August 26
Sunday, August 27
Monday, August 28
Tuesday, August 29
Mya Dexter of The Bite of the Sun will share a chapter review on the Yayoi Kusama chapter of the book. Mya isa “poet, writer and apprentice creator of monochrome portraits” who says she “crafts multi-sensory glimpses into my experiences.”
A favorite of mine from Mya: Someone Else’s Art: Kate Morgan
Wednesday, August 30
Bryce Seto of Bird's Eye View. Bryce is a writer, actor and sales / marketing exec who lives with Borderline Personality Disorder and is open about time spent in psychiatric care, identity challenges stemming from being “a mixed Chinese/European Canadian kid,” and how important it is to share your authentic self.
A favorite of mine from Bryce: I Wrote This One in a Hospital Bed
Thursday, August 31
Come back here to Create Me Free for a special celebration.
Note: Every single one of these amazing writers expects to publish on the stated date, and we will do our best to make sure that this happens and the links are correct. Remember, however, that we are human. Life happens and things don’t always go exactly as planned. Updates with any changes will be published here as soon as we know about them.
Consider supporting my work with your Create Me Free subscription. Our expenses reflect our values and priorities, and it means a lot to know that you value my research and writing about the complex relationship between art and mental health. This support means more than I can ever express.
Paid subscribers also have access to personalized support for your creative process and mental health journey. We can text/messenger chat/email. You can ask me about how to apply what I’m learning to whatever your own unique mental health and creativity issues are. I want to help! While I’m not a licensed therapist, I do have a Masters in counseling psychology, and experience working directly with creative people who are struggling to achieve financial, creative, and wellness balance.
I love how you’re pulled this together Kathryn! It’s a great initiative and you’ve done it so graciously. Thank you for including me.
I love all the collaborations!