The Trickster's Hat: A Mischievous Apprenticeship in Creativity

This is the best work on creativity I've ever come across. It's both light-hearted and profound, which takes real skill (or blind luck) to balance. The artwork is fascinating, and the inspiring exercises I've tried so far provide just the right amount of challenge and encouragement along with spring boards to toss you about and rivulets to carry you sideways. A delightful ride! (But then where will you go? That is the question.) This is just a wonderful book! I've always been inspired by Nick Bantock's work--which has actually been life changing for me--and so I was very excited to learn of this book. I find his artistry, amazing and his ideas, fascinating. I love his brain! His spirit and insights too. In his work, I find wisdom along with playfulness and wry humor, beauty aside the grotesque and grisly, the monumental and the beauty of quiet and considered ordinariness, the sensual and the coldly cosmic. I'm not really trying to get down a set of oppositions here--or even be complete--but my point is that, for me, his art and his writings--beautiful and/or compelling, etc.--often expose, in an interesting or affecting way, how things really aren't just "this or that," but both, individual and neither all at the same time--complex and not. Or often his work reveals something unexpected and that something is "something other"--or could be. And on... Who could be a better guide into creativity and inspiration? And so when this book came out, I pounced. And I love the "participation" of the Trickster. I love this so much! Who else could be so perfectly suited as a "helpmate" (and mischief-maker) for these adventures as the Trickster is the boundary crosser, the one who mixes up all the lines and more? Too many things to say about Trickster and the wonderfulness of this motif--Lewis Hyde's book, "Trickster Makes this World," is one of my very favorite books of all time, and Bantock's appropriating the Trickster as the "familiar" for this book and these endeavors is brilliant. The book, itself, is beautifully put together. As art- and workbooks generally go, it is a small book (not saying thin at nearly 200 pages, but 8 x 6 inches), and because of this, there is something so lovely and accessible about its size that wouldn't feel the same in a large book. (Plus I can tuck it into a small bag and easily take it with me wherever I go.) The production is of high quality. It is a delight to touch and to hold. As with all of Bantock's books that I've seen, it is a book of incredible craftsmanship. As an example, the title alone is emblematic of considerable thought and craft. There is Bantock's exceptional artwork throughout--I love that anywhere I open the book, there is something wonderful to see. Best, this book is something that I will enjoy forever, a gift that will keep on giving--which is partly why my introduction to Bantock's work several years ago was so life changing for me both in terms of my own art, but also in other ways for my life. I look forward to this delightful and beautiful little book giving me more access to the Trickster within and without again and again. Further, it is just a beautiful little book--even if one never exactly "uses" it for the exercises. It is a treasure to look at, touch, contemplate and enjoy a little ride with ideas, amazing artwork, little Trickster journeys and wonderful stories within. Sooooo recommended...

I am a HUGE Nick Bantock fan! This is a step by step book of many exercises to loosen up your creative self. Some are art, some are written. Do them! I found myself surprising myself with projects or ideas that I never would have had otherwise. These are not precious little crafty ideas like a lot of other books have. Bantock is a serious artist who has a gift for teaching, inspiring and illustrating what might go into his inimitable, wondrous work.

Lots of creative fun activities. I loved doing a picture out of stamps for example. I bought it for my sister and we are going to do the projects "together". She lives in a different state than me. The projects list all the ingredients needed. What I like most perhaps is the time frame. The author is not asking you for a day to complete a project - some are just a few minutes! This book gives you permission to be totally creative!

I find the 5 minute art warm up exercises Bantock describes fun and helpful. They inspired me to start a painting. The step-by-step instructions for starting a collage intuitively are easy and fun. I like also his suggestions for an autobiographical collage and it is the first collage I have made. It got me started. For people who enjoy writing there are many free standing exercises as well as suggestions for writing based on your collages. I would like more collage exercises. But certainly I have gotten my money's worth from the inexpensive book.

Fun and interesting exercises for the creative person in any of us. Go one exercise at a time and don’t be afraid. You are your audience and there is no critic. These exercises allow you to open your mind and prepare you to write or paint or create the art that you want to create. I am a writer but I now find myself working with mixed media, something I never thought I would do until I read Bantock’s books and purchased this book of tricks.

This short little book outlines a bunch of activities and methods Bantcock uses to inspire creativity or snap out of writer's block. Not everything worked for me, but enough of the methods were successful that I can give it a 5-star review. Fantastic advice. The book has his usual inventive and striking visual design. Plus, Bantcock explains some of his own creative methods -- gives away a few secrets, so to speak. Or perhaps they were never secrets to begin with...

Your imagination will thank you with surprise after surprise when you buy this book and begin to play with all of the tools, techniques and inspiration that Nick Bantock has packed within the pages of The Trickster's Hat. Get ready; you will never be the same nor able to ignore the calling of your soul. Be prepared to play, then spark, then fly . Ah, but toward that end, you must buy.....this witty, wonderful book that puts Nick Bantock at your table in the corner coffee shop giving you the wise counsel in the creative life that is his gift and purpose. Thank you, Nick, and Perigee, who had the great wisdom to publish this important work on creativity. I suggest you buy an armload as this is a great gift book for all of those in your tribe that could use a spark for their imaginative fires.

Not a how-to book but this one and Urgent 2nd Class by Nick Bantock show how his mind works. Gives insight into how he created Griffin and Sabine books. Helps you see how he sees and then apply it to your artistic style. I enjoyed reading it and found my mind was sparked with ideas