• Skip to main content
  • Skip to after header navigation
  • Skip to site footer
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Goodreads

ML Hart

ML Hart's journal of observations, obsessions and inspirations

  • Home
  • Books
    • The FAB Book
    • Inside the Music
    • The Art of Making Opera
  • Words and Images
    • Writing
    • Photography
    • Creativity
    • Opera & Theatre
  • Recommendations
    • Artists & Craft
    • Drama & Dance
    • Movies & TV
    • Music
    • Opera
    • Positivity +
    • Reading
  • About
    • Reviews
    • ML Hart résumé
    • Articles and Interviews
  • Blog
    • Books
    • Creativity
    • Film & TV
    • Miscellany
    • Photography
    • Reading
    • Writing
  • Contact

Musings on the Artist’s Life

Mixing things up

May 7, 2012 by Martha

As I start getting back into the book, I’m running into options. Forks in the path. This is my favorite part of a writing project, the not-knowing-where-it’s-going. Can’t wait to see the twists and turns it will take (and take me with it) towards the final form. The way I answer the questions that come …

Read moreMixing things up

Hey, old friend / What d’ya say, old friend?

April 8, 2012 by Martha

Today: recovering from a particularly intense (and tense) week at work, intended to catch up on homework for my class. What did I actually do? Spent every moment I could find with my old friend, The Tenor Book: organized files, electronic and paper glanced at some of the work I’d done over the years, both …

Read moreHey, old friend / What d’ya say, old friend?
The Tenor Book - camera, film, marker, contact sheets

Once again

April 1, 2012 by Martha

The Tenor Book. During the last 14 years, this project has variously been my frustration, my focus or my inspiration. Sometimes all those at once. More than 100 interviews, 65,000+ miles of travel and hundreds of hours in, I’ve dealt with one derailment after another. ‘Life getting in the way’ I call it. I don’t …

Read moreOnce again

She’s back… with some whine

March 27, 2011 by Martha

Has it really been a whole year? Ay ay ay. Been working on the site, new design, mental commitment… hasn’t quite translated into sustained activity. I tell myself I’m getting there (does that count?) and console myself with awareness that this is connected to my real work, my writing. And try not to make myself …

Read moreShe’s back… with some whine

How your Blurb book can deliver perfect happiness

February 19, 2010 by Martha

I’m happy with my book. Maybe that obsessively perfectionist streak of mine pays off. Or maybe it’s just the research geek in me. Yesterday one of my FAB friends reminded me that there is no problem/topic/issue that cannot be squashed flat by piling enough research on top of it. Made me laugh, because I can …

Read moreHow your Blurb book can deliver perfect happiness
writer's tools - computer, camera, coffee

How to survive self-publishing

February 17, 2010 by Martha

I’ll never be any traditional publisher’s dream client. I don’t fit in. I mean, I’m pretty happy to have gotten my elevator speech on the current book down to four and a half minutes, but that doesn’t make for easy marketing. So it’s a good thing I have a day job. Figuring I’d sell fewer …

Read moreHow to survive self-publishing
scheduling tools - clock, calendar

How to write a book, 15 minutes at a time

February 2, 2010 by Martha

What, am I nuts? I work full time at a high-stress job. I go to school at night. I’m the sole caretaker for my 84-year old mother. And I think I’m going to write another book? Me? I don’t have time to write. That was a year and a couple months ago. This week I’m …

Read moreHow to write a book, 15 minutes at a time

“Finish” isn’t a word in an artist’s dictionary

January 31, 2010 by Martha

Attention to detail can turn into paralyzing perfectionism in nothing flat. The former is a wonderful characteristic to have, while the latter prevents me from completing work — and moving on to something new. I’m hardly alone in this; most artists have this problem. It’s the nothing-is-ever-quite-good-enough reaction that comes from turning your insides out …

Read more“Finish” isn’t a word in an artist’s dictionary
photo illustration of wooden view camera

Camera Lineage

December 12, 2009 by Martha

In my journeys with cameras, I’ve worked almost exclusively in black and white, enjoying the affinity I have for the shades and grays—and for film. As digital cameras started to become more available, I stopped shooting. Though I now have a digital SLR and find it to be utilitarian, it’s just not the same kind …

Read moreCamera Lineage
montage of forms of writing, typewriter, script, hieroglyphics

Finding my writer’s voice

October 20, 2009 by Martha

Since the fourth grade, I’d been pushed and prodded and scolded to a particular style of writing. Something formal. Suitable for school. In dozens of English, history, literature courses, I learned how to write ‘appropriately’ for class papers. Later on, I’d learn how to write appropriately, but very differently, in an office, whether I was …

Read moreFinding my writer’s voice
Vincent Van Gogh's painting, The Starry Night

Do creative artists have to be crazy?

October 18, 2009 by Martha

Are creative people and artists more prone to depression, substance abuse and plain old being crazy than anyone else? Not really, though you might think so from tabloid ‘news’ reports. But we do see things differently. Some live on the edge and beyond. Is it all worth it? Do you know “The Yellow Wallpaper,” the …

Read moreDo creative artists have to be crazy?
who am I now? playwright Edward Albee's play paperback cover

Am I now, or have I ever been?

May 10, 2009 by Martha

Things are not what they seem. Who am I now? Depending on the day, my world can range from slightly off balance to pretty much skewed to completely upside down. All the talk about a life in balance and taking care of oneself, that’s all well and good – in theory. But taking care of …

Read moreAm I now, or have I ever been?
  • Previous
  • Go to page 1
  • Go to page 2
  • Go to page 3
  • Go to page 4
  • Next
ML Hart logo

MUSINGS ON THE ARTIST’S LIFE

ML Hart’s journal of observations, obsessions & inspirations

Writer. Documentary photographer. Artist.
I’m inspired by both shadow and light and curious about most everything. Welcome to my journal of musings.

More about ML Hart.

Contact Me

  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Goodreads

Explore Topics

Comment Policy

Play-nice guidelines for commenting on posts and articles.

Privacy and Cookies

Privacy on the internet is as important to me as it is to you. Details about how this site may track and store data such as email addresses can be found in the Privacy Notice and Cookie Policy.

Copyright

Copyright © 1995 – 2022 ML Hart
Original writings and other works, including posts, stories, reviews, excerpts from books, extracts from interviews for The Tenor Book, unless otherwise attributed; all photography and artwork, except as noted.

All rights reserved.

Confused about copyright and why it’s important to a writer and artist? Puzzled about copying content from someone else’s site? Take a look at my Copyright Reference page and Why Copyright Matters post.

Permissions

Contact me for permission to re-post, quote from, link to in whole or in part, or for use in any form.

Copyright © 2023 · ML Hart · All Rights Reserved
LOGO BY RFG3 | SITE ASSISTANCE BY CALLIAWEB.CO.UK | POWERED BY SITEGROUND