Book excerpt: Being an artist can be the most enchanting life imaginable – and the most tormenting. Finding your way to your own creative universe is an extraordinary and infinitely surprising journey. Still, every artist falters at some point. Call it what you will: blocks, obstacles, hitting the wall, tossing your painting into the ocean, or shredding your manuscript – we have all stumbled, we have all shut down. Based on the concept that creativity is unique to each individual, The Art of Becoming an Artist is designed to help artists discover the myriad, astonishing factors – social, educational, political, psychological, and personal history – that both enhance and interfere with our creativity. There is no “right” way to get to one’s art. There is only YOUR way. Finding that way is every artist’s goal. Using safe, gentle, revealing techniques to aid readers’ self-examination, The Art of Becoming an Artist produces epiphany after epiphany as it guides artists into shedding the restraints that are shutting them down. Artists of any stripe will find hope, excitement, and joy in this compassionate but thrilling process.