February 2012
2 posts
3 tags
The Only School That Will Teach You How to Write a...
I’ve been fascinated lately with letters and notes. I can’t get enough of the beautiful examples here.
Handcrafted correspondence.
A sweet “hello,” or a, “hey, do you remember that one thing that happened that one time that was so funny/sad/amazing/tragic/wonderful?”
We don’t really write these kinds of notes to each other anymore.
Yes, there is a...
3 tags
Wallpaper Wednesday
Today’s installment comes from my friend, graphic and motion designer, Mr. Zach Taylor. Be sure and check out his stuff and while you’re at it, hire him!
Quoting from my book, UNTITLED, Thoughts on the Creative Process (currently on sale), Zach reminds us:
You are not a salesman. You are a storyteller.
You’ll find versions for your desktop, iPad, and iPhone below.
...
January 2012
8 posts
Happy Friday Dance Party
Happy Friday everyone!
Music: We Speak No Americano by Yolanda Be Cool & DCup
You know…you really should subscribe.
2 tags
It's Everywhere I Look
Yesterday, I sat in a circle with some of my favorite artists and people. We went around the room doing a very simple exercise I learned from Seth Godin.
Two questions were asked:
What are you afraid won’t work?
What are you afraid will?
I began.
I’m afraid the anti-anxiety medication I’ve been taking for the last few months won’t work. I’m afraid therapy...
2 tags
Wallpaper Wednesday
A few weeks ago, I got a crazy idea.
I would email some of my favorite designers and photographers the following creative brief:
Create a lovely desktop wallpaper with an image and/or quote inspired by my book, UNTITLED: Thoughts on the Creative Process. I will then giveaway said wallpaper on my site for all the world to see!
One of the unique pleasures of my little life is knowing some...
Our Work is This:
A week or so after Christmas, a heavy package arrived in the mail.
It was from my Grandma Laila. Well into her nineties, she’s a tough, midwestern broad; sweet, a former schoolteacher and Rosie the Riveter, and conservative estimates would put her around 4 1/2 feet tall. She lives alone in a tiny house on the edge of Hoffman, Minnesota - population 672. My grandpa lives in a nursing...
1 tag
It's Back! Happy Friday Dance Party #5
One day I’ll tell you why I do these, but until then, here’s the next installment. Enjoy.
Music: Domino by Jessie J
Sideways Snow
My view today as I was workin’ it.
Music: No One Said It Would Be Easy by Cloud Cult
2 tags
I Need a New Liturgy
I grew up Catholic and while there is much I don’t miss of the thousands and thousands of hours I spent at Mass, there is a tremendous amount I do.
I miss the practice of confession, the orientation of the church calendar, the put-a-dollar-in-to-light-a-candle corner.
But what I miss most is the liturgy.
Living in the land of church that consists of “every week should be a...
A Prayer for the Year Ahead
Happy new year, my friends. Good to see you again!
I hope the holidays and the new year are treating you well.
I don’t know about you, but I love this time of year. It’s when we pause and say to the world, to each other, and to ourselves we want this year to be different.
There’s an excitement in the air. There’s deep hope. Tremendous anticipation. Our hearts beat fast...
December 2011
2 posts
On Hiatus - thru January 9th
After a good long year of work, I’m taking a brief breather from this site as I plan the year ahead. In the meantime, please check out my latest book, UNTITLED: Thoughts on the Creative Process and a few of my favorite posts:
Crashing into the Seattle School
To Find a Tea Kettle
The Void & Why You Won’t Jump
My Personal Creative Process
Contain Yourself Already
Subscribe to...
Giveaway: Untitled book & posters
Thanks to Random.org, I now give you the winners:
Toffi Seinsche
Eric Barz
Jason van Dyk
Ric Beemer
If you see your name, please shoot me an email with your mailing address, along with your e-version preference (Kindle or iBook).
If you didn’t win, you can still get a copy of the book (only $4.99) on Amazon and we’re also working on a way for you to possibly purchase posters...
November 2011
6 posts
2 tags
Official Trailer
We’re excited to release the official trailer for our Christmas short film! Come and see it for free December 18-24.
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Look & Feel
Below is just a taste of the project we’ve been working on for the past few months.
We’re not telling the story in this first trailer, just some lovely images via Mr. Amundsen and lovely music courtesy of NIN.
We hope you enjoy the look & feel teaser for our short, Reaching Alice.
4 tags
Crashing into the Seattle School
Many of us spend a good deal of our lives avoiding crashes (at least some of us do…ahem…Mr. Stock Market). We covet safety and convenience. We buckle up our lives, insulating them with attempted guarantees at an existence that won’t take us to uncomfortable or frightening places. We put bumpers around our hearts and look both ways when we cross the street. We take...
To Find a Tea Kettle
ME: Did you say you were bringing a tea kettle?
PRODUCER: No. You told me you were going to ask the owner for one…do we need one?
ME: We might. I was certain she had one, but I’m not finding it yet…
ME: Yes we do need one. So sorry!
ME: Also, do we have a pill bottle?
That text message conversation between myself and my producer, Rhianna, began 3 hours outside of Chicago,...
Making Movies
For the past 6 months we’ve been in development and pre-production for our Christmas short film. Without giving too much away, the story we’re telling is based on the log line below:
In order to save her job, a skeptical reporter with a mysterious illness is forced to research a story she believes is a hoax, only to discover there maybe a personal connection.
Three weeks ago we...
The Void & Why You Won't Jump
A few months ago I got an email from a guy named, Michael Neale. It started with some kind remarks and then quickly turned into a pitch. I get a few of these a month. Most don’t interest me. This isn’t to say they aren’t great ideas, it’s just that they aren’t a “fit.” Michael’s project, however, was quite interesting. He had written a novel and a...
October 2011
1 post
Recovery
A number of friends of mine ran the Chicago marathon last week. One brave soul I know ran 100 miles. For most, the last 10 days have been ones of recovery. Ice baths, 5,000 or so bananas, and gallons of water and protein shakes. All in the name of putting back in what was left on the course.
Late this summer I released my first book. It was indeed a marathon sprinkled with a sprint near the end....
August 2011
3 posts
1 tag
Never Beyond
My good friends over at People Of The Second Chance are launching a new series/art project!
The NEVER BEYOND series will feature 25 posters representing well known historical, current and fictional characters who are believed to have harmed society. Their campaign will consist of digital and print posters and the full collection will eventually be displayed as a touring art exhibit.
Go here...
2 tags
On Selling (& Buying) Your Vision
I was asked recently how to get a boss or client to buy in to your new idea.
I’ll start first with how not to.
Don’t pit your idea up against theirs - their way of doing it vs. yours.
This will never work.
When you present your idea within a binary - my way is better than your way - you’ve landed yourself right in the middle of an argument. Not a great place to cast vision if...
1 tag
I Want Something More From A Meet-Up
I’m a networking kind of chap.
If you’ve been following my twitter feed the last few weeks, the self-promoting, networking side of me has been in full-force.
Did I mention I’m selling a new book!? :-)
As such, conferences are designed for people like me to really enjoy myself. But lately, I’m tired of it all.
Don’t get me wrong, I love to talk shop like the next...
July 2011
2 posts
2 tags
UNTITLED Ships Today!
After many, many months of work, my first book, UNTITLED: Thoughts on the Creative Process, officially releases today! Buy it now for only $4.99 on Amazon, iTunes, and Barnes & Noble. It is a tremendous feeling to know that something you’ve been working on alone, huddled with your wife, and in hodgepodge groups via email/edit sessions, is now available for the world to see in all its...
My Personal Creative Process
A few days ago, blogger Darrell Vesterfelt of This Is Me Thinking, invited me to participate in a one-day blog series on the personal creative process, which can be found here:
As I sat down to write, I realized that I had put so much of those thoughts already into my upcoming book. Below is an excerpt from the book (and something veteran readers of this blog may recognize) on how I cultivate...
June 2011
7 posts
The Thing About "Creativity"
During an interview today I was asked what I thought about the word, “creativity.”
I’ve been working in a church now for 3 years (my previous were in the secular art world) and I have to say…I’m still getting used to the word, “creativity,” being used as a noun.
As if it were a thing that you could have and/or hold.
In answer to my friend’s...
It's Official!
On July 27th, exactly 30 days from today (if my math is correct), my first book will be released.
UNTITLED: Thoughts on the Creative Process
I’ve mentioned before my ambivalence between terror and excitement in regards to the book, but today the scale tips more towards excitement. I’m excited to share with you a project I’ve been curating for the last year from ultimately 10+...
The Truth About Old & New Stories
The clash of the old and new stories can be seen everywhere. It is painfully visible in organizations that were created to birth the new story, including many nonprofits, churches, and public benefit organizations. People form these organizations in response to the call of the new story; they join together because they know that they can’t birth this dream alone. An organization is required in...
Need More Rhythm?
A few years ago, my friend Ben told about a dream he had to start an ongoing space for men to connect in deep ways. He went on to create what I think is one of the most unique offerings ever - Rhythm In Twenty.
If you’re a gentlemen (or want to be) and desire to be called to more, Rhythm In Twenty is for you.
The deadline to apply is only 10 days away, so get on it!
Here is a little more...
The Fight
I have my first major deadline for the book in 12 days and every non-work moment will be poured into it. Luckily I’m about 80% finished.
However, I’m struggling to keep going.
This is the nature of Resistance. Just when you think you might be nearing the edge of the woods. BAM!
Steve Pressfield in his famous and oft-quoted manual on fighting Resistance, The War of Art, talks about...
Let's Meet!
On June 29th from 9 - 10:30am, I’ll be speaking along with Tom Ryan, CEO of Threadless, as part of the Creative Collective Chicago Meet Up.
My free tickets are gone, but you can get in for 50% with the code: chitown
And I have 6 free tickets to give away!
They will go to the first 6 people who comment below and also tweet: “Come hear from @thomasryan and @blainehogan on June 29th...
Why I've Been Hiding Out
Life these days is full. New dad, day job, and lots of writing.
For the last few months, nearly every spare second not cuddling with Ruby or doing my day-to-day work has been spent writing. I’ve been laboring over two book proposals and one ebook to be released late July. I haven’t talked much about the ebook because until recently I wasn’t sure it was happening. I’ve...
May 2011
2 posts
1 tag
Radical Imagination
When M and I got married we committed not just to each other but to the act of creation. It was in our vows, in fact. We literally pledged to make. Art, meals, a home, a baby. Of course this path isn’t easy and I’m struck that the truly great things, like your favorite movie or the best meal you ever had, for example, only get created because someone dared to imagine something that...
5 tags
In An Instant
Our goal in setting up the theme this Easter of In An Instant, was to get at the visceral feeling of what it’s like when our world’s come undone. After a painstakingly brutal pre- and post-shoot process, here was the end result. Co-directed with the incredible DP, Color, and CG genius, Bjorn Amundsen. More credits to follow.
In An Instant from Tungsten on Vimeo.
April 2011
5 posts
1 tag
She's here!!!
Our hearts are full as we welcome little Miss Ruby Elizabeth Hogan into a brave new world. She is sweet, fiery, and smells like heaven. We are thankful beyond words for the gift of this tiny person.
Nests, Nesting, & Preparing to Create
Sunday felt like spring in Chicago. Actually it felt a little more like summer at eighty-one steamy, midwest degrees. We were having some friends over for lunch and I thought it’d be a great chance to polish off the winter rust from the grill and make my famous roasted red pepper and chicken tacos. I pulled the grill away from the wall to change out the propane only to find a nest, a mama...
Contain Yourself Already
What do you do when things don’t go your way?
You’re defending something (an idea, a way of doing things) that you know in your heart to be true, something you know deep down in your gut will work, but the decision makers tell you “no” in no uncertain terms.
It can get ugly pretty quickly if you don’t find some place to put these feelings.
We’ve all seen the...
Creation is Forever
“He talked on, said how the Reverend Biddle talked of Creation as though it had been a mere seven-day investment, like putting up a bar, a task with a beginning, middle, and a definite end. Not so. “Look out there,” he said in a voice that suddenly demanded attention. “Creation is forever. Not made, boy, but being made, always.” - Albert from The Earth is Enough, by...
1 tag
Creative Matters
Hello again, dear friends.
After nearly 6 weeks of pre-production and a full week of shooting for our Easter services, it looks like I might have a bit of my life back. I tweeted last week how going for over 30 days without writing a single word for myself or this blog has not been good a thing and I hope to remedy that as I attempt to put myself back on a routine (until the baby comes, of course...
March 2011
1 post
1 tag
Scared of Your Imagination?
“The imagination does frighten many people. Too many of us think of it as a specialized skill or talent, the gift of the literary imagination, for example, something for which we need expert training as we do to paint or to design a dress. Even those who are specialists, such as people in religion, can be markedly scared of the imagination. It is not exactly in vogue in church, synagogue,...
February 2011
2 posts
2 tags
Tailored Shirts & Daddy Clothes
When I was growing up my dad always said that you played how you looked. Yet, no matter how well I taped my shin pads, or tucked in my jersey, I never was much of a hockey or baseball player, even though I was given the nickname of “Kamikaze” my first year in Mighty Mites because, while I was fast as hell, I hadn’t yet learned to stop. When I realized I wasn’t going to make...
3 tags
New Hires Must Push Us
I was speaking with a good friend on the phone recently who happens to be a recent hire. As we were talking I noticed how uneasy I was feeling. In fact, I often find my time with him troubling. The way he thinks makes me feel funny inside and not always in a good way. Why is this? I asked myself. He’s never rude or rebellious. He never tries to steamroll people. He is a great listener....
January 2011
6 posts
1 tag
I Hate the Bumpy Ones
It is through memory that we are able to reclaim much of our lives that we have long since written off by finding that in everything that has happened to us over the years God was offering us possibilities of new life and healing which, though we may have missed them at the time, we can still choose and be brought to life by and healed by all these years. -Fredrick Buechner, Telling Secrets
I...
5 tags
I Give Up
I give up.
I said this four separate times this week. Three times to myself. Once out loud. I said it in response to the ugly rumblings that were coming from my insides. You don’t have anything to say - certainly not enough to fill a book. I’m sorry, how will you do this and get your other work done? You have a baby on the way, now is not the time to start writing anything. Just try...
1 tag
You Have Nothing to Sell
A new friend, Jon Guerra of The Line here in Chicago, sent me something intriguing earlier today. I thought it best not to keep it to myself but to share it with you.
The following is an excerpt of Karl Paulnack’s address to the parents of the incoming freshman at Boston Conservatory in 2004.
“If we were a medical school, and you were here as a med student practicing appendectomies,...
1 tag
Capturing the Imagination
“I think that we Christians have made our peace, more or less, with useful culture. Especially when it can be used as a means for our own ends. If the song has Christian lyrics, if the painting has an appropriately pious subject, if the technology used to deliver the gospel - which is often itself conceived as a blueprint, a technical drawing explaining the mechanics of salvation - we are...
The Hard Work of Falling In Love Again
“It’s almost like letting yourself fall in love a little bit everyday.” - Scott Schumann, The Sartorialist
Last week was my first full week back after our Christmas break. About the second day back I noticed something strange. I was feeling terribly depressed and anxious even. This, my friends, is what you call the “post-project blues.” Has this ever happened to...
4 tags
On Beginning a Book (or at least a proposal)
Earlier this fall, Ben Arment asked if I would write an essay for the program to be handed out at STORY. After a few tumultuous days of searching for what to say, I was reminded of a phrase I had written rather cavalierly a number of months before.
“The artist is the pastor of the 21st century whether we like it or not.”
Some people took me to task since I had seemingly had no...
December 2010
1 post
3 tags
Hello Again
It’s hard to believe that it has been exactly a month since I posted here. There was a time in the not so distant past where I was writing up to 5 days a week. My main reason for neglect was a little something called Christmas. Thank you for your grace. Now that the jingle bells and twinkle lights are being put back into storage, it’s time for a little reflection and a look ahead to...
November 2010
5 posts
3 tags
Begin It Now
“Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back - Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one elementary truth that ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of...
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Cliffs Along the Sea
I drove over this body of water every morning my first year of grad school. Oh, Seattle, how I miss you so.