Persist

In Praise of the Creative Spirit in a World Gone Mad with Commerce

by Peter Clothier

ISBN:978-0-9779774-1-3

Persist: In Praise of the Creative Spirit in a World Gone Mad with Commerce is a collection of essays spanning thirty years of engagement with the culture of our times. Peter Clothier is a long-time student of the dharma and a meditation practitioner. In this context he examines the qualities of compassion, perseverance, and discernment in his reflections on the artist’s predicament in a world that judges success in terms of celebrity and material reward. Persist explores ways today’s artists in any medium can find fulfillment, a sense of purpose, and joy in alternative and more lasting values.

“If most people understand how commerce accounts for functional necessities and luxuries, not nearly enough people comprehend how art shapes and evolves who we in fact truly are. This book helps us better understand why this lack of understanding is so, and why it is important.”

Bill Lasarow, ArtScene

“This engaging book provides the reader with a rare insight into the practice and appreciation of art. Peter Clothier shows the courage and wisdom of someone who is not afraid to go “where we are most exposed and vulnerable,” to discover the true source of artistic creativity.”

Edward Goldman, Art Talk KCRW radio commentator

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An interview with Peter

Peter’s blog, The Buddha Diaries

Peter’s Web site

Persist: The Blog

Watch and listen as Peter speaks at the Inside Edge