The Creative Process: One Artist’s Odyssey

For our first Process Portraits venture, we unravel the complexities of one artist’s creative process in Portrait of an Artistic Journey: The Creative Process in Real Life Context. Our subject is choreographer Jonathan Riedel, artistic director of the New York City-based Riedel Dance Theater.Shadowing Jonathan for a year while his company prepared to premiere In Violent Circles: The Rite of Spring at the Ailey Citigroup Theater, Process Portraits founder and author Sherri Muroff Kalt attended nearly every rehearsal, interviewed every dancer, and had nearly unfettered access to Jonathan’s creative mind and soul.What she documents is an extraordinary account of his external challenges—from financial issues and rehearsal-derailing blizzards to the birth of his son—as well as his internal struggles with fear, insecurity, anxiety, and grief. Jonathan candidly shares how these complexities helped shape his work. Plus, readers experience the creative (and sometimes frustrating) collaborative process through the dancers’ eyes.While the details of Jonathan’s process are unique to him, the underlying dynamics are familiar to all artists. By illuminating his journey—the good, the bad, and the ugly—fellow creators gain insight into their own artistic development.Our culture fixates on the end product—the ballet, the concert, the painting—but artists can’t wholly understand their finished work until they grasp the context in which it evolved. No art is created in a vacuum: Financial, psychological, logistical, economic, and cultural influences all affect the process and the outcome. By giving emerging artists a heads-up, they'll better anticipate the emotional ups-and-downs of their profession and discover:

Perfect for art students, seasoned artists, and art aficionados—as well as BFA and MFA directors—this remarkable exploration of the creative process is now available for individuals and schools. Order your copy today. Have questions about Process Portraits or Portrait of an Artistic Journey: The Creative Process in Real Life Context? Contact us now.

Book cover art by Sydney Allison
Book cover design by Stephanie Tevonian
Logo by Sydney Allison

“Portrait gives us a jump-start on developing a language to talk about the creative process. Although mechanics and technique are apparent in an end result, the process is invisible; yet, for those of us who teach and study the arts, it is the more fascinating part of the journey.”– David Brogna, Professor, Home Products Development, Fashion Institute of Technology

About Us

Sherri Muroff Kalt, founder of Process Portraits, LLC and author of Portrait of an Artistic Journey: The Creative Process in Real Life Context, is a Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Duke University with a B.A. in psychology. She began her career in marketing and sales in New York City with L’Oréal, Monet Jewelers, and Givenchy.

Sherri eventually followed her passion for psychology and worked for some of Westchester’s most reputable mental-health organizations, including The Center for Preventive Psychiatry in White Plains and Peekskill and Four Winds Hospital in Katonah. There, she collaborated with multidisciplinary teams of clinicians to treat mentally ill mothers, seriously emotionally disturbed children, and adolescents with significant emotional and substance-abuse issues. She designed and facilitated therapeutic groups, provided intensive psychotherapy, and prepared and implemented comprehensive treatment plans for mothers and their children.Capitalizing on her experience with parent/child dynamics as well as her social-issues concerns, Sherri founded The Authentic Mom in 2007. Created to bring women together to speak honestly and openly about their experiences of motherhood, Authentic Mom groups provided a safe place for mothers to process their psychological issues, family-systems dynamics, and societal pressures and expectations that profoundly affected their perceptions of themselves and their relationships with their children.Sherri’s desire to explore these ideas in the creative realm led her to collaborate with choreographer Jonathan Riedel, artistic director of Riedel Dance Theater, a modern-dance company in New York City that tells stories with complex emotional and psychological themes through innovative movement. Together, they set out to study and document the creative process by illuminating the intricacies of Jonathan’s artistic journey.The resulting book, Portrait of an Artistic Journey: The Creative Process in Real Life Context, captures the ways in which the creation and development of Jonathan’s creative visions are shaped by dynamics such as the rehearsal environment, infrastructure and financial difficulties, challenges arising from using freelance dancers, and complex psychological and emotional issues.Through her new company, Process Portraits, LLC, Sherri is collaborating with universities to incorporate Portrait of an Artistic Journey into their BFA and MFA programs, and she aims to reach the broader creative community as well. Her vision is to help both emerging and established artists gain insight into the circumstances that influence their own personal and professional development as well as the evolution of any work of art they create.