+ be something. if you want to make something. is a pop top energy drink spiked with caffeine laden words that are calming to the soul, while at the same time capable of spurring volcanic eruptions of energy and frenzied moments of accomplishment be something. if you want to make something encourages makers to stay in the moment and allow ingenuity to be the pace car. each short blurb hands over a raw account of an artists rocket fuel fast, can't stop, won't stop, sometimes mixed martial arts bloodied adventure. it humorously highlights the speed bumps that were approached way too fast and encourages the reader to push past the exit ramps desperately calling for companionship and accelerate toward the reward on the horizon. be something. if you want to make something runs over the big scary words of the business world like "copyright" and "business plan" and spits out what makes real sense in the life of doing more of what you love for a living. + so, you want to take your secret passion (writing, painting, cupcake baking) and make it your full time gig? except it's really hard and scary to actually, you know, do that? kenT understands your pain and that's why he wrote this book. read it and then follow his wise advice: "don't wait. every day you wait is a day you won't get back." this book will remind you that you have the power to make art - and create all kinds of exciting surprises in your life - right now, today. what's the hold up? why wait? grab your tools and create. alexandra franzen, author, coach, blogger alexandrafranzen.com + be something. is long flight, overhead compartment jammed with images following kenT throughout his journey to make the walls of your home, office or secret lair as memorable as you are. + introduction / by melissa cassera, pr expert, business strategist + screenwriter as a marketing consultant, i spend a lot of time teaching people how to be. be original. be helpful. be authentic. be obsession-worthy. be so good they can't ignore you. when I met kenT it was like getting struck by lightening. this guy just knows how to be. my first experience with him was in a free class i was teaching to 1,100 entrepreneurs. you can imagine among 1,100 people it would be really ridiculously hard to stand out. especially online, in the middle of a fb group that was moving so fast i could hardly keep my little fingers typing. as i was scrolling and connecting with my students, i noticed that every post had likes and comments, but one post had more likes and comments than anyone, and the number kept climbing. here's what it said: i'm kenT, and i'm an artist. but not the tortured kind. i create one-of-a-kind images - no two are exactly the same. some are big. some are small. some have words. some have none. but what I really do is make people feel happy + free. they don't even have to know why. after all, happy + free is a great place to be. people loved kenT's unusual "introduction" and took notice. i took notice. it surprised me. because it's rare to find a business owner who says his true purpose is to make people feel "happy and free." and you could feel his energy pour through his words, and you could see it in the photos of his paintings that he shared. as the days went on, kenT's assignments stood out. always. he was so damn good that, throughout the class, other students were forfeiting their chance to win that day's prize and pleading with me to just "give it to kenT." and it wasn't just his talent that stood out. he took the time to cheer on his classmates. to share helpful and thoughtful comments. he lived and breathed his introduction. everyone knew it. there are so many ways to be it can be maddening. everywhere you turn there's someone telling you to "be" this or "be" that. after getting to know kenT, striving to "be" just an ounce like him guarantees awesomeness. since he's too humble to include a "be kenT" chapter, this intro is my way of doing it for
About the Author: i'm kenT, and i'm an artist. but not the tortured kind. i'm on a mission to make the walls of your home, office or secret lair as memorable as you are. i'm also a teacher. i offer work shops + caffeine laden posts to jump start your own creative process. have you ever gotten completely + totally lost? maybe in the pages of your all-time favorite book. maybe in your daughter's tangled hair, or perhaps in a kiss. we all want to 'get lost.' we crave it. we need it. and the busier life gets, the more we forget how to do it. i'm a lucky guy, because I've found my own way to get lost ... every day. all I have to do is pick up a brush, stop thinking, start feeling ... and paint. owning a piece of my art probably won't 'change your life. but it might make you pause, breathe, smile and remember to get lost ... just a little more often. the backstory i started painting several years ago, without any big plans or ambitions. it was hard, unpredictable, time-consuming - and the best thing ever. by the end of day one, i was hooked. one gallery show led to another, and before long i was selling paintings to friends, family + a handful of local fans. local sales turned into national sales. national sales turned into licensing deals. bulk orders from CB2 came knocking, along with flash sales at fab.com, pops-ups in people magazine - and flattering attention from a couple of those 'home makeover' reality tv shows. one day, i woke up and realized, "huh ... guess I'm a full-time artist, now." i grinned. and then put brush to canvas again. the nowstory i live in north carolina with my (amazing) family. i wake up at 5am most mornings, work out, whirl the kids off to school, check my computer for new orders, plant myself in the center of (at least) ten half-covered canvases, and rarely stop moving 'til nightfall. i'm usually splattered in about seven colors of paint. it's a good way to move through the world. life is complicated enough, so I keep my work simple. i hope it makes you look. i hope it makes you smile. i hope it makes you feel ... something you've been wanting to feel, for a while.