Book Description

In Mess, Keri Smith, creator of Wreck This Journal, asks readers to explore what it feels like to throw themselves off balance -- on purpose.

Smith dares readers to drop some kind of coloured liquid (ink, tea, coffee) onto a page from a good height (at least five feet); draw in the dark (or with eyes closed); creatively misspell words; paint a picture in a water-based medium (pen, marker, watercolour, etc) and leave it out during a rain or snowstorm; and bury this book, then dig it up.

This book is unlike any other you've encountered. Mess encourages readers to use accidents and mistakes to venture into territory where they would not normally go and thus to open themselves up to the possibility of creating something new and unexpected.

About the Author

Keri Smith is an author, illustrator, guerrilla artist, and maintainer of the blog "The Wish Jar".

Smith's writing is usually on the topic of creativity. Her books include bestsellers such as Wreck this Journal, How to be an Explorer of the World, The Guerilla Art Kit, Living Out Loud: Activities to Fuel a Creative Life, and Tear up this Book! She has also written for such publications as How Magazine. A recent book, This is Not a Book was released in the fall of 2009.

Keri spends her days playing with her husband and son, reading, cooking and writing books. As from fall 2010 she teaches part time at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In the last few years (before 2011) she has given lectures on a variety of topics for various institutions and schools across North America.