- 02 / 06 — The framework
Six phases. Three domains.
ARTFUL is the spine of the book — a structure for designing lessons that scaffold creative capacity rather than perform it. It draws on arts-based pedagogy, somatic practice, and recent work in neuroaesthetics and positive psychology.
i. of iii. The phases
The ARTFUL phases.
Each chapter in the book moves through these six phases. They give a lesson its shape — preparing the room, opening attention, working in the material, framing what emerged, putting it to use, and letting go.
A
[ phase 1 ]
R
[ phase 2 ]
T
[ phase 3 ]
F
[ phase 4 ]
Y
[ phase 5]
L
[ phase 6]
ii. of iii. — Domain 01
I. Self
The starting point. Practices that locate creativity inside the person — inner awareness, embodied attention, the capacity to stay with uncertainty. The Self domain is where most arts-trained students are quietly ahead.
Exercises in this domain
Sonic Sculpture
6M
Vision Collage
4D
Resilience Building Blocks
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ii. of iii. — Domain 02
II. Other
Creativity that lives between people. Listening, ensemble, improvisation — practices that make collaboration possible before the work itself begins. Trust shows up in the body before it shows up in the conversation.
Exercises in this domain
Gesture Sculpture
9M
Let the Cards Tell the Story
[ — ]
Interrupted Still Life
[ — ]
ii. of iii. — Domain 03
III. World
The leap outward. Practices that move creative attention from the room into the wider context — agency, lateral framing, response. What does creative attention become when it has to act?
Exercises in this domain
Philomena Cunk Absurd Associations
[ — ]
[ exercise name ]
[ — ]
[ exercise name ]
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- iii. of iii.
- Underpinnings
Built on established science.
The framework draws on a careful selection of established work in psychology, neuroscience, and entrepreneurship — woven into something teachable rather than merely citable.
Csikszentmihalyi
-Flow
The conditions of optimal experience — attention, challenge, skill — that ARTFUL exercises are designed to scaffold rather than demand.
Fredrickson
-Broaden-and-build
Dane & Pratt
-Intuition in expert practice
Why expert intuition is structured rather than mystical — and what that means for how creativity is taught.
Sarasvathy
-Effectuation
Sawyer
-Group creativity
How groups think together, and why improvisation is the underlying logic of every creative collaboration.
Porges
-Polyvagal theory
The autonomic foundations of safety, social engagement, and the body’s readiness to enter creative work.
Beck
-Cognitive foundations
The cognitive-behavioural underpinnings of reframing, reflection, and the inner moves the exercises rely on.