What Keeps Me Creative: An Interview with Craig
Waking up at 5am, cold showers, DJing and travel: these are some of Craig’s practices for better productivity, creativity and well-being after the historical 2020.
"I would wake up this past year at weird times and my mind was racing -- but now it's more project-focused," he says. This is thanks to the new creative habits he's picked up, and really focusing on what inspires him. Craig talks about his new morning routine, favorite travel destinations, his design philosophy, motorcycles and DJing.
Sketching in Sea Ranch, CA.
"I get up at 5 am now"
"When I was younger I thought people were crazy for getting up this early and now here I am the crazy one." chuckles Craig. But if you've read The 5 AM Club, have a serious meditation practice or are a crazy busy entrepreneur and need to find a quiet moment in your day, you know there is something to rising before the sun.
Another "crazy" habit Craig picked up that his friends swear by is taking cold showers in the morning.
"It's been a mini breakthrough, I do it first thing in the morning. I have little rituals, and continue with my mindful meditation practice on Headspace, which I've been doing for years. I find that having that extra hour by getting up at 5 is pretty invaluable: I do my best creative work until about 9 or 10am. Then in the late afternoon, I hangout with my kids and go on family hikes."
Travel Inspires Art
Even though COVID has prohibited a lot of travel this past year, just a 3-hour drive to a weekend getaway can spark creativity, says Craig. "Changing up my environment makes all the difference, and as an architect I love the inspiration I get from that. Just doing a little mini road trip three hours to Tahoe, or down to Southern California on a site visit, can really shift my perspective."
Craig and his family head up the coast and rent a house in the “Utopian community” Sea Ranch each fall, where Craig finds the opportunity to deeply rest and soak in nature. Sea Ranch was developed in the early 1960s by architect and planner Al Boeke. The original homes were designed by acclaimed architects Joseph Esherick (one of Craig’s heroes), Donlyn Lyndon, Charles Moore, and Richard Whitaker and landscape architect Lawrence Halprin. The community was planned to preserve the natural coastline and have minimal impact on the native environment.
Craig is greatly inspired by the minimalist, modern, rustic design of the Sea Ranch structures that seamlessly integrate into the rugged coastline landscape. He walks for hours along the trails checking out the various iterations of the Sea Ranch home that seem to “live so calmly on the land.”
Craig and his family spend time in Sea Ranch every year where he enjoys plenty of natural beauty and inspiration with architecture that's made to fit nicely into the environment versus over-powering it.
One of Craig's favorite places is New Zealand.
Although Craig doesn't pinpoint one specific place outside the US that inspires his designs, he does have a special love for New Zealand where he and his wife spent 5 weeks traveling and “tramping” in 2005.
Craig and Jessica in New Zealand, pre-kids!
Hiking in New Zealand.
"I've thought about living and working there at some point for a period of time. The country has a lot of skilled and creative craftsmen and builders, and the design coming out of their modern, sustainable and energy-efficient architecture is really inspiring. It’s a first world country such as Europe or the US but it's much more sparsely populated so you feel more immersed in nature. From an architectural standpoint, I love how the new, modern homes are set against the most beautiful natural backdrops, especially in places like Wanaka and Queensland.
I can also look back at my trips to Thailand and Sri Lanka and admire a hut on a beach made of bamboo someone crafted."
Cultivating Balance
One thing that Craig has always made sure of in his business and in life is spending plenty of time out in nature and with his family. And he loves motorcycles and motorcycle design (and has a Ducati Scrambler!) as well as DJing. It's all about balance (you might guess that he’s a Libra).
"When overwhelmed with things I just start playing music in my home studio and it's a really good release."
Craig's been DJing for years but really brought it back this year as a stress reliever and creative outlet.
Craig’s balanced approach also reflects in the way he works. "Technology and creativity: it involves striking a balance of being on the computer and using the high-tech software vs. getting off the computer and doing stuff by hand with trace paper -- the paper getting messy with different types of markers and pens, etc. My team members focus more on digital because that's how they were taught. Being older, I learned a different way. So I try to encourage them to print something out and do it by hand sometimes -- just like journaling, there's something about putting pen to paper that does something for the brain."
Hiking with the kids in Sea Ranch.
Craig also emphasizes that getting out of his head and into his body has been huge for not only his health and mental well-being, but his creativity.
"If I get blocked, whether from the news, emails, etc., I move my body: yoga, running, or hiking. I try to go on longer hikes and am starting to run again to really maintain that."
And this balance begins at 5am with his meditation practice and bleeds into his work and design philosophy.
"Balance doesn't necessarily mean symmetry or having things perfectly aligned. I'm not into anything that's overly modern and clean and stark -- I like to have a little bit of warmth in architecture and in the details. A good way to do this is to get some nature involved."