Keri Smith

Here is a detailed, SEO-optimized biographical article about Keri Smith (often misidentified as “American”, but more accurately described as a Canadian author/artist), covering her life, work, philosophy, and memorable quotes.

Keri Smith – Life, Art, and Creative Philosophy

Discover the life, works, and philosophy of Keri Smith — Canadian author, illustrator, and conceptual artist — including her famous books, creative approach, and inspiring quotes.

Introduction

Keri Smith is a Canadian author, illustrator, and conceptual artist best known for her interactive, hands-on books that invite the reader to become a co-creator. Her works—such as Wreck This Journal, How to Be an Explorer of the World, This Is Not a Book, The Pocket Scavenger, and Mess: A Manual of Accidents and Mistakes—encourage imperfection, playful destruction, exploration, and deep observation of the everyday world.

Smith’s creative ethos centers on loosening the grip of perfectionism, waking up creative impulses, and making art a process of discovery. Her books often defy traditional structure and instead act as interactive prompts or open works, where the reader helps complete them.

Early Life & Background

Though many sources label her Canadian, some references also list her as American author in quote aggregators (likely by error).

Her educational background includes an Associate of Arts (AA) degree from Northern Oklahoma College and a Bachelor’s in Art History from Arizona State University.

Smith formerly taught a class in conceptual illustration at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, Canada.

Career & Major Works

Approach & Philosophy

A key focus of Smith’s work is to produce what Umberto Eco called “open works” — creative pieces that are completed and evolved by their readers/users, rather than statically finished by the author alone.

Her practice leans into imperfection, randomness, play, and the act of exploration. Many of her prompts ask readers to tear, stain, collect, glitch, or otherwise “wreck” the material as part of creation, challenging the fear of damage and perfection.

Smith also conducts workshops based on her books, helping participants experience creative prompts in physical or communal settings.

Notable Books & Projects

Some of her key works include:

• Wreck This Journal — perhaps her best known: a guided journal full of prompts to damage, mark, spill, modify, and otherwise “wreck” pages.

• How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life/Art Museum — a guide to noticing, observing, collecting, and interacting with surroundings in a creative way.

• This Is Not a Book

• Mess: A Manual of Accidents and Mistakes

• The Pocket Scavenger

• Finish This Book

• Wreck This Journal Everywhere

• Everything Is Connected

• Apps and digital spin-offs (e.g. Wreck This App)

She also participates in installation work. For example, in 2019 she was involved in The Wander Society Adventure Lab at the Olana Museum in Hudson, NY.

She once served as “resident thinker” for the art project Nowhere Island (Cultural Olympiad), alongside other artists.

Smith is also a consultant for the Center for Artistic Activism.

Themes & Impact

Embracing Imperfection and Process

A central idea in Smith’s work is that creation is inherently messy, vulnerable, and incomplete. She deliberately invites “mistakes” and destruction as part of growth, letting readers push against boundaries.

Deepening Observation & Presence

Many prompts ask readers to slow down, notice small details, record, observe patterns, and create personal dialogue with environments. This counters modern habits of distraction and passivity.

Breaking the Barrier Between Author and Reader

By making her books interactive, Smith collapses the line between creator and audience: the work is incomplete without the reader’s engagement.

Resisting Digital Disconnection

Smith often critiques overreliance on screens. She encourages using pen, paper, and real-world engagement to reconnect with sensory experience and inner voice.

Her aim includes getting children (and adults) away from screens and into the physical realm of observation and play.

Famous Quotes by Keri Smith

Here are some representative quotes:

“How To Be An Explorer Of The World:

1. Always Be LOOKING (notice the ground beneath your feet.)

2. Consider Everything Alive & Animate

3. EVERYTHING Is Interesting. Look Closer.
   …

4. DOCUMENT Your Findings (field notes) … 13. Use ALL of the Senses In Your Investigations.”
   — How to Be an Explorer of the World

“Your life is your art.”

“Creativity arises from our ability to see things from many different angles.”

“Make a mess. Clean it up.”

“Something different happens to my brain when I put pen to paper: the pace of writing or drawing slows you down and gives you more time for thoughts to come in.”

“The virtual world can never be a substitute for real world experience. … the more it takes over our lives … the more we forget that there is an entire universe to be discovered even during a 10 minute walk to work.”

“I do not see the process of blogging as a separate thing from creating art. … I do not like to be known for being a ‘blogger,’ as this is just one form of output for creative ideas.”

“What I’m doing is trying to get kids to pay attention, to look at the physical world more, and to question everything. I am trying to get kids out of the house and away from screens.”

These quotes reflect her advocacy for embodied creativity, exploration, imperfection, and skepticism of passive consumption.

Lessons from Keri Smith

1. Don’t fear “messiness.”
   Creative growth often comes through trial, rupture, reassembly. Imperfection can spark insight.

2. Observe deeply.
   Everyday life is full of stories, patterns, textures—if one slows down and pays attention.

3. Be participant, not consumer.
   Treat creative works as invitations to act, not mere spectacles.

4. Reconnect with the physical.
   In a screen-saturated age, touch, smell, movement, and presence matter—creativity thrives in the real.

5. Complicate authorship.
   Changing the role of the author invites collaboration, surprise, and keeps the work alive.

Conclusion

Keri Smith has carved a unique niche as a creative provocateur: she doesn't just write books—she issues open invitations to play, experiment, destroy, rebuild, and see. Her works tell us that art is not a polished end state but a lively process conducted through observation, risk, curiosity, and imperfection.

Whether you pick up Wreck This Journal, wander with Explorer of the World, or engage with her installations, Smith’s aim is to activate your creativity, to shake you out of passivity, and to remind you that your life itself can be your art.