Thought provoking and bold, Thought Lozenges will help you believe there is something bigger. That the joy and wonder of art can transcend the laws of technique and the rigors of the artistic profession. Thought Lozenges dares readers to be savage, optimistic, and unrefined. It dares them to be artists.

Here's what people are saying:

"In these beautiful, sometimes weird, intensely personal poems and evocative drawings, Ben Mathes and Ray Cosico have created nuggets of divine inspiration, for artists of all types and for the artist in all of us. If you want a lift and some clarity, dip into a Thought Lozenge, or you can binge on them and feel transported to a calmer and clearer place. Absorbing them provides a moment of transcendence in our hectic world.”

- Donna Morong, Casting Director: Ten Things I Hate About You, Princess Diaries

"A very unusual, but richly rewarding book for actors, full of wisdom and hand-holds for the massive mountaineering effort that is devoting your life to the art of acting. Keep it by your bed, because it will also provide vital encouragement and solace for those terrifying moments when you wake in middle of the night, fearing all is lost."

- David Carson, Director Star Trek: Generations

“For any artist who has at one time or another felt uncertainty, doubt, confusion, misdirection, dried up inspiration, frustration, exhaustion, fear, emptiness, or isolation, and is trying to rediscover that spark that started you in the first place - Benjamin Mathes has just created the fuel for your fire.” 

- Kyle Selig, Broadway: Book of Mormon, Pippin

“It is extraordinary. Truly beautiful and provocative and excitingly encouraging.” 

- Rob Nagle, Artistic Director, Antaeus Theatre Company, LA

“I will use this in my classroom – it provides perfect jumping off points for inspired work. It is thought provoking and inspirational; it is poetic and heartbreakingly beautiful.  As I read it, names and faces came to me of people I want to give this to, share this with, gift with this book. I want it on my desk and in my home for when I need to be reminded that above all, I am an Artist.”

- Elizabeth Terrel, Director of Voice & Movement, Western Michigan University

“Mathes' book forges a passionate, unbreakable connection with one's self! An artist's must have companion/guide to being perfectly human.”

- Dr. Sharrell Luckett, California State University, Dominguez Hills

“Truly impressive; you have given something genuinely useful to the reader. Commercially, it reminds me somewhat of The War of Art, but more like Bruce Lee's Striking Thoughts. Personally, it has humor, inspiration, soulfulness, spirituality and wisdom. I kept laughing out loud as I read, and writing down names of people who it would seem certain haikus were written specifically for!”

- Adrian Alita, Head of acting, San Diego State University

“Whether you are a painter, a poet, an actor, a dancer, sculptor, writer or even an art appreciator, you will be inspired by Benjamin Mathes' book. His insights uncover the soul of what drives creative processes, which include daily life itself!  I am keeping a copy of the book in my studio.  For an artist, giving to the fullest is living to the fullest!”  

- Amy Watts, Visual Artist

“Benjamin Mathes inspires the letting go of doubt, the dissipation of fear and the return to Truth, with authenticity, with integrity, and with profound awareness. He and Ray Cosico paint the world as a wondrous possibility in which we discover our wholeness, not our perfection; our humanity, not our savagery; and in which we remember that we are here to wake up to a greater truth and to aid others in the process of awakening.”

- Henry Scott, Actor/Dancer, Instructor Kennesaw State University

“Benjamin Mathes' book is a guide for your innate spirit from which all creativity springs. Open any page, put it down and let osmosis take place. Slowly, surely and resolutely, you will learn to trust who you are and inform what you do. Benjamin has shared something here of great lasting value for any artist on a quest for beauty, fulfillment and truth..."

- James Warwick, Actor/Director, President of Theatre of Arts, Hollywood

“I couldn’t put the book down. It turned out, he wasn’t only teaching me how to be a better actor or a better director, but he was teaching me to be a better, more open, human being. His words challenged my thought process. There were moments my heart was touched and moments were I questioned if I was living up to my full potential. I wish I could get a version of this book to keep in my pocket so I can pull it out anytime I want a dose of inspiration or motivation.”

- Jenn Page, Director, Filmmaker