Allowing the artist within (next workshop on Fri 9th July)
In moments of clarity, I realise that I’m an artist first. An artist before being a brand photographer or a small business owner.
With everything else going on, this is something I forget sometimes. (& have forgotten for many years at a time.)
As I started painting consistently during the first lockdown of last year, it’s been a relief-of-a-journey to own that part of me & allow myself to be the creative who regularly practices their craft.
Even so, it can still feel easier to NOT make art, and to stay busy with other things.
Blocks come up for me that say making is a luxury, a waste of time, unproductive, selfish, not that important. I remind myself that these thoughts & this conditioning does not have to be true for me.
Yet, so I often find resistance coming up when I think about painting or playing guitar, etc. The idea of making things can feel like ‘work’! And in some ways, it is!
But when I do Make the things, & when I have expressed the ideas that have risen up from some place, or experimented freely, I feel like something very Right has occurred. (Not that everything goes to plan or ‘turns out well’. It’s doesn’t.)
When I’m in the act of ‘making’, I realise that a lot of stuff is getting sifted & sorted in my head, that I’m doing something I’m ‘meant’ to be doing (because inspiration has called me there), & that the process of making art is healing me. It does matter.
I have to remind myself EVERY TIME I make art to see what I do as an experiment. I tell myself that the outcome doesn’t have to be good, and this helps me to feel free enough to keep going.
I have a consistent practice now, & despite life feeling full again, I’m finding ways, (tiny & chunky ways!) to carve out time for my own creative work & honour the deeper need within me to Make.
I know I'm not alone on this journey, as through the many conversations I've been grateful to have about creativity recently, showing up for our art practice can feel simultaneously like a challenge AND vital to our wellbeing.
If you know you’re an artist too but have been struggling to show up to your practice or don't know where to start, (or if you're simply curious to explore the creative potential that lies within you), I would *love* to have you come along to my next workshop on Friday 9th July, where we'll reconnect with the knowings that...
making art is allowed, no matter where you're at
creative expression is for all humans regardless of 'talent' or 'artistic ability', and
life feels richer when we're connected with creativity, and we totally get to choose how we make space for it in our days and weeks and months!
At Commit to Creativity, we'll reconnect with inspiration, we'll acknowledge what's getting in the way of your creative practice right now, get excited about the creations you *would* like to bring forth, and find ways to make time and headspace for YOUR self-expression. Tickets are just £15 and you can book your place here. I would love to see you there. All you need to bring is your journal and a favourite pen!
P.S. Know someone who needs Commit to Creativity? I'd be so grateful for you to pass it on! Forward this email or pop them the link.
P.P.S. Humans & water are two things I’ve wanted to try painting for ages and this river scene pictured above is one I made this past week. I’m really happy with how it turned out!
“I have been so activated since our creativity workshop!”
“Thank you so much for having me on Friday! It was such a beautiful experience and once again I really enjoyed immersing in your energy. You are so great at holding space and guiding others in a loving way, I loved the whole experience. It was perfect in every way”
“I was expecting to feel inspired and relaxed and peaceful like always do after your sessions, and as always I felt that and more <3 I found having your narrative and approach to asking questions meant different answers came up for me. I found it hugely insightful in my own creative blocks and came away with actionable steps which I’m already putting into practice :) It was perfect in every way.”
“I knew it was going to be thorough and thought provoking. Your energy is so calm the whole workshop felt super serene and safe. I gained some good understanding of my creative blocks. Having already had an in depth conversation with you a couple of weeks ago, which arguably is a great set-up to go into great depths (I gained soooo much understanding from that 1-2-1 we had), the workshop helped to build on that. It was really great Becky, you have such a great way of setting the energy at just the right pitch and you’re so articulate...your vocabulary feels creative to listen to. Thank you so much for having me 🧡✨”