ART AND MEANING

Hello everyone,

Thank you for your patience as it took me a little longer than usual to put this newsletter together. I had hoped to have it out in February, however I ended up travelling to see my family as they’re facing some health challenges at this time and I needed to be there to offer support.

Life is not always ideal and, when we’re faced with that awareness, this brings us closer to feeling its fragile nature. It is at these times that I turn to the soothing balm of gratitude and allowing, along with art-making, to help me manage the uncertainty and pain of loss. I know many of you are experiencing the same in your own lives, as 2022 continues to present both hope and tragedy. My thoughts are with Ukraine and all those affected by this. May there be peace in our hearts and our lives.

I recently listened to this Brené Brown podcast called ‘Accessing Joy and Finding Connection in the Midst of Struggle’ with author Karen Walrond. It was a potent reminder about the necessity of practices that anchor us to gratitude, especially in difficult times. I found it so helpful.

This month my blog was prompted by my own experience with hearing “no” in response to a gallery submission. It had me reconsidering the importance of finding comfort in the discomfort of rejection or denied opportunities. I hope it helps you to consider how you approach opportunities and invitations. You’ll find some helpful tools to work with as well.

I continue to be delighted at the reception to the launch of my 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge Course in December. I have received such wonderful feedback from the many artists that have taken this course. Thank you so much for that! I had hoped that this course would offer something truly meaningful and useful – a complement to any art practice – and I’m so pleased that seems to be the case.

If you’re curious to know more about the course, scroll down for more info. It is always available on my website, and you can start anytime.

And just a reminder that my monthly blog post is also offered as an audio recording, allowing you to listen rather than read. To listen to the recording just click on the READ MORE OR LISTEN button in the ‘FROM THE BLOG’ section of this newsletter and you’ll find the MP3 file on my website at the bottom of my written post.

If you have any feedback for me, I always love hearing from you. Thank you for reading and sharing this newsletter…it truly is appreciated.

PS: For those of you that are new subscribers I have included a link to find previous issues of this newsletter – full of additional resources for you!

FROM THE BLOG

HEARING NO, FEELING NO – PART 1

Lately I have been thinking about the ways we engage with limits, rejections, and hearing “no” – either from others, or from within ourselves. It’s a complicated relationship we have with “no,”as we typically associate it with a denied request or desire. We feel disappointed, and sometimes downright angry about being told we can’t have what we want. I’m flashing back to that feeling of being a young child and working so hard to get that “yes” – the magic “yes” that allowed me to have what my tiny heart desired. This relationship with “no” starts early for us and seems to carry some weight with it throughout most of our life.  

So how do we feel our way through hearing “no” in response to something we’re seeking? And, how does that differ from sensing and understanding an internal “no” when we’re considering a choice or opportunity. Both invite us to notice our reactivity to the sound of hearing “no” and perhaps experience it differently; more responsively. 

I recently made a submission to a local gallery, along with about 150 other artists. And, like many others have experienced, my work wasn’t accepted – I received a “no.” I was so happy to learn that a good friend of mine was accepted. She got the coveted "yes."

What was interesting to me was my internal response and how it has shifted from years past. Yes, I felt disappointed. That is a natural response to have after not receiving what we had hoped for. But what was noticeably different for me was how I wasn’t making this rejection personal. I wasn’t beating myself up with negative self-talk and feeling defeated.

This wasn’t always the case. It is a common challenge that artists face – managing their internal response to not having their work accepted for a show, a gallery, or not having it sell at an exhibition – which can feel like a quiet, sneaky “no.”

I think this relationship to “no” is an important one for us to pay attention to and work with. If we don’t consider how we respond to hearing “no,” we may find ourselves devastated by a rejection. This can then cast a shadow on the way we view our work, the risks we’ll take, the opportunities we will seek out, and the courage we need to stand back up and try again. 

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ARTIST’S MINDSET

ANNE KAFERLE: BETWEEN THE PHYSICAL + THE CONCEPTUAL

With a profound respect for the natural world, landscape painter Anne Kaferle’s work moves between realism and muted colour fields. Her deep observations over time, expressed in these subtle, yet impactful works, serve to remind us of the power of the landscape and our smallness within it.

Painting en plein air, Anne moves with the natural elements as collaborators, allowing chance and indirect actions to be a part of the work. These paintings document her experience and unity with her surroundings.

Represented by Nüart Gallery in Santa Fe, you’ll find more videos on Anne Kaferle’s process and images of her work HERE.

M.C. RICHARDS : THE FIRE WITHIN

Mary Caroline Richards (1916 - 1999), known as M.C. Richards, was an American poet, potter, and writer, and considered by many one of the world’s greatest philosophers on the topic of creativity.

She is best known for her book, Centering: In Pottery, Poetry, and the Person, in which she contemplates how we experience wholeness and find our balance between fluidity and solidly, grounded-ness and envisioned levity – the many paradoxical aspects that artists encounter in the creative process.

From 1949-51, M.C. Richards was head of faculty at the famously experimental Black Mountain College, which engaged artists like Robert Rauschenberg, Elaine and Willem deKooning, Robert Motherwell, and John Cage.

In this short excerpt from the longer documentary film M.C. Richards: The Fire Within, M.C. tells her students about the impossible choice many of us are asked to make, and which simply doesn’t fit into a creative life. M.C. would rather live in the “crossing point” of these choices.

She asks her students, “Are you going to be an earthy person – practical, down-to-earth, get-to-it? Or are you going to be a dreamer, a visionary?”

“We’re going to be both. And, we can’t be, shouldn’t be, talked out of it. I am both. Don’t tell me I have to choose. I don’t have to choose. I am both, and I live in the crossing point.”

You can also read more on M.C. Richard’s philosophies through this issue of The Marginalian .

LEE KRASNER : HOW TO BE AN ARTIST

After emerging from the shadow of her husband, action-painter Jackson Pollock, Lee Krasner conducted many interviews in the last 20 years of her life.

Kranser was an accomplished painter and a significant contributor to the Abstract Expressionist movement. However, many of the art-world gatekeepers overlooked her work. Despite those obstacles, she persisted and overcame many of the hurdles in her way to make work that held up to, or even surpassed, many of her contemporaries.

In this Artsy article, from their editorial series, ‘How to Be an Artist,’ Lee Krasner offers us her essential wisdom for remaining committed and passionate as an artist, no matter what you’re facing.

INSIGHT CREATIVE COACHING: THE 30 DAY SKETCHBOOK CHALLENGE COURSE

The 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge Course is an affordable, self-guided, content-rich course that you can start anytime. It guides you through developing a consistent and personal sketchbook practice to enhance your art-making and mindset skills. With daily prompts, reflective questions for gaining further insights, and pre-recorded coaching videos, there is tons of support for artists as they nurture and connect with their creative expression and artist's mindset.

It is being offered at only $59 CAD, making this course available to so many – you can even give it as a gift to the artist in your life. I have created an enriching experience for you by offering some of my best content on working with a sketchbook and reflective journaling. Being a stand-alone, self-guided course means it can be accessed at any time and you’ll have lifetime access to the content.

If you want more details on the 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge Course, please visit my course information page HERE.

You can also email me at info@insightcreative.ca with your questions or for more info.

Gift vouchers are now available to gift this course to the artist in your life. Just email me and I’ll send you all the details.

THE GIFT OF SHARING

For new subscribers – please enjoy these previous issues of my monthly newsletter. Thank you for subscribing!

Links to additional back issues can be found on the right sidebar of my Blog HERE

If you know of any artists that could benefit from these monthly newsletters and/or my 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge Course, please share this email with them and invite them to have a look. They’ll receive my free PDF download on ‘How to Make a Creativity Journal’ when they do.

STRONGER TOGETHER

Art-making is such a personal experience, always calling us forth and asking us to be more of ourselves, to trust more deeply and to show up for the work.

When we develop a healthy and resilient attitude towards the struggles we may be facing, we feel more balanced and set ourselves up for success.

I hope this newsletter gives you some tools to help guide yourself towards more trust and awareness around your creative process.

Thanks for being here…wishing you abundant creativity today and every day!
Warmly,
Cheryl Taves
info@insightcreative.ca
h: 250.360.1453
c: 250.818.3239