ART AND MOVEMENT

Hello everyone,

Thank you for being here. As always, I deeply appreciate you – my subscribers. Each month I consider what I can offer you in the form of support and inspiration. I hope that your time spent with this newsletter carves out a space of reflection within you, and that you are left inspired and curious about your own art-making nature.

This month my blog was inspired by a poem by the Irish poet John O’Donohue and discussions I had with fellow artists around fallow periods in our art-making – what they mean and how to engage with them.

In this newsletter I am also updating you on my progress with my fall offering of the The 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge Course – which I’ll be launching very soon.

I had great intentions of having it ready for the end of September, but life is moving at a very fast pace for me these days and I am going with the flow right now, carving out pockets of time where I can for each valuable action that I am inspired to take. I’m actually enjoying this new-found permission that I am offering to myself. It’s a form of self-care and a wonderful practice in acceptance and trust. There is more information about the program further on in this newsletter. There is more information about the program further on in this newsletter.

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 some links to previous issues of this newsletter – full of additional resources for you!

FROM THE BLOG

FALLOW

Life knows about the cycles and seasons. Life accepts that they must come and surrendering is an absolute. Life invites in periods of rest, recognizing them as a time of rejuvenation, welcoming them for their gifts. Life knows that everything changes, and always will. Life just seems to trust it all.

I remember the first time I received the suggestion to “trust the process of life.” I really didn’t know how to do that or even what that meant. It was a wise and gifted counsellor that offered me that wisdom as a counter to my angst-filled heart. Life wasn’t going very well for me at that time and I needed help to find a way through. Life knows there is always a way through and, thankfully, this reminder – to trust the process of life – became a way forward and out of my suffering. I was so grateful for that teaching that it has always stayed with me.

This idea that we can trust the process of life is one that can offer us so much more ease in every moment. As we make our creative work alongside our lives it’s not surprising that art and life have an interconnectedness that can’t be denied. Our art-making is informed by our lives, and where we place our trust. When we can trust the process of our creative cycles and allow for spaciousness, slowness, and rest to be a part of that process, we find that new life is found in our creative work and we have returned once again.

This poem by the Irish poet John O’Donohue offers us the gentle reminder that we tend to resist this most natural and necessary part of the creative process. Fallow seasons that offer rest and revitalization are rich periods of fertile development, when met with the awareness of that potential. 

INSPIRATION FOR YOUR ARTIST’S MINDSET

REBECCA LOUISE LAW : SEASONS

From paper and paint to petals and stems, artist Rebecca Louise Law uses nature, specifically flowers, as her medium. In creating these sensitive, intricate, and synergistic works, she invites and utilizes the hands of others to contribute to the creation of these large scale installations.

By drawing on the local community for both materials and labour, Rebecca infuses this work with the message of unity and connection – something that nature expresses so well.

Each space Rebecca encounters is a new canvas for her installations, expressing the beauty and fragility of our natural world. Standing alone with her vision, she took her work beyond the limits that others placed on her, expanding on the concepts she is committed to exploring in her work. Speaking to themes of remembrance and time, ’Seasons’ invites the viewer to pause and consider our connection to nature.

BRENÉ BROWN : HAVE THE COURAGE TO STAND ALONE (FIND TRUE BELONGING)

Along with the necessity for us to find our inner strength and resilience, the important role of art and creativity comes across strongly in this talk given by Brené Brown. An author and research professor at the University of Houston, Brené has spent the last 20 years studying courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy.

”The magic of all art is to capture our pain and deliver us from it at the same time.”

Artists and creatives offer so much more – to ourselves and others – than we may be aware of. Thank you for being an artist and for being a part of my creative community – you are truly valuable. As we “let our hearts be marked by the wild” we keep that wildness alive for everyone through what we create and share.

TANIA KOVATS : WHY I DRAW

In this ArtSpace feature, from their ‘Meet The Artist’ series, we are offered an opportunity to consider the aspects of drawing through the lens of UK artist, Tania Kovats.

It was notable how Tania starts her day by checking in with herself and setting a tone for the day. She says, “It’s quiet; a bare boned time of the year where everything is withdrawn, dark, and frozen. Right now, it’s morning so I’ve just done my yoga practice to check in with how I am. Then I walked to the top of the hill and checked in with how the day is. Despite everything going on, my head and heart is now set in a good place for the day.”

Tania beautifully articulates the benefits of her chosen medium, as she describes what she does and why she has a special relationship to drawing.

“Drawings tell stories well, the story of their making, the time and state of their making, what they witness, what they hide or reveal.”

INSIGHT CREATIVE : THE 30 DAY SKETCHBOOK CHALLENGE COURSE

In my last newsletter I shared with you what inspired me to create The 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge Course…and I am so excited to share it with you, once I have everything in place and ready for you. It should be very soon!

Since I began offering 1 to 1 Creativity Coaching to individuals, I recognized the limitations of time and how that impacts my ability to serve those that need help and support for their creative work. And I am passionate about helping artists to make their work and find more peace in the process.

This is why I started the The Artist’s Mindset Group Coaching Program – to reach more artists and leverage the benefit of a group learning environment. We learn so much from each other, and through this program I am able to guide artists in a deepening practice of self-awareness and compassion, helping them to build their resilience and strengthen their mindset skills.

The 30 Day Sketchbook Challenge Course serves this same purpose, offering valuable content on the benefits of a sketchbook practice and reflective journaling to many more artists than I could ever help through my individual coaching or online program.

This will be an affordable, self-guided, content-rich course that you can start anytime. It will guide 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 video sessions, there will be tons of support for artists as they nurture and connect with their artist's mindset.

I’m so close to having this ready for you and can’t wait to share it. I have put so much into it, creating a really 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 the content is always available.

As always, my subscribers will be the first to know about its launch and how to find out all the details.

If you know of anyone who you think might benefit from this offering, they can join my mailing list to be notified as soon as it’s ready. They can sign up HERE

PAST ISSUES OF THIS NEWSLETTER

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

July/August
May/June 2021
March/April 2021
February 2021
January 2021

Links to additional back issues can be found on my website HERE

If you know of any Artists that could benefit from these monthly newsletters, please share and invite them to subscribe. 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