• I’m with Napoleon on this. Napping often looks a lot more appealing than showing up to do your art. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Perhaps it’s the way it makes us feel vulnerable, or the fact that often, we don’t quite know what we’re doing until it’s done. Perhaps it’s the way it makes us feel like a constant work in progress. Resistance can look like a loss of interest in something we once felt so passionate about. And it’s ok. We can’t be passionate and inspired all the time. But we owe it to our art to keep showing up in whatever small way, especially when things get tough. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I find that reading old journal entries or revisiting past work can remind us of the spark we once felt, and give us the fuel to get back to work. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And sometimes, we really just need a nap and that’s ok too. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do you ever lose your creative spark? What do you do to get it back?✨ #nourishingtheartist
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    I’m with Napoleon on this. Napping often looks a lot more appealing than showing up to do your art. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Perhaps it’s the way it makes us feel vulnerable, or the fact that often, we don’t quite know what we’re doing until it’s done. Perhaps it’s the way it makes us feel like a constant work in progress. Resistance can look like a loss of interest in something we once felt so passionate about. And it’s ok. We can’t be passionate and inspired all the time. But we owe it to our art to keep showing up in whatever small way, especially when things get tough. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I find that reading old journal entries or revisiting past work can remind us of the spark we once felt, and give us the fuel to get back to work. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ And sometimes, we really just need a nap and that’s ok too. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Do you ever lose your creative spark? What do you do to get it back?✨ #nourishingtheartist
  • ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 21: UNFOLDING✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is our last day of #nourishingtheartist - I had planned all the posts ahead of time. And about half of them changed over time. They did not get posted on consecutive days. Instead of turning to the usual thoughts of “you suck, you can’t stick to a plan”, I realised that this journey was for me, just as much as it was for you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Some ideas just presented themselves in the moment, so I grabbed them. When I needed rest I took some time away. Then I picked up where I’d left my work. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ On your Artist’s journey, you’ll realise that a lot of our work reveals itself to us. But it needs a few things from us: - to show up consistently - take imperfect action - be open to detours and new avenues - surrender to the fact we never quite know what the outcome will be ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This idea of journeying and letting your body of work unfold is one that I witness everyday in my coaching practice, which is why I named my coaching offer: Unfolding. It’s a 3 month coaching journey for artists and creatives, and I currently have 4 spots open if that sounds like something you’d like to explore. You can find more info in the link in my profile (this little bit of self-promotion wasn’t planned either!) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Now that we’re reach the end of this little Instagram journey together I just wanted to remind you to never ever stop creating, keep nourishing your artist, and don’t ever lose that creative spark. It matters, your work matters and you, my beautiful, imperfect, creative friend are magical ❤️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧 today’s song: Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, because it’s super appropriate and Freddie has been my muse since age 8 ✨ 🎤
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    ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 21: UNFOLDING✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is our last day of #nourishingtheartist - I had planned all the posts ahead of time. And about half of them changed over time. They did not get posted on consecutive days. Instead of turning to the usual thoughts of “you suck, you can’t stick to a plan”, I realised that this journey was for me, just as much as it was for you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Some ideas just presented themselves in the moment, so I grabbed them. When I needed rest I took some time away. Then I picked up where I’d left my work. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ On your Artist’s journey, you’ll realise that a lot of our work reveals itself to us. But it needs a few things from us: - to show up consistently - take imperfect action - be open to detours and new avenues - surrender to the fact we never quite know what the outcome will be ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This idea of journeying and letting your body of work unfold is one that I witness everyday in my coaching practice, which is why I named my coaching offer: Unfolding. It’s a 3 month coaching journey for artists and creatives, and I currently have 4 spots open if that sounds like something you’d like to explore. You can find more info in the link in my profile (this little bit of self-promotion wasn’t planned either!) ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Now that we’re reach the end of this little Instagram journey together I just wanted to remind you to never ever stop creating, keep nourishing your artist, and don’t ever lose that creative spark. It matters, your work matters and you, my beautiful, imperfect, creative friend are magical ❤️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧 today’s song: Don’t Stop Me Now by Queen, because it’s super appropriate and Freddie has been my muse since age 8 ✨ 🎤
  • ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 20: GRATITUDE✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One cliché I have been fighting my whole life has to do with the fact that, supposedly, French people are rude and grumpy. Firstly, how dare you, non-French person? 😆 Secondly, I see your point, but I think it’s got to do with a cultural habit of being quite reserved when it comes to our emotions. It doesn’t mean we don’t feel (oh non, we are quite a passionate bunch), but I guess we are more used to expressing disagreement than approval. I find French people in general are very direct and honest, which can translate into not very much sugar coating. Or to the untrained eye, grumpy and rude. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Ok so what’s my point? Gratitude. I remember rolling my eyes and shrugging when I first read about the benefits of gratitude. Let’s just say it didn’t come naturally to me. But curiousity has the better of me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I started keeping a gratitude journal and all of a sudden, I kept seeing things I could be grateful for throughout my day. A bush flowering in the spring. The way the light hits my office in the afternoon. A moment of quiet to myself. A conversation. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Gratitude showed me all the wonders that keep happening right in front of my nose, pulling me out of my head and anchoring me in the present moment. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Which brings me to creativity. When we find ourselves in a state of gratitude and wonder, we become a lot more receptive to little sparks of inspiration. They are all around, but we tend to miss them when we’re too enthralled in our own drama. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Your prompt for today: list 3 to 5 things you feel grateful for. Bask in the feeling. Write on why these things make you feel grateful. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Take it from a French person: It soon becomes second nature, and your inner artist will thank you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧 Today’s song: It’s a Wonderful Life by Sparklehorse #nourishingtheartist
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    ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 20: GRATITUDE✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ One cliché I have been fighting my whole life has to do with the fact that, supposedly, French people are rude and grumpy. Firstly, how dare you, non-French person? 😆 Secondly, I see your point, but I think it’s got to do with a cultural habit of being quite reserved when it comes to our emotions. It doesn’t mean we don’t feel (oh non, we are quite a passionate bunch), but I guess we are more used to expressing disagreement than approval. I find French people in general are very direct and honest, which can translate into not very much sugar coating. Or to the untrained eye, grumpy and rude. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Ok so what’s my point? Gratitude. I remember rolling my eyes and shrugging when I first read about the benefits of gratitude. Let’s just say it didn’t come naturally to me. But curiousity has the better of me. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ I started keeping a gratitude journal and all of a sudden, I kept seeing things I could be grateful for throughout my day. A bush flowering in the spring. The way the light hits my office in the afternoon. A moment of quiet to myself. A conversation. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Gratitude showed me all the wonders that keep happening right in front of my nose, pulling me out of my head and anchoring me in the present moment. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Which brings me to creativity. When we find ourselves in a state of gratitude and wonder, we become a lot more receptive to little sparks of inspiration. They are all around, but we tend to miss them when we’re too enthralled in our own drama. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Your prompt for today: list 3 to 5 things you feel grateful for. Bask in the feeling. Write on why these things make you feel grateful. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Take it from a French person: It soon becomes second nature, and your inner artist will thank you. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧 Today’s song: It’s a Wonderful Life by Sparklehorse #nourishingtheartist
  • ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 19: MIX IT UP✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Where do you get your inspiration from? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ While it’s natural to gravitate towards our likes and preferences, we tend to underestimate how much social conditioning can influence our taste and what we feel drawn to. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You prompt today: mix up your influences ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ How often do you consume art from different cultures? How diverse is your pool of inspiration? Do you look outside of art for inspiration? Within your field, do you immerse yourself in different styles and genres? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Getting curious about something you know little about could lead you down a new rabbit hole, help you make surprising connections and spark brand new ideas. Your inner artist, like a child, is curious and playful. If you always feed your artist the same thing, it will turn to white noise and put them to sleep. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧Today’s song is a brilliant example of cross cultural inspiration (unfortunately not on Spotify but really worth a listen): The Bekerlee students’ remake of the Beatles’ Baby You Can Drive my car with Arabic lyrics and instrumentation, sung by Syrian vocalist Nano Raies. This remake was created to celebrate the end of Saudi ban on women drivers.The new version tells the story of a woman who’s in love with her newly granted freedom, and feels that marriage and family can wait. She sings, Baby, I can drive my car/Yes, I’m gonna be a star/Baby I can drive my car/And maybe I’ll love you. Link in bio ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #nourishingtheartist
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    ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 19: MIX IT UP✨ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Where do you get your inspiration from? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ While it’s natural to gravitate towards our likes and preferences, we tend to underestimate how much social conditioning can influence our taste and what we feel drawn to. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ You prompt today: mix up your influences ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ How often do you consume art from different cultures? How diverse is your pool of inspiration? Do you look outside of art for inspiration? Within your field, do you immerse yourself in different styles and genres? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Getting curious about something you know little about could lead you down a new rabbit hole, help you make surprising connections and spark brand new ideas. Your inner artist, like a child, is curious and playful. If you always feed your artist the same thing, it will turn to white noise and put them to sleep. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧Today’s song is a brilliant example of cross cultural inspiration (unfortunately not on Spotify but really worth a listen): The Bekerlee students’ remake of the Beatles’ Baby You Can Drive my car with Arabic lyrics and instrumentation, sung by Syrian vocalist Nano Raies. This remake was created to celebrate the end of Saudi ban on women drivers.The new version tells the story of a woman who’s in love with her newly granted freedom, and feels that marriage and family can wait. She sings, Baby, I can drive my car/Yes, I’m gonna be a star/Baby I can drive my car/And maybe I’ll love you. Link in bio ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #nourishingtheartist
  • ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 18: FILL YOUR WELL✨ So my child was sick then I got sick and it feels like nothing productive happened for the last two weeks. In true fashion, I felt extremely uneasy about it at first, and struggled to understand why, until I stumbled upon a post by @lorraineloots today. She says: “We live in a society that praises progress, achievements + hard work. From a young age, we are taught that we can do anything as long as we work hard, push through, stick it out, achieve. Nobody teaches us that our creativity or life force is like a well, bringing forth ideas and beauty and dreams, but that this well needs to be FILLED BACK UP. I think most of us are walking around with dried up wells, and we wonder why we feel tired/overwhelmed, demotivated and listless.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This reminded me of the fact that, just like a crop, our creativity needs rest, nourishment and plenty of time during which it might look like nothing is happening. Nature doesn’t rush ever. Why should we? Why do we find it so hard to slow down and just be? Why do we resist filling our well? Today’s prompt: ask yourself: do you resist taking time to daydream, explore, read, play or do anything not remotely related to your to do list? Do you intentionally take time to fill your well? How could you bring a little more of this into your life right now? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧Today’s song: Suis Moi from The Little Prince movie, interpreted by Camille which perfectly encapsulates this feeling (in French I’m afraid...) #nourishingtheartist
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    ✨Nourishing the Artist Day 18: FILL YOUR WELL✨ So my child was sick then I got sick and it feels like nothing productive happened for the last two weeks. In true fashion, I felt extremely uneasy about it at first, and struggled to understand why, until I stumbled upon a post by @lorraineloots today. She says: “We live in a society that praises progress, achievements + hard work. From a young age, we are taught that we can do anything as long as we work hard, push through, stick it out, achieve. Nobody teaches us that our creativity or life force is like a well, bringing forth ideas and beauty and dreams, but that this well needs to be FILLED BACK UP. I think most of us are walking around with dried up wells, and we wonder why we feel tired/overwhelmed, demotivated and listless.” ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This reminded me of the fact that, just like a crop, our creativity needs rest, nourishment and plenty of time during which it might look like nothing is happening. Nature doesn’t rush ever. Why should we? Why do we find it so hard to slow down and just be? Why do we resist filling our well? Today’s prompt: ask yourself: do you resist taking time to daydream, explore, read, play or do anything not remotely related to your to do list? Do you intentionally take time to fill your well? How could you bring a little more of this into your life right now? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎧Today’s song: Suis Moi from The Little Prince movie, interpreted by Camille which perfectly encapsulates this feeling (in French I’m afraid...) #nourishingtheartist
  • The child is home, sick. I got sick too. Of course I did. Too sick to go to school. But not enough to nap. Of course he’s not. Dragged in and out of sleep By his nightly fits of coughing, I need a nap. Of course I do. The child has other plans for me. There’s no escape. Work is piling up quietly. Books are too loud for my spinning head. But I’ll be fine. I have raspberries. And tea. Who am I kidding. Please send help and headache tablets. This self-pity party is brought to you by another glamorous day in the life of a self-employed mom. Regular posting will resume when I can hear myself think.
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    The child is home, sick. I got sick too. Of course I did. Too sick to go to school. But not enough to nap. Of course he’s not. Dragged in and out of sleep By his nightly fits of coughing, I need a nap. Of course I do. The child has other plans for me. There’s no escape. Work is piling up quietly. Books are too loud for my spinning head. But I’ll be fine. I have raspberries. And tea. Who am I kidding. Please send help and headache tablets. This self-pity party is brought to you by another glamorous day in the life of a self-employed mom. Regular posting will resume when I can hear myself think.