creativity, doubt, fear, inspirational, passion, process

Doubt is what holds us back.

I have no doubt that doubt holds us back from achieving our dreams.

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doubt and fear

Dreams can be elusive, and you might have a vague idea of what your dream is about. If you have an inkling that is GOOD! So many people don’t have any idea of what their dream or passion is.

Achieving a dream can be fraught with doubt and other pitfalls, but the easy part is to JUST START where you are now.  Say you want to be an accomplished painter and you know you feel great when you paint, but something holds you back.

Fear create doubts. “I’m not good enough.”  “I can’t paint well enough.” “I never went to art school so I can’t be a painter.” “People don’t approve.”

Sounds familiar?  But who cares?  When you start something, you might not have any idea of where you’re going, but buy some art supplies that appeal to you. (Most likely, you already have some dusty stuff hidden in the closet.) Dust that stuff off and bring it back out.

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Despite the doubt, just start.

Once you have started and made a commitment to pursue your desire to become a painter, you will find that the next step on the journey will reveal itself.  It’s as if starting sets off some kind of unseen magic.

You will make some ugly art and you will make some great art, and the PROCESS is what makes things interesting.  Everything you do will teach you to take the next step. Art, by the way, is an endless exploration so even if you are a painter for 60 years, you still have more to explore. That is a great thing!

Other passions might not have that longevity factor.

You will be working on yourself as you follow your passion.  Everything we dare to do helps us to discover new depths and gifts within ourselves. That is another gift that happens when we dare to step out of our comfort zone and try something new.

By all means, take some painting courses to learn technique, but know that the true creativity is inside of you. Don’t become a copy cat. Be brave enough to forge your own path even if there is lots of resistance. That might never go away, but you can make friends with it and DO IT ANYWAY.

Resistance meets me every morning in the studio, but what the heck is new with that?  Nada.  Old record of fear keeps playing in my mind, but action takes me beyond that and into the space where magic happens, or not. I still gain experience that is valuable.

How to find your passion if you don’t know what it is.

Think back to when you were a kid. What did you do then that you enjoyed? I enjoyed crafts (paperdolls,) reading, and the outdoors.  Art making has traveled like a red thread through my life.

Think of some job you liked or had a knack for. It might have been a summer job when you were young.

What do you have a knack for?  Writing? Numbers? Decorating?  What do your friends ask you to help them with if anything?  Do they often say, “You’re so good at this.”

If you like more internal things like reading, maybe you can try writing a book.  What if you like intuition and meditation, all internal experiences? Maybe you can teach that to people.  What if you love to cook? Maybe you can specialize in some type of cooking and write a cook book?

The possibilities are endless.

Maybe you like to speak, to lead, to teach. The online world is filled with endless possibility to make your mark and help many people.

Find your passion, START doing it.  Take one step at a time, and when hurdles show up (as they will,) deal with them one at a time. You may have to do some internal work to get past feelings to inadequacy but in the long run, you will stand VICTORIOUS, and who knows, your paintings might be worth millions (once you’re dead, haha.) It’s all in the process, baby.

Kick the doubt to the curb and tell it stay the hell away!

xo

Maria

P.S. I have an art and intuition ecourse coming up. Art as Oracle 2 starts on June 7. You can read all about it HERE.

art, art journaling, creativity, mixed media, video

First snow grunge

 

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First snow, grunge art journal page

First snow is not really relevant since we’re coming up on Memorial Day weekend, but First Snow is what happened when I created this grunge art journal spread.  I made a video of it that you can watch. I added so many layers that it got really interesting, (almost a page ready to be cut up for some other project.) But I think I saved it. Judge for yourself.

art, mixed media, painting, process

What Jane wanted.

What Jane (Austen) wanted might be a strange title, but that is what came to me as I pondered the finished art.  Who knows what yearnings she had, but she would not have showed up without a bonnet or a DRESS anywhere.  Those were the polite rules of the day.  Her hair would not have been as messy either, but in my heat of creative passion I took some artistic license.

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What Jane wanted.

I can tell you the process this art went through. I started out with a layer of various colorful papers all across the canvas.  I usually tear those and just put them down randomly with medium, making sure the edges are well glued down.  Then a painted a couple of layers, did some spatters and runny paint patterns.

I added the birds, and they are cut from paper that I painted turquoise and glued down on some black paper. The yellow legs are also glued down paper that I painted.

I added some more paper for texture and painted the face with charcoal and acrylic paints.

To be honest there was another portrait under all of this that I ended up hating so I painted over it with white paint–another layer.  I saved the areas that I liked, and embellished others.

This is usually how my art evolves but sometimes I paint straight without mixed media.  I still use many layers of paint to get the effect that I like. Layers will create the depth that I prefer.

This art is now for sale in my etsy shop HERE. Lots of other goodies there as well.

If you would like to check out some of my fun ecourses, go to this link HERE. 

I always like to try new things when it comes to art. I wish you a creative week. Time flies, so we might as well do something fun…

Happy creation,

Maria xo

art, creativity, inspirational, motivational, passion, process

Are you a quitter?

I’m not a quitter.

I could have begun something fabulous a long time ago, but I had zero belief that I could succeed.  My passion is art and I have created art since I was a kid (on and off.)  I always wanted to be an artist, but parents and society said, “artists starve.” That is a false statement but a common one.

You might not make much money on the art to begin with, and ingenuity is very important. When I haven’t made money on my art, I have found other ways to supplement my income without compromising my time to make art.

Sometimes the art making is hard. I feel all kinds of resistance, but I’ll tell you how I overcame that. I made the DECISION to create art, no matter what. Come hell or high water…

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your passion

Not quitting now.  It has become such a great part of my life that it would be inconceivable to quit.

I wish I had committed to it a long time ago by changing my belief system, but the hold of consensus beliefs can be very strong. Also, I didn’t have any tools to help me out like EFT, (tapping.) I have found tapping to be a great way to release old belief systems.

We are all mired in beliefs. What is your passion? Are you doing anything to manifest it? Taking steps every day is something that builds into a big accomplishment as long as we hold the course.

I love what I do so it’s not hard to commit to it. However, the art making in itself can be frustrating and confronting at times.  Instead of quitting, I stick with it through the uncomfortable feelings.  More often than not, something happens to take me beyond the frustration, and it’s almost a magical feeling when everything comes together.

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my passion

With any creative process that calls out to you, do this:

*Commit (make the decision) to take your passion seriously.

*Work on it every day even if it’s only baby steps.

* Don’t listen to naysayers, especially the one between your ears.

*When the going gets tough, stick to your passion like a burr.

*When no money is coming in from your passion, do it for the love of it.

*What you create is a gift to the world, so don’t waste any more time!

Easy enough points to follow and if you feel resistance from fear or you’re stuck in everyday rat racing, make a decision today to give your passion some feet. Eventually, you will grow some wings and fly!

I would love to hear what your passion is.

passion5xo

Maria

P.S. I’m selling my original art on etsy.  If you’re looking for a gift of art, check out my shop today. HERE. 🙂

declutter, inspirational, life, motivational, process

Simplify!

Hell yeah, simplify today.

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simplfy clutter.

I have been spending a lot of time decluttering my life. Not just all the junk around the house but also my digital junk.  It feels good!

So much stuff drags us down and we don’t even know it.  You know what a “drag” it is to enter a cluttered area, like a stuffed garage.

Some people are unable to part with their stuff, but I’m not one of them, thank God.  I decluttered my closet, my papers, my books, my knicknacks, my email inbox that had about 1000 emails. It came down to about 10 that I still haven’t read and probably never will.

I decluttered my FB friends’ list and groups. I am the member of way too many groups there, and I don’t know how that happened.

I just deleted all of my numerous message threads on my phone, and that felt good. Clean slate is a good feeling. I even decluttered my studio, which is harder than anything else.  Now I can actually find my tools (for now anyway.)  There is a sense of serenity about order.

serenity
I love serenity.

I love to simplify my life.  I get a sense of space and serenity.  It makes it easier to think.  I like to see the expanse of my floors, and I like to move around freely without bumping into things.

There is something healing about getting rid of broken things and replacing them, or not.  Everything has to be loved or have a purpose. If I don’t get that from stuff it won’t come into my house. Not anymore.

Books are hard to get rid of, but if I haven’t read them for years and don’t plan on reading them any time soon, out they go.

People who are a drag get decluttered too.  There is no reason to hold on to friendships that don’t lift you up in some way.

Most important: I have been decluttering my belief systems and that is not an easy task, but I feel lighter, so I crave lighter surroundings. It makes sense.

This is not my brain anymore:

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brain clutter

A great way to declutter the brain is through meditation! A great practice to do every day.

What have you decluttered lately?

xo

Maria

P.S. Check out my etsy shop for some cool, affordable art. HERE.

Artist and writer