This is not a blog for work out advice on how to get your summer bikini body.
I have often encountered the question (as I am a total Art History nerd) from many friends, "What is the deal with nudity in Classical Art?" As a society we have some interesting thoughts surrounding nudity and I wont delve too deeply into that, but Classical Art has a lot to teach us. Nudity in Classical Art can mean a lot of things. It can be about studying the 'ideal form', painting that which is 'divine', fertility or youth, and so many other meanings dependent on the piece, time frame, artist and place. I have to say this is one of my favorite pieces, especially when discussing this topic. This painting by Delacroix depicts Liberty or Freedom guiding the people through the French Revolution. It is a powerful image, especially if you love art, history, and Les Miserables. When studying this piece for Art History class many years ago, a friend of mine asked, 'Geez, she is heading into battle with all these dudes and whoops, her dress comes off?!' The exposed breast is not a sexual symbol in this piece. It is a symbol of freedom. Freedom, strength, beauty. The woman was not actually in battle, but she was an embodiment of the symbol for Liberty. In fact, I'm pretty sure that Lady Liberty was a gift from the French, so we can see that the strong, feminine is used regularly as a symbol of Freedom. Why do I bring this up, then, about how to look good naked? When we are sharing our art, our creativity, our selves, we can feel very vulnerable. Vulnerability is often described as feeling naked. Feeling exposed. Feeling as though the hidden parts of ourselves are being revealed to the world. That fear of vulnerability is often what keeps us quiet. That fear is often what keeps our art from being fully realized in ourselves and shared with others. We feel naked and vulnerable and we view that as a scary and bad thing. What if we instead viewed our vulnerability and our sharing of it as FREEDOM?! What if we viewed that moment of sharing our art and ourselves as STRENGTH?! What if in our moment of stepping up, flag flying, heart exposed, we saw what we were doing as BEAUTIFUL?! When we learn a little bit about Art History, suddenly we are not viewing all this nudity in a naughty way. When we learn about the FREEDOM, STRENGTH, and BEAUTY in our vulnerability, our baring of our true selves through our creativity and our UNIQUE ART in the world, suddenly vulnerability doesn't seem so naked. It doesn't seem so bad. It becomes a moment of FREEDOM. This week you will be met with an opportunity to share yourself or your art in some real way. You may feel vulnerable. You may feel scared. You may feel naked and fearful of rejection, as we all do at from time to time. Instead of fear, try on a new view. Try viewing that moment as an opportunity for FREEDOM. The more times I do this, it becomes just a tiny bit easier and I build up for myself more of a track record, more of a history, more of a strength in my vulnerability. You may be surprised at the results. Let me know what happens for you in the comments below, I would love to hear your thoughts. Keep nurturing your Creativity, Court p.s. If you like this post, please share it! If you would like to receive more Art Nurture goodness, join the Art Nurture Newsletter!
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Generally on this blog, you will find writing on how to live a creative life, inspiration for fighting through the blocks that keep you from your dreams, and practical words of wisdom to guide you on your art nurture journey. Today I want to ask, in light of this tragedy, what can you and I do? Some of you know that I ran my first Marathon two years ago and documented my journey here on this blog. My heart is full aware of the spirit of the marathon, the hope and perseverance it teaches, the inspiration it brings to others, and the people it helps along the way. Many run for charities, for inspiration, for their families, for something they believe in, for the love of the sport, or simply because they want to know if they can do it. Yesterday my dear friend, Juli Windsor, was about to make history as the first Little Person to cross the finish line at the Boston Marathon. She stands 3ft 9in. and takes twice as many steps as the average runner throughout the same distance. She was off of her time by a few minutes yesterday and was a half mile from finishing the race when she and other runners were blocked from the course and told that the race was canceled. Eventually, news got to them that there had been explosions. It was a panicking moment as Juli was thinking of her husband, Blake, and their mother's waiting at the finish line for her. She eventually, found out they were all ok. Here is an interview with Juli, recounting the events yesterday. We are all still confused, wanting answers about what happened yesterday. Though, answers do not console those who lost loved ones and who will have injuries the rest of their lives because of such senseless acts of violence. It has been an emotional time for many across our nation and the world, as the Boston Marathon is an iconic race, attracting people from all over our globe. We all feel unsettled. What can we do? This past Saturday, I ran a 5k. It is only 3.1 miles compared to the marathon's 26.2, but a run nonetheless. We were running to raise money for children's music education. A very important cause. I picked up my bib number in the morning and lo and behold, my number was 29, the age I am now. I save each and every racing bib I have ever worn. My first from four years ago when I ran my first 5k, my half marathons, my first marathon, and my "29" from the 5k this past Saturday. I was looking over each of them last night, trying to process what happened yesterday. I looked at my #29 and saw the company's slogan, "It's Who I Am" printed above the race number, the same number as my age.
Luckily, none of us is really a number. None of us are defined by the numbers assigned to us. I may be 29 years old, but age is just a number. My friend, Juli, may be 3ft. 9inches. tall, but her height is only a number. But who we are....that is who we decide to be. Last week I wrote about The Top 17 Reasons Why the World Needs You to be an Artist. I said that artists are people who live with passion, intention and purpose. This world is not a perfect place and we have to decide who we want to be and how we want to live, in light of all that we see and experience. At the end of Juli's interview she said she would most definitely participate in the Boston Marathon again. I cried. How can we participate in life? What can we do? Can we be an artist of our days, living with passion, intention and purpose? Can we unabashedly give to others? Juli, like many yesterday, were running not only for themselves, but were running for charities. They were running to inspire and contribute to the world in positive ways. If you feel like you would like to donate,here is a link to Juli's charity. You can also find all of the official race charities that so many were running for by clicking here. Whatever your age, your height, your name, your other numbers or titles or labels assigned to you, please consider what you can do to be an artist of our days. What good and beauty can you create and give. We need you and we need your unique voice. Thank you for considering these thoughts today. Warmest Regards, Court The Top 17 Reasons Why The World Needs You to be an Artist
Reason #1 The world needs people who live with passion, intention, and purpose. Reason #2 The world needs to be greeted by people who have a spark in their eye and a bounce in their step. Reason #3 The world needs problem identifiers, problem solvers, & people crazy enough to believe they can solve the problems to sustain them through the hard work it will take. Reason#4 The world needs daily doses of beauty, everywhere & in every thing. Reason #5 The world needs you to be fully alive. Reason #6 The world needs your unique talents and skills to be enriched to their fullness and shared freely. Reason#7 The world needs people who spend their time doing things they believe in. Reason #8 The world needs products and services that are filled with integrity. Reason #9 The world is full of people who need to be noticed and need to be seen with the care and attentiveness of an artist. Reason #10 The world doesn't need anymore crud. Reason #11 The world needs dreamers and doers. Reason #12 The world needs you to dance because the world wants to dance with you. Reason #13 The world needs you to be the most remarkable you there ever was. Reason #14 The world needs you to live with clarity and truth. Reason #15 The world needs people who play in the rain and slow down to enjoy the beauty of the everyday. Reason#16 The world needs you to live life with the soul of an artist. Reason#17 What the world needs now is art, sweet art. If you like this post, please click like, share it or leave a comment below! If you want to receive regular updates on nurturing your creativity, please join the Art Nurture Newsletter list! Keep nurturing your creativity, Court This past week, I had the pleasure of attending the Innovate: Unleash Your Creativity conference in Franklin, Tennessee (just outside of Nashville) at the home place of Dan Miller and his 48 Days to the Work You Love team. The days of the event were filled with inspirational speakers; musicians, writers, artists and even a few magicians, all of whom shared about their passions, their art, and how they were able to make it in their field. The theme that continued to come up was, 'What makes you remarkable?' This struck me each time the question was asked. Often times, we put ourselves down and compare ourselves to others. I am certainly guilty of this. Instead of focusing on where I am and enjoying being present in the phase of the process I am currently in, I look at other people who are 'ahead' of me or more 'talented' than me. This is a sure fire way to keep yourself down. In this place of comparison you and I cannot progress. In this place of comparison we also start to lower our self-esteem and confidence in ourselves. This lessens our joy in the process and can be a contributing factor to us giving up on our art. Instead of comparing to others, let us ask the question instead: What makes you remarkable? The diversity of the group in attendance at Innovate certainly did bring up a lot of unique art forms to consider remarkable. There were App developers and engineers and children's book authors and painters and marketing and business gurus. What if the App developer was feeling down on himself for not having the same remarkable qualities as the painter sitting next to him? Instead of focusing on his own unique remarkable things, what if he were too busy feeling bad he wasn't a painter? We would be missing out on the remarkable things that he has to offer! In fact, when you and I do not embrace our unique arts that make us remarkable, we are doing a disservice to ourselves and to the world! The world needs that special thing that only you can bring. Not only that, but you and I need to live authentically for the sake of our own joy! When we live authentically, we have self-esteem that is healthy because everything adds up. It makes sense that when we are operating out of our own authentic remarkable-ness we have a healthy view of ourselves and the world. We stop comparing ourselves to others and we start really living life as an artist. My favorite moments of the conference were when people would describe their self-given job titles and at the end say, 'I'm also focused on being the best [fill-in-your-name] I can be!' So, today, I want you to consider what it is that makes you remarkable. If you want to share what makes you remarkable or your thoughts on being remarkable, please do so in the comments below!
If you like this content on creativity, please share it with others! If you want more updates from Art Nurture, click here to join our newsletter! Also, if you would like to attend the Innovate: Unleash Your Creativity conference, there is another one coming up in September! Remember, you are remarkable and the world needs the unique art form that only you are capable of bringing! Not only that, but you need it as well, for all of the joy it will bring to you! Totally worth the investment of cultivating your creativity. Get that fire inside of you going, Court p.s. Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity is coming soon! Pre-order your e-book or signed paperback to be a part of the first release! Some of you may remember my friend James Navé from the video discussions we had on Creativity.
Coming up in April, he will be here in Asheville, NC to lead The Artist’s Way Six Week Workshop on Tuesday Evenings, 7-9 pm from April 16-May 21, 2013. Click here to read more or to register! As you know, The Artist's Way has been an incredibly influential course for many, myself included. It was the beginning of many a breakthrough for me and greatly influenced and inspired my work here at Art Nurture! If you are able, I would strongly encourage you to make the commitment, life changing work to be done for sure! While in town, Navé will also be co-hosting The Asheville Creativity Symposium:An Idea Collaboration on April 20th. I will be in attendance and I hope to see you there! What sorts of Art Nurture happenings are going on in your neck of the woods? I would love to hear about the ways in which you and your community are nurturing your creativity so, please, leave a comment below. If you would like to receive updates from me, don't forget to subscribe to the Art Nurture Newsletter. Keep Nurturing Your Creativity, Court p.s. Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity will be heading to the press in May! Pre-order your paperback or e-book! "There is no question that a playfully light attitude is characteristic of creative individuals." Laughter is the best medicine.
Not only is it good for the body, but it is good for the mind as well. And our minds are pretty important. It's what we think with, work with, respond with, dream with, solve problems with and enjoy life with. People who are funny and use humor tactfully are often shown to be successful in their business and work life. Laughter, humor and light heartedness are qualities of those who tend to solve problems more easily and have a more positive outlook on life. According to the great creativity researcher, Csikszentmihalyi, author of Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention, this playfully light attitude is characteristic of creative individuals. I definitely have found that evidenced in my work. Laughter, lightness and playfulness are key elements to success as an artist, writer, teacher, whatever! Sometimes, a tense moment in the classroom just needs to be met with a smile, a caring response and a quick moment of silliness gets the whole thing back on track. If this is what my young creative classes need, why not give that same care and concern and lighthearted approach to myself and my own creative work? After all, it would just straight up be more fun! So, maybe this is a character quality we should really enhance and enjoy if we already possess it (instead of trying to squelch it) and cultivate it if we could stand to amp it up some more. If we are interested in cultivating our creativity, we may just be a couple of good laughs away from a great idea. Not only might we be a few laughs away from a good idea, but also the positive outlook needed to carry it through to finish. When you are struggling with creative stress, loosen up and have a good laugh, it may be just the thing you need! -Court p.s. Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity is coming down the line soon! You can get your copy on the homepage. If you like this post on nurturing your creativity, then please share it with others! If you want to hear more on creativity, sign up for the Art Nurture newsletter. Well, every day except today!
Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity will be coming to fruition sooner rather than later! Here is a photo of my awesome editor, Laura, and I working on the book. I just dropped off with her last night my most recent revision. It appears we are just down to the nitty gritty of teeny tiny details from here on out! It is very exciting and I feel like my own journey with this book has paralleled the chapters in the book. I have had to utilize everything I know about cultivating creativity and staying motivated to keep moving past all the Roadblocks and Resistance that crop up during any extensive process, especially one that is totally new. Spring is coming and I can't wait to get this book out there to you! All of you Kickstarter backers have been so patient and supportive during this process and I sincerely thank you! If you didn't get a chance to back the project via Kickstarter, you can pre-order your copy on the homepage. This book is a Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity and will provide practical and simple steps to take the seed of creativity that we each uniquely possess and grow it in our lives, leading to a life filled with passion, intention and purpose! Try something new this weekend! Engage in a hobby you have left by the wayside, get outside and go for a walk, try a new recipe and have fun! -Court Many times when I am holding onto worry about my "creative accomplishments", I don't really get too far with my creative work.
I stall out. The reason for me, at least from time to time, is that I am so concerned with whether or not this thing I am doing is going to be good enough, excellent, great, earth-shattering or extraordinary. Putting yourself out there with your creativity can feel scary. It can bring up all of those feelings of desiring approval or a gold star, like we used to from our parents or teachers. Except now, we may be desiring it from our friends, family, community or professional peers. I have found that the greatest work happens for me in the moments I am doing something ordinary. When I am not thinking about what I am doing as a potential accomplishment, but when I am simply present in the moment, enjoying the paint, enjoying the process of drawing or allowing the words to flow. If I sat down to my drawing table and thought to myself, "I have to make something great right now!" I am certain I would choke. In fact, when I realize that is my actual thought process (my subconscious being called out for what it is), those are the times I'm completely frozen. I am continually learning this lesson, that small movements over an extended period of time are what yield true and honest art. If I sat down and said to myself, "I am going to make marks and write words with integrity, though they may seem ordinary, I will simply be as honest as possible." Then I am sure I would have a more productive time. Productivity is not necessary helped by our hurried and busy attitudes. In fact, often times that hurried feeling is just us trying to be meaningful and important and show ourselves and others that what we do is meaningful and important and thus, so are we. It is really scary to slow down and be ordinary for a moment. Or for a whole day. But I truly believe that is where the extraordinary stuff has room to grow. Have the courage to do something ordinary today. Pick just one small and ordinary thing to do that will nurture you, your creativity or your art today. Just one. Today, I plan on being altogether ordinary. There are snow clouds in the sky here in the mountains and I will be spending the weekend ordinarily editing the book... probably wearing yoga pants the whole time and slowly sipping some ordinary coffee or tea. Hope this weekend finds you well and that you find one ordinary thing to do today! -Court p.s. Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Creativity is currently being pruned (edited) and if you would like to pre-order a copy, you can do so on the home page! "The artist is not a different kind of person, but every person is a different kind of artist." This is true. The artist is not a different kind of person. No, don't be fooled. Don't think to yourself, I am not an artist because I do not fit into this preconceived or culturally perpetuated idea of what an artist is... But recognize that every person is a different kind of artist.
What are you passionately curious about? What have you pondered trying sometime in your life? What do you feel most alive when you do? What ignites your internal spark? What do are you doing when you lose track of time? Answering these questions for yourself can give you some serious clues and direction towards what your art may be and what kind of artist you are. If you are trying to answer that question for yourself, I would suggest you take the time to truly respond to these questions. Write as much as you want, no answer is stupid or unimportant. Any of your stream of consciousness thoughts when responding to these questions can give insight into your art and can help guide you on your own art nurture journey. We are all different types of artists. Get interested in your art and be the unique artist that only you can be. Thanks for taking the time to consider these thoughts and I hope they find you well! Enjoy your weekend! Sincerely, Court P.S. Hard at work on Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity! Will be finished with the cover design soon and the editing is coming along beautifully (though, painfully at times!)... You can pre-order it on the home page! I have the joy of working with children of a variety of ages on a regular basis. I see my job as more than teaching painting skills or techniques, but teaching process and confidence in participating in that process of life, art and creativity. It amazes me the boldness with which most children take on a challenge that is exciting to them. A colleague of mine did an amazing project recently. She talked with our students about inventions and showed them several pictures of inventions and asked the students to decide whether they looked like they were real or fake. Then the students got to think up their own invention, draw it, name it, build a model of it and put a price on it and tell us everything that it was capable of doing. Every single student in our group thought of an invention in no time at all! In fact, we couldn't pass out the paper quickly enough for them to draw their idea out! They were bouncing in their chairs, 'I need a piece of paper! I don't want to forget my awesome idea, I have to draw it now!' This was fun, because we had no idea what they would come up with and it was truly creative and surprising at times. I believe a short list would include the "Tooth-a-ma-brusher", a "Ghost Machine", an alarm clock that handed you breakfast in the morning and a washer/dryer that could wash and dry your clothes in 3 seconds and then fold them for you! Pretty sweet stuff, if you ask me. I look forward to several of these items coming onto the market in the future. I get asked rather frequently by parents how they can continue some of these things at home, how they can nurture their children's creativity without being an art teacher. Often times the biggest hurdle is probably time. I would say that setting aside time for free play and creativity is one of the most important things. So many of us are so busy with so many responsibilities that imagining time, even on a weekend, for your child to have a free 'studio' time seems like a long shot. But giving space to these pieces of growth are very important. Some parents I know that have been successful with this, once their children have grown out of naps, will often have their kid have an afternoon quiet time where they are focused on their own projects or self-entertainment without the use of screens of any kind or without the parents directing the specific activity. Some parents even go so far as to have a box of materials that can be used for this free creative play time that only come out once a day. Sometimes, on a lull in the weekend, instead of filling it up with more video games, try studio hour instead. Or if your child has been asking to do or try something new, like buying beads and making things out of paper, let them know that they have a special time to look forward to doing those things coming up soon. That way the time will be special when it comes around. "On Saturday we will go to the craft supply store and pick out two kinds of beads and one kind of string. Then we will come home and make beautiful things out of them!" That way they have structure (keeping you in budget!) and freedom simultaneously. I believe my Dad even went so far as to create a project budget with me. Really let them pick too. It is ok if the color combination they choose seems crazy to you! Another issue is space. Do you have a kitchen table that is easily accessible or cleaned up? Does your child have a desk in their room where they can work on projects of their choosing? Maybe your house has a mud room or spare space where you can set up a folding table for some activities, but you will need to give some space. If you have kids, then you are probably fighting the overtaking of the entire home from them and their stuff, but having a space to create that is safe and easily accessible and easy to clean, even if it is just a folding table on the porch on a Saturday afternoon... that stuff is priceless. It doesn't have to be perfect. Have you seen the projects that kids bring in where it is very obvious the parent was perhaps overly helpful? They need to get in there and get their hands dirty. They need to make lumpy and bumpy mistakes. They really aren't mistakes, after all. Their hands are still developing fine motor skills and if we take the pencil away and do it for them, they will just become frustrated. Not only that, but they will always want us to draw whatever it is for them because they think we do it better! Why would we want to do that?! I have some students that say, "Please draw a puppy for me!" and I will gently let them know that I do not draw puppies for my students, but that I would love to talk with them about how they can do it for themselves.
The hard thing is to step back and not be too concerned about the perfection or the final product. When we get overly concerned about the product that is being created we rob the joy of the process of learning. Also, when they do it themselves, it builds their self-esteem and confidence that they can do things for themselves and also to be helpful to others. This is neat when you let them fold the towels around the house, it doesn't have to be perfect, but it just got done! These are just a few thoughts on nurturing creativity in children. They are not too different from some of the things I would recommend for us adults, but sometimes it is good to have it in context. Not only that, but we do have the ability to nurture them and create a confidence in them and their creative abilities that will serve them throughout their lives. Not only that, but it will probably be serving others too! After all, they are the future leaders, right?! We want leaders who can creatively look at problems from all angles and come up with new workable solutions, so let's guide them now and teach them to think through things in a healthy way. Hope you are having a beautiful Tuesday, Court p.s. Still working hard on Art Nurture: The Simple Guide to Cultivating Your Creativity! I will have updates for you soon on the progress and you can pre-order your copy on the homepage! |
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