How Is Creativity Self Care?

Unless we have faced and dealt with the wounds we have accumulated in this lifetime or other lifetimes, our growth can be limited or even blocked. I personally believe that everyone is working through something, some of us more than others. The desire to be happier, healthier, and live a fuller life. 
 
Self-care is the mindset, activities, practices and habits we bring to bear against our stress, unhappiness, illness, depression and many more negative emotions.

Self-care is about giving ourselves relief when we feel overwhelmed, or once we get good at it, before we get to overwhelm. To care for yourself, you need to know your needs and seek them out. The first thing to remember about self-care is that it is not indulgent.

Everyone uses the analogy of putting on your oxygen mask before helping another on a plane, and yet we don’t often believe that self-care is equally important, it is your oxygen mask, it allows you to be able to do more for others and be more alive.
...

Continue Reading...

What Is Healing With Creativity?

Healing with Creativity can be done in many different ways and we will explore a lot of them through different classes and workshops. Here are some key points

Creativity enhances self-knowledge and self-expression.
When we’re creating, we are making decisions about what we like. What colors appeal to us? Which shapes we are drawn to? What textures do we enjoy? What words do we prefer? You may think you don’t have any opinions on these questions, but you do! To create is to make choices; to make choices necessitates paying attention to our inner selves as we assess which elements do and do not please us. 

Not only are we tuning in to ourselves when we create, but we also are expressing ourselves by making an external representation of our internal world.

Self-knowledge and self-expression are particularly important for people living with chronic illness.  Chronic illness changes our identity: The person we become living with an illness is different from the person...

Continue Reading...

Learning From Your Students, What’S Coming Up, And Exciting News! (Plus My Confession).

Ok, teaching is all about learning.

I got my feedback from my Soul Creative beta class and they all loved it and thought it was transformative and a few mentioned it was a lot of work in a short period of time, but they got through it.

But… I had a follow up call with these amazing ladies and what I heard was, let us learn at our own pace. So, I have decided to open the Soul Creative course up, but it will be for a year long access. You will get a whole year to complete your program.
I will do monthly calls instead of weekly, but will add check in videos after each module.

Does this sound less scary to you? Does this sound more like something you would like to try?

One day workshop 
If you are in the Edmonton area and would like a taste of this amazing Soul Creative course, or maybe you just want to spend a wonderful day creating and healing.  

We will meditate, create affirmation cards, paint, talk about creativity and healing and so much more. Plus lunch and all...
Continue Reading...

How Did The Art Walk Go?

What’s a little rain among artists?

Friday it sprinkled on and off all day, but no worries I had a tent. Many of the artists without a tent left as soon as the first rain started.
Saturday it was cloudy but no rain all day which was excellent, so I did not have to pack up a wet tent.


Sunday, usually the best sales day I was so sick I could not get out of bed, I missed the whole day. What I found out later was that it poured at the Art Walk (torrential downpour) all day. At home we only had one afternoon shower, quite heavy, but not as bad as across the river. So even though I was very sad, I was also glad because packing up soaking wet tent and gear and then spending 2 days drying everything out is not the funnest way to do things.

It’s been a few years since I last took part in the Edmonton Art Walk

Things I learned this year:
1.       I do not enjoy sitting outside all day, even in a tent
2.       It is a lot of work to set...
Continue Reading...

Summer, And What'S A Girl To Do?

Soul Creative
We have wrapped up the first ever (beta course) Soul Creative and boy did I learn a lot… and it seems they did too.

8 intensive weeks of healing through creativity.

The ladies will tell you we worked hard, maybe too hard. I am looking at expanding the program as they all thought it was a lot in 8 weeks.

But, did I ever see transformation in these women. Everyone had different things they were working through, but they came together and supported each other and did the work.

I am looking at another program in the fall, dates are being confirmed.

I am also currently looking for space to hold a one day workshop Soul Creator, a step into the intensive online program Soul Creative.

I should have all dates confirmed in the next couple of weeks.

Art Walk
July 5-7, I will be at the Edmonton Art Walk. Look for me on 105 st (near Chapters). I will have the Installation piece “Power and oppression” with me, along with a lot of new art for sale.

It has been months of new...

Continue Reading...

Journaling

Do you journal?

Is it something you do every day, once in a while, when you have an issue you need to work through?

Have you ever wondered why people including the likes of Charles Darwin, Winston Churchill, and Sara Blakely would spend so much of their precious time writing things that will never be seen by another soul?

Because journaling is a process, not an end result. We journal to work through things, to remember things, to give validation to things for ourselves.

Researchers have found that regular journaling can be used to train our attention and strengthen neural pathways.

Reflective writing has also been shown to improve decision making and critical thinking.Journals have proven to be invaluable tools for examining past experiences, evaluating our own actions, and drawing insights for encountering future challenges.

According to Dr. James Pennebaker, an expert in the field of expressive writing, to get the best results from journaling, it was recommended that you:

  • Forget about...
Continue Reading...

Where Have You Been?

 
 I am so sorry everyone, I have been MIA for a few weeks or more.

I have been in and out of the hospital for weeks while still working with these amazing women who are part of my Soul Creative intensive healing class.

I have really been working the program myself (again), as I work through my health issues via my art and creativity.

I am a true believer that our health is a direct result of issues that we have not dealt with, contracts that we set up before this lifetime to get through x,y, and z. Whatever that may be for each of us.

I often use Louise Hay’s book “Heal your Life” as a jumping off point, I think each person has to decide for themselves what the real issues are. But what I did was take all my symptoms, and ailments, and made a list based on her book to see what the “themes” were.

I came up with 5 main themes throughout, Anger, Resistance, Fear, Lack of Love and Guilt. I personally think a lot of ailments come from anger and...
Continue Reading...

May Plans And A Little Tip To Get It Done

What do you have happening in May?
May for me feels like rebirth with Spring in the air and lots more light coming in the windows. May is when we start to venture out more and get that natural vitamin D from the Sun.

I have a busy month ahead. I have already started working with the newest class taking Soul Creative, healing through creativity. It is so encouraging and empowering to already start to see shifts in these amazing women.

Soul Creative is an intensive healing through creativity course and so far, only a week in, we have covered things like: Setting space, Getting into the head space to create, Creativity as self care, as well as setting goals and plans for our final projects, as well as so much more.

The month of May for me is preparing for Art Walk, working with this amazing group of women in Soul Creative. As well as I am working on some new courses, and an installation art piece based on the #metoo movement. If I can complete that art piece by the end of May I will be...
Continue Reading...

How Was Your Easter? April Is A Busy Family Month For Us.

How did you celebrate the holiday?  For me, I technically celebrate in March for Ostera, so it was a pretty quiet weekend. Normally we would celebrate with my partners family but due to the fact she had two root canals in a little over a week and was withdrawing from the pain meds, we decided it was best to stay home.

We have already had our family celebration this month with my side of the family. Last week we celebrated all the birthdays.

My granddaughter Kali turned 7 last week.
Picture
 
A few days before that my oldest daughter Nicole celebrated her birthday. She’s getting up there so that means I’m getting up there so we don’t need to share her age. :-)
Picture
 
Next week 2 more of my grand kids have birthdays.
Emma is first and she will turn 7.
Picture
 
Kash is the next day, and he will turn 4.
Picture
 
We had a fun time last week at an indoor playground. Emma and Kali (cousins) are quite close as their birthdays are only 13 days apart. They...
Continue Reading...

Easter Tree

Do you have an Easter Tree?

Every year I love the first pussy willows, and I love to use them as my Easter tree. If the pussy willows aren’t out I will use other branches, but pussy willows are my favourite. I love the little fuzzy nubs, they remind me of bunny tails.

I used to have quite a collection of Easter ornaments that I would use year to year, I had some from Europe and other travels to decorate my Easter tree. I got rid of them in one of my decluttering moments years ago. And then I realized I missed my Easter tree, so now I use bows and small coloured eggs that either my grandkids have decorated or that I pick up at the dollar store.

For me it is more about the pussy willows. If you place them in plaster or rocks with water, the branches will still bloom. That way you have a mix of greenery with the colours.

This year I wanted to so something a bit different so I am making a few ornaments.
Picture
 
This is one I would want to try this year: Natural Dyed Eggs

I made...
Continue Reading...
Close

50% Complete

Two Step

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.