courageous creating 2021 - remembering

01. Summit Banner_Cover Image.jpg

more from the diary of a courageous creator

So this thing happened.

I went to check on something this week for the Creative Christianity Summit I'm presenting a workshop in, and came across the newly-released schedule, which sent my jaw to dropping.

My workshop was scheduled by the Summit organizers for release on Day 4 (June 18). And there’s my name right below my friend and art mentor, Matt Tommey. ⬇︎⬇︎⬇︎

I nearly fell off my yoga ball, lol!

And frankly, it brought tears to my eyes, remembering. Yup, the Lord sent me a-remembering, shot me right back to where I’ve come from. Remembering what a hot mess I was inside, still recovering from trauma, when I came across Matt and his Created to Thrive artist mentoring program back in 2017.

Remembering how scared I felt when I joined the CTT program - 4 years ago this very weekend, now that I think about it.

Remembering my first Gathering of Artisans, hosted by Matt and his wife Tanya in Asheville later that fall, where I received one of the most powerful prophetic words ever from artist Aeron Brown and connected with artists from the U.S. and around the globe, many who’ve since become besties in my life.

Remembering the first Mastermind Intensive weekend in 2018 where Matt publicly challenged me - and I left thinking he didn’t like me (which we laugh about now 😆).

Remembering the gut-wrenching work through his Experience Course where I received significant healing and vision for my life. Remembering that my first-ever, nerve-wracking, Facebook Live interview took place a year later with Matt to help promote the Course (and I now do them every week in my business without batting a well-macara-ed eyelash...well almost).

Remembering that in 2020, just a week before we locked down, Matt taught at a conference where he invited us stand up and declare our dreams aloud to the 200 others in the room. Holy Spirit told me that if I didn’t, I would regret it for the rest of my life – so I did. And being a part of this Summit is a large fulfillment of that dream, to see my art go international.

And not least of all, remembering that he and Tanya have since taken a chance on me to work with their team and serve other artists and makers in their journeys to get free, get equipped, and get thriving.

So, I really can’t share this Summit news and schedule with ya’ll - my friends and family - and just gloss over it, as if it’s ‘just a thing’ I’m doing. Perhaps to most it is, but to me, it represents so much more. It’s a visual remembrance of the faithfulness of my Daddy God. Of where I was, where He has me now, where He's taking me.

And it's a visual marker of the faithfulness of one of His amazing servants doing – and modeling it so well to so many – what he’s called to do. I would be remiss to do otherwise, so please allow me this opportunity to honor you, Matt, and say “thank you” to you and Tanya both. You do it with such passion, authenticity, laughter, whole-heartedness, generosity, and good ol' Southern grit. My life has been transformed in ways I could never have imagined in just four short years, and my heart is forever grateful!

'til next time, my courageous ones! xo,

debra

PS: And like every well-trained mentee / businessperson … here’s a link to the Summit so you can check it out 🇬🇧:

** Creative Christianity Summit - "Courageous Creating with Holy Spirit" workshop with Debra Hart Studio**

2020 diary of a courageous creator, part three

diary of a courageous creator, part three ♡

barn, mcdaniel farm park, duluth, ga usa

barn, mcdaniel farm park, duluth, ga usa

this one is just for fun!

after our day 1/thursday workshop ended for paint duluth 5, Robin and i drove around the duluth area and scouted out possibilities for beginning our plein air painting adventure. knowing there would be plenty of artists painting in and around the historic downtown area, and also knowing her affinity for the beautiful outdoors, i wanted her to see mcdaniel farm park.

tenant house, mcdaniel farm park, duluth, ga usa

tenant house, mcdaniel farm park, duluth, ga usa

the park is a relatively unknown and lovingly kept ‘secret’ in the duluth area, run by gwinnett county parks & recreation. it’s like stepping back in time a bit, a former cotton farm relatively unchanged since its drawing in the 1820 land lottery. in the early 1900s, it was a thriving farm which also housed sharecroppers and was an actively worked property in the mcdaniel family through 1999. today the 134-acre park, granted to gwinnett, retains beautiful trails, the original farm house and barn, well house, chicken coop, blacksmith shed and restored tenant farmer house…and another special building, as you’ll shortly see :)

we took a stroll around and i showed robin some of my favorite spots that weren’t too far off the beaten path for things like, you know, ‘facilities.’ not only is robin a prolific oil, plein air, and wood & paper artist, she and her husband also farm their north florida land with livestock: various chickens, sheep, pigs and lovely great pyrenees dogs. so it was no surprise to me that she was really intrigued with all the large displays of farm implements sprinkled around the farm. we scouted some areas of interest and shot some photos, talked about light and shadow for plein air painting, and went home deciding this would be our day 2 sweet spot.

the next morning it was lovely, but a bit bright. i'll admit to loving the golden, rolling field around the tenant house, so we headed there first to see if we could frame good composition elements for painting. we couldn’t quite seem to find the right place to paint. when we saw several other artists already painting the tenant house, we both eyed the outhouse at the same time with a laugh, and decided that was our first subject. it was a bit hidden in a corner behind the tenant house, under several gigantic trees, had a rustic fence, a path, yellowing grasses and leaves near it. perfect set-up compositionally, if not necessarily saleable subject matter.

robin popp, plein air painting

robin popp, plein air painting

robin teaches plein air painting professionally and her teacher-heart was full-on, helping me along with tips and whatever my challenges were that day. she wanted me to experience success, so we planned to only be there maybe an hour or so, just painting the outhouse as a warmup. the light – which I’ve learned is so important when painting en plein air – kept changing, and we kept on, even though shadows were growing and the sky was darkening rapidly. next thing we knew, it was 1:45pm, i was due to broadcast live on location at 2:00 pm inside my private facebook group for creatives… and, in true plein air form, it began to sprinkle, then shower. eep!

fortunately, we had just enough time to box and toss our paintings under the tenant farm back porch, and most of our gear packed up during the ‘sprinkle’ stage. we sprinted for cover under an enormous oak tree, used an easel as a tripod, took a deep breath, and went live within minutes. just before hitting the button, we both looked at each other as we realized where we were … positioned smack in front of that outhouse! barely containing ourselves with laughter, we took full advantage of it, even doing a ‘big reveal’ of what we painted. the interview with robin turned out to be wonderful, even with rushing about, no real prep time, and rain hair. that fun-filled, friday café live broadcast with a whole lot of silliness, laughter, vulnerability, and (very) little serious chat sprinkled in made for some mighty fine courageous creating. it even inspired a little vignette vid for the facebook group. (watch below ⬇︎)

20201011_180951.jpg

while robin probably has more at stake than i do as a plein air artist, she decided that exercise wasn’t one of her favorites from the weekend. i, however, ended up being pretty pleased with mine, despite the rain and the less-than-serious subject matter. enough so, that i framed and entered that puppy in the paint duluth 5 gallery show where it’s buried very low, on a poorly lit display. ➔

finished painting ♡

finished painting ♡

even that makes me laugh when i think about it. i haven’t checked yet, but wouldn’t be at all surprised if someone actually buys it. just because it’s fun. and seriously, who doesn’t need an outhouse painting?

okay, I’ll end this thing (a wee bit) soberly … sometimes, it takes radical courage to be just plain silly – bordering on ridiculous – as a creator in an otherwise traditional, cultured setting. and i love that i’m really, really okay with that because i’ve learned to not take myself too seriously. life is short, and there is lighthearted guffawing to be had!

Just a little ditty created from the October 9, 2020 Friday Café Live broadcast of "Creative Café with Debra Hart Studio,” on location with Robin Popp ...

2020 diary of a courageous creator, part two

here i am in front of my ‘least fav’ painting … and with my ‘most fav’ plein air artist! learn more about robin popp and her glorious work (and i highly encourage treating your eyeballs to a visual feast), click here. photo cred: © robin popp studio

here i am in front of my ‘least fav’ painting … and with my ‘most fav’ plein air artist! learn more about robin popp and her glorious work (and i highly encourage treating your eyeballs to a visual feast), click here. photo cred: © robin popp studio

diary of a courageous creator, part two ♡

this is my ‘least fav’ plein air painting from the paint duluth 5 event this past weekend. This one was the bona fide tearmaker. and revealer.

as hard as i might, i just couldn’t make it work.

yes, i was tired.

it was day 3 of en plein air painting.

day 3 of brain-fighting oils (i’m mainly an acrylic and mixed media girl).

day 3 of forgetting all i KNEW about values and transparent paints and all the things.

day 3 of painting realistically instead of in my usual abstractishness.

day 2 of painting in the rain.

day 3 of up-and-atta with too little sleep and too much fun with my friend robin (who is a master plein air painter, might i add) ♡

overwhelmed, too, from doing the quick draw competition earlier, i rather wanted to quit before ever starting this fresh canvas. the quick draw painting (where we have 60 minutes to complete), i half-liked and half-hated. until placing it in the row with the other “pros” for judging, and then just hated, lol.

the ‘quick draw’ entry, 9x12” oil and palette knife on canvas board, painted en plein air at southeastern train museum, as part of duluth 5 © debra hart studio llc

the ‘quick draw’ entry, 9x12” oil and palette knife on canvas board, painted en plein air at southeastern train museum, as part of duluth 5 © debra hart studio llc

i think it then got worse, unable to find much to inspire me at the train museum. nothing personal to the museum, or trains, which i love, it was just the environment. i SO wanted to have a unique painting, and there were 20-ish other artists all vying for a decent composition while staying under a dry roof. not mad, mind you, we were all in the same boat … just frustrated. the plein air adventure had suddenly become a battle. and yes, my enneagram type 4 was also kicking into high gear, as was my photographer brain, and none of these, as it turned out, helped one whit!

finally, i landed on an angle: a simple rusted train and some goldenrod in front, from ground level perspective (great photo, trickier to paint). since i’d experienced some success with flowers the day before, i thought i couldn’t lose on that choice. i sat down on the ground to compose the canvas, mainly consisting of the goldenrod and other weeds, with the rusty train as backdrop.

ohmgoodness. that train seemed to take on a life of its own, with all the rust, and dark purply streaks, and wet metal one moment, dry the next. that train simply took over! i wrestled with my paintbrush, wrestled with the uncomfortable seating situation, wrestled with the distraction of people nearby. i know, i know, it’s supposed to be part of the experience, but my introverted self was d.o.n.e. no, actually D.O.N.E.! and i wrestled internally for a good 2 hours trying to get that thing “right” before stopping, taking a walk, and ending up slumped over on a picnic table.

i felt defeated, deflated, and like a complete fraud as an artist. i didn’t want to cry, was determined not to let this experience get to me, but those little wet buggers eked themselves out anyway.

ugh.

“goldenrod” 11x14” oil on canvas, painted en plein air at southeastern train museum, duluth, ga as part of paint duluth 5 © debra hart studio llc

“goldenrod” 11x14” oil on canvas, painted en plein air at southeastern train museum, duluth, ga as part of paint duluth 5 © debra hart studio llc

in the end, i’ll admit that closing my eyes and letting those tears roll where they might, was a mighty good thing. it was like a pressure valve sprung so clarity could arrive. i just kept my head tilted toward the sky, eyes closed, and remained a good long while in the moment. it was simultaneously terrifying and calming. i realized i needed to sit in the feelings until they passed, acknowledge their presence instead of fighting them.

like author elizabeth gilbert talks about in her book “big magic” … fear, like these feelings, is part of the creative experience. sometimes the dark things come to stay, at least for a while. it’s a matter of putting them in the back seat rather than letting them sit, invited, in the passenger (or worse) driver’s seat. in my experience, ignoring them almost never works, as they find a way back, uglier and with more gusto than before.

in that place of granting space and momentary permission to those overwhelming emotions, i also began an internal monologue, asking all the why and what-next questions. then began speaking life over my brain, emotions, creativity, skills, and spirit. quietly.

as i did, the negativity subsided and the inner critic was silenced. i could hear. i could breathe in what was needed for the next steps … which in this case was to return to the canvas, stop comparing, problem-solve, accept the mess, embrace the imperfections, and see it through.

eventually, i asked for some help from the experts surrounding me, and plus figured out on my own that i’d applied too much paint and opaques too early, and had wrong angles, not enough sky and…and…and… :)

“goldenrod” 11x14” oil on canvas, framed. painted en plein air at southeastern train museum, duluth, ga as part of paint duluth 5 © debra hart studio llc

“goldenrod” 11x14” oil on canvas, framed. painted en plein air at southeastern train museum, duluth, ga as part of paint duluth 5 © debra hart studio llc

i fixed it as best as i could. while “goldenrod” is one of my least “favorite” paintings (skill-wise) from the weekend, i’ve decided that it’s my favorite in message.

symbolically sitting beneath the rusty train and weedy flowers, is perseverance and courage, peace and not-hating-it, acceptance of the uncomfortable, and authenticity in moments of inadequacy. it’s an underdog and an overcoming piece, a pure win in my book.

i decided to bravely enter it into the gallery show, reminding myself that grit and gutsiness is at the essence of courageous creating.

this 11x14” framed oil painting, entitled “goldenrod,” is currently hanging in the paint duluth gallery show at adrian collaborative on main street in duluth, ga, usa, through october 19, 2020.

use the contact form to purchase this courage-laden piece! :)

2020 diary of a courageous creator, part one

diary of a courageous creator, part one ♡

musings from paint duluth 5

this past weekend i participated in paint duluth 5, a 4-day local en plein air event. just in case, en plein air is French for “in the open air,” and artists know this as an outdoor, open air painting activity. think french countryside, box easels, and berets. sort of. :)

as an event, plein air artists travel from all over to gather in an area and paint in public, rain or shine, and there are usually competitions such as a ‘quick draws’ with a time limit, artist workshops, awards, and a gallery show and/or reception to celebrate the completed pieces. people eagerly come to participate, and the public to watch the process of art-making in the great outdoors.

last year I participated in paint duluth 4, so this wasn’t my first plein air experience. however, i was so intimidated by the idea of people actually watching me work (and potentially fumbling my way through) that i found the most remote locations I could think of to work! first day, my back deck overlooking the lake and a great blue heron visitation. second day, an early morning sunrise over nearby cardinal lake (which i’d practiced in watercolor for days prior). last up was a whimsical dandelion fluff painting using toilet paper roll brushes and other mixed media techniques from a parking lot at a local park.

despite my hesitation and hiding, the first two paintings – the heron and the lake sunrise -- sold in the gallery show. you could’ve pushed me over with a feather, but it was enough of a good experience that i decided to sign up again in 2020.

so. this year, paint duluth 5.

an artist friend, robin popp (www.robinpopp.com), who is also a master plein air painter, came up from north florida for the event and stayed. we know each other from gathering of artisans (www.gatheringofartisans.com) and the artist mentoring program we both belong to (click here for more).

last summer we did a self-proclaimed ‘holy chicken artist residency’ on robin's farm with 3 other artists, including one day of plein air painting at a nearby incredibly azure blue cypress springs. last october i was her assistant instructor at the john c campbell folk school (www.folkschool.org) for a week of plein air painting in the north carolina mountains.

so! this time i found myself with a plein air buddy. someone to have my back. i'd gained a little plein air experience since paint duluth 4, felt less overwhelmed. and i say less because the whole practice is rather terrifying, but i do like the idea of painting outdoors. and the idea of moving from being an overwhelmed artist to an overcoming one.

i hit bumps! oh, boy did i. but because i’m currently developing an online course series called ‘courageous creating,’ i found myself in the big fat middle of being tested on what i’m teaching. i found myself being forced to walk it out.

below is the first of three ‘diary entries’ from my most recent plein air (and real life as a creative soul) adventure. enjoy!

it's a courageous thing to do something new. to kick the crutches out from underneath yourself. to risk failure and defeat. to squeeze out tears of frustration and sit uncomfortably in very real moments of inadequacy ...

all while doing it publicly, fighting against the elements and largely unfamiliar medium and techniques, not only in front of complete passerby strangers, but also surrounded by ridiculously more talented artists than you. and vulnerably, willingly sticking your work up on display next to theirs. yikes.

this is daring greatly, i'm realizing...and this is courageous creating!

highlighted in these photos is my fav plein air painting from paint duluth. it's currently hanging in the gallery show at adrian collaborative, main street in duluth, ga, usa, through october 19, 2020.

it's framed in gold, and i can't help thinking there's something very significant, prophetic about that. more to come, as i dig down deeper.

in the next "diary entry," i'll share my least favorite, so stay tuned 😉 … in the meantime, what seems like courage in YOUR creative expression?

comment below, i'd love to hear!

2020 courage

this post is inspired by a coffee mug.

well, other things, too, but really … a coffee mug.

it’s not even mine, but belongs a very dear and gracious friend (#mel) who doesn’t mind me using it these days because it’s speaking so loudly to me.

when i need it the most. in the mornings. 😆

yup. for some reason, like a jolt of caffeine every a.m., i desperately need a fresh jolt of courage. i awaken most mornings, fresh out. leaving me wondering, ‘crap, where in the heck did it go? it was just here yesterday.’ makes me want to look under my pillow, forage under my bed, search the bottom of the covers like so many pairs of socks that get kicked off in the night.

and then unbidden, the questions come flooding in, and the doubts, and the nasty little reminders of failures past … bleh. the unwanted anxieties bubble up, like black, inky hatch-marks trying to overcome yesterday’s beautiful colours in my mind’s eye. bleh again.

so what’s a girl to do?

well, i don’t know about any other girl, but i used to have all kinds of unhealthy responses to those little imaginary gremlins in my head who were attempting to steal my strength and joy. like resigning myself to them (as if they were truth). like shopping to ‘treat myself’ (when it was really about numbing the overwhelming sense of unworthiness). like eating dumb – translation: sugary – foods (as if that would make them disappear. lies! lies! they appeared alright, right on my hips). like retreating into netflix (or) hulu bingeing (or) coping through busyness … uh, well, you may recognize some of these numbing things. you might even know them intimately. umh, yeah. exactly what i’m talking about.

thankfully, i do less and less of those things. so, how in the world does a girl do that?

a number of ways, actually, but that’s a blog post for another day (and i will write it, because it’s powerful). let’s just say it has a lot to do with intentionality, and for purposes of today’s post, WORDS.

yup. words. good ol’ fashioned, lil’ simple words.

like images, i’ve learned firsthand (another #blogpostcomingsoon?), really firsthand, how words carry power. they carry power to enlighten, to build up or tear down, to paint pictures good or bad, to bring lightness or heaviness.

interestingly, i’ve also learned that words actually fight. good words fight for me to overcome the nasties in my head. so i take time every day to fill my brain with good words, first thing, hot and fresh just like that mug of coffee. i journal them some days, i read them some days, i paint them some days. i even speak them aloud. and i’ve learned to pay attention to the words i let in and surround myself with. like great people in my life, if I let the good words in, they fight for me in good ways.

so. back to the coffee mug … and to courage.

wandering into the early morning kitchen these days, this coffee mug reminds me of what i want, who i want to be … and am gradually becoming. i am courageous. fearless. fierce. brave.

it’s not a ‘can-do’ thing, at least for me. it’s a lean-in thing, a believing thing, a faith thing, a promise thing. it’s a resting thing as i move into ALL i’m stepping into in this season, because i’m doing scary things.

and that’s a courage thing!

so....what does courage mean to you? i’d love to hear from you, comment below ♡

2020 moving

it's 2020 alright. and it's moving.

literally.

since mid-January, i've been in the midst of moving both my studio and my home...my business life and personal life. i'm excited because it's a new year, a new studio space, a new zip code, new dreams and opportunities.

i'm also struck by the things highlighted right now all around me as i also downsize...thoughts and physical actions revolving around the words "clutter" and "purging" and "letting go."

it's been a lot easier ... and a lot harder ... than i imagined. day after day i'm drenched in choice after choice.

for example, i love de-cluttering and purging. this is the easy part. i'm an organizer at heart, and there's something wonderfully rewarding in seeing closets get organized, storage spaces purged, rooms rearranged. there's something uber-cathartic seeing trash bag after trash bag leave the premises. forever. "yay, me!" i think. (and, well, "how in the world did i end up with all this stuff?" i also think.)

letting go though...i don't always do so well on the letting go; hence the hard part. this is been one giant exercise in really choosing well. choices about what i really want to take into this next space, which, i'm discovering, also means an entirely new season.

so many choices about photos and drawings and letters, knicknacks and home decor and journals and gifts ... what do i keep? what do i donate? who could use this or that? what has served me well? what represents the old season? what brings me joy? (oh, yes, my friend susan and i had a grand ol' time with that one ... an entire "JOY! v. NO JOY!" session in my kitchen as we packed).

i think my ratpacking tendencies linger from being the child of a wonderfully adaptive mom who taught us not to throw away anything that "might" be useful. i'm certain she learned that young as well, as a post Depression-era kid. i'm not knocking it, because there have been some wonderful, crazy, creative consequences that will make another blog post one day. it does mean, though, that i've had to figure out how to unfriend my stuff.

goodbye, meat-packing-trays-that-were-supposed-to-be-paint-palettes, i'm unfriending you! goodbye, you 20 empty 3-ring binders, left over from homeschooling days, i'm unfriending you! goodbye, stash-of-empty-toilet-paper-rolls-with-a-future-as-a-mark-making-tool, i'm unfriending you! goodbye-upcycled-glass-pickle-jars-how-many-students-did-i-think-i-was-going-to-teach-at-once?!, i'm definitely unfriending you!

(i'm not making up this stuff, lol)

it's been a bit of a journey for me to learn to release things that are no longer useful or meaningful. one way has been to embrace the idea that it might actually be for someone else's benefit when i sell or give something away (or dump it, for crying out loud).

and the other is the realization that in order for the new to arrive, there has to be room for it in my life. "release to receive" as my mentor calls it.

so while moving is hardly on my top 10, it has been good. i have a whole lot i want to receive, so here i go. release away, young jedi!

would love to know what you're releasing today, to make room for the more that's on it's way :)

xo, debra ♡

Source: https://www.debrahartstudio.com/blog/2020-...

2020 vision

i don't often find myself drawn to reposts from other people, but this one is especially for my creative ones, regardless of whether you are a vocational 'maker,' just want to up your artful game or see uncommon breakthrough in your life.

heading into 2020, i'm lighthearted and so expectant about what the future holds. this doesn't mean it will be easy or all unicorns and rainbows ...just don't tell the littles in my life that! 🦄

it does mean i've entered into - since the end of september, actually - a season of thankfulness for what i've been given to do. i'm evaluating, listening, and releasing things from the last season that either no longer serve me well or hinder the journey. it's been empowering and lightening.

one of my favorite times of the year is the quiet of post-christmas activities, when i have time to pause & think about the past year and dream about the new one. i confess i've not always done this, or done it well, or done it the ways others do. in recent years, however, i've grown at a lightning pace because of the insight it brings. i've found this pull-away time to be of incredible value in moving forward into the things i have in my heart to do.

as you may have noticed elsewhere on this site, i'm in an artist mentoring program with hundreds of other artists from around the world. when this video popped up today on my facebook notifications, i was delighted at the timing. i grabbed a cup of coffee and set time aside to watch, and ended up making notes to bring along for upcoming christmas travels.

it is so good! i'm looking forward to marinating in the process matt talks about in this teaching. it is inspiring and thought-provoking, and i have a sneaky hunch you might benefit too. enjoy!

xo, debra ♡

ps: if you're interested in finding out more about the mentoring program, click here.

Source: https://debrahartstudio.com/blog/2020-visi...