As an artist, which of these describes your situation?

I'm figuring you are here because something does not feel right, you are struggling in some way. I am sorry if that is the case, and I would love to be able to help if I can. Below are three places many of my clients find themselves in. It is not an exhaustive list, and all of us are different- so feel free to contact me even if one of these is not a perfect match.

Stalled Creative Project

You have a big and meaningful creative project, like that book, or that major art piece, that you know would be so powerful, important, exciting, etc.  It has been calling you and every time you start, you get only so far, and you hit a wall! You worry that you do not have it in you, or that you will never get it done.

As an artist or a creative, when you are taking on something that has real meaning for you, it is natural to run into internal blocks, fears and self-doubt. Its an indication that you are reaching beyond the comfort zone, and that is good.

The goal is to develop a way to deal with the blocks so they do not knock you over and to establish structures that support your process even when it gets challenging.

Career killing your creativity

You have been so focused on doing what needs to be done for your academic or other art adjacent career, jumping through hoops to get recognition and stability. And now you hardly know who you are as an artist anymore, and it feels like you don't know yourself. You are wondering if your career is worth it and you are finding yourself resentful and creatively lost.

Academia and other art adjacent careers, can suck the integrity right out of a person. Staying true to your honest creative work, and the messy process of it, is challenging in this context because you always have to prove your merit as a professional.

Reconnecting to your true north and reawakening your creative spark is  completely possible and essential for your well-being.

Solo artist and floundering

You made the commitment, or you will be when this job is over: full time artist! Yikes! How do you do it?   Suddenly your creative ideas dry up or fall flat, you have no creative flow. Making art for money feels like selling your soul, but not going "all-in" feels like betraying your True Self.

It is normal to get stalled out when you decide to go "all-in". It feels like a big risk and what if you can't do it? What if you never amount to anything? What if you are not good enough?

You can do it, but if you are going to do it sustainably, it needs to be a slow build or you will burn out. There are internal limiting beliefs to break down, structures of support to build, and clarity of direction to discover. 

​Your honest creative work matters!

Artists have such important roles to play in the well-being of our cultures, our earth and our inner growth.

 
With Our Creative work we
  • Engage  beauty, compassion, and resonant meanings
  • Tap into the creative and collective unconscious to express the things that are at the edge of our own learning, growth and healing.
  • Ask questions
  • Bring awareness to the unspoken truths
  •  Awaken awe, connecting us to the greater vitality 
  • Plumb the depths
  • Challenge assumptions
  • Envision possibilities
  • Express healing qualities of being
  • Demonstrate paradox
  • Are at the forefront of cultural and environmental change 

Tap into the deeper truths, even when it is a vulnerable process, knowing that there is great value there. ​

These are questions that a coach for artists can help you with:
1. Community: Do you have a place to talk about the depth of meaning in your work and the work of others who you admire? Do you feel isolated or lonely in your studio practice? Do you have a way to talk about the challenges and celebrations of your work with people who are also doing their own work? I made this video about community recently for more details about the layers of community.

2. Your practice: do you feel nourished by your own art making practice, like you are coming home when you get to work? Do you feel excited and curious to see what is emerging? Do you feel more like yourself when you have been making, like the rest of your life flows more easily because you have been taking care of yourself in this way? Is the space you work in inviting and inspiring?

3. Your self-trust: Are you comfortable with the ups and downs of your creative flow? Do you feel confident that if you show up to your work, you will find something of value there? Do you get overwhelmed and lose direction, purpose and meaning?

4. Receptivity:  Do you find yourself doing things, looking at things, reading about things, hearing things, engaged in the world in a way that feeds your work? Do you feel inspired by the world around you? Do you give yourself space and time to open yourself to that inspiration?

5. Time and space structures: Do you have a place or places to work that feel inviting, energizing and supportive to your creative exploration? Do you find yourself avoiding your studio, or feeling discouraged when you get there? Is the time that you invite yourself to do your creative work the right time for you? Is it your most creative time of day? Is it a length of time that feels sufficient and not excessive? Are you able to focus? Are you getting enough done consistently enough that you feel a throughline of creative energy?

6. Life context: Are you taking good care of your body, nourishing food, sleep, and exercise? Do you have a source of income that sustains you without draining you? Do you feel like the time you want and need for your art practice fits well within the context of all the other things you do? Do you have a loving supportive community of friends? Do you have a spiritual practice that feels rich and sustaining?
There are so many things that can get in the way, that can block our natural abilities and drives. And when you clear them out, there is flow and ease and joy in your creative work. 

Hi, I'm Val Gilman,  coach for artists and creatives

I am always available for a free consultation.

My art work is my grounding and my teacher.

It takes me to the places I need to grow and provides  tools for transformation and healing. This is what I want for you too.

In so many ways I experience my creative work as my spiritual practice, a way to connect to the essential truths of my life and the collective life of the culture and the planet. 

If you resonate with this way of connecting to your creative work and you are longing to expand, deepen or reawaken your creative flow, or if you are ready to put it out into the world with integrity and pleasure, I may be able to help.

My creative journey has naturally led me to offer these ways of sharing my purpose: in my art, through teaching, my writing and videos, and through transformational life coaching for artists and others interested in creative ways of healing the culture and the planet.
​Taproot is about having a strong root reaching deep into the dark rich soil of our interiors and the collective source of creative insight and feeding our most beautiful illuminated selves- the stems, leaves, flowers of our waking selves. Taproot is about honoring the unknown, willfully reaching into the darkness and trusting that we can find what we need there for nourishment, insight and growth. It is about taking authorship of our own processes of growth and change and it is about listening deeply to the needs, impulses, desires, creative insights of our deepest most essential selves. It is about being held in community as we delve into this profound work. It is about the radical act of love and patience and listening and holding as we make our honest work.

The core Values of Taproot Arts and Insight are: Integrity, Balance, Depth and Generosity.