Our cultural understanding of what it is to be a successful artist or creative might be oppressing you and stifling your ability to make your work and get it out into the world.

When you think about getting your work out there, do you feel weighted and resistant or light and energized?

If the answer is that you feel weighted or resistant, or any other similar feeling, you might be working under an understanding of success that is not in alignment with your values.

In our broader culture we are taught that success means critical acclaim, high price tags, massive audience, high-end galleries, and making a solid living on your art work. All of this implies a judgement; is your work good enough to merit this - are you a good artist?

This kind of judgement is counter-productive to making the heart-based work that is so essential to our well being.

If you are making for the context of critical acclaim, money and reputation, your connection to the vulnerable work of the heart is going to dry up. That kind of work is vulnerable and raw and does not do well with judgment.

If, on the other hand, you approach putting your art out into the world from a place of generosity, then the vulnerable, rich, exciting, raw work of the heart will have more ease.

So think about your values, what is important to you in making the work. How do you want your work to interact with the audience?

For example I value a deep connection, where my work might be healing or help people see the deeper parts of themselves. When I think of getting it out with a sense of generosity, I feel much more light and excited. It is worth it to get the work out there.

My notion of success involves continuing to make with pleasure and depth, having a way for others to connect with the work on a deep level, and making work in the context of a life that is balanced and happy.

What are your values and how do they relate to how you want to connect with your audience? How do you want to re-write the idea of success?

• Send a private email to val (at) taprootartsinsight (dot) com
• Subscribe to my newsletter: http://eepurl.com/buTz61​
• Check out my Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/taprootartsi...​
• Learn more about co-working with me: http://www.taprootartsinsight.com/virtual-coworking-for-artists-and-creatives.html
• More about coaching with Val: http://www.taprootartsinsight.com/life-coach-for-artists-and-creatives-919262.html
  
  

Can I interview you? It would be so helpful for me to hear what is going on for you so I can understand how to be of better service to artists and creatives and I would be happy to offer a coaching session in exchange. For more information check this link. https://app.acuityscheduling.com/sche...

I am thrilled to say that I am featured in the Hampshire Daily Gazette today in the Art Makers column!
You can see the article here.

I am reflecting on why it was such a good thing for me to do this in- case you need a nudge to go ahead and reach out to your local paper and see if there is a simpilar opportunity.

1. Fun- I have to say it is really fun to write about and reflect on my art, why I do it, what my process is, where it all came from- it gives me a boost!
2. Validation- there is nothing like seeing your words and your images in print or on someone else's web page! Wow that is powerful!
3. Connection- I made a great new connection with the photographer for this piece- totally unexpected and worth the whole thing! Also a number of folks who knew me a little bit know me a lot better now because of what they read. And from the comments I am getting it feels a lot like there is common ground for us to play with.

Back to you! Have you been featured like this and have a sense of the value of it? I would also love to read your comments about the article itself- did anything I say touch something in you?

Ahh- its over! I had a wonderful time connecting with the people coming through- some old friends, some new. In fact there were a couple of people who I had not seen in 25 years! What a gift. I also had a chance to connect to older work and to see it all together in a way that never happens when I have shows in galleries. Very cool. And eclectic. The piece you see in the slide show that has two views is one that I did before grad school- so probably 1992 or 3. I was thrilled to see it again- and inspired to work with that idea again. I love the way light plays on it. 

So I am happy to have my studio back- the work tucked away- the beautiful cloth folded in its box and my tools available. I have started to take photos for etsy (this is going to be a long project- not a one fell swoop like I thought!), make pots for a firing in December, and create 5 x 7" sculptural wall pieces for the December small works show at Gallery A3. It feels great to be actively using my new studio.

I had been wondering whether it would be worth all the work to do this studio sale- and as I think about advice I might offer in this regard- these are the things that make it worth while:
1. Validation- letting my community close at hand know about what I do. It feels really great to be seen as the artist that I am, and not just as my daughter's mother (though that is still my most significant role). My identity is filled out a bit and validated. 
2. Connections- I have no idea what will come of this, but I had the strong sense that the conversations with people were equally important to the things I sold. I feel very inspired to follow up on the leads and directions that were offered.
3. Activating my studio- getting the energy of affirmation in my studio feels good- makes it a juicy place to work
4. reacquainting myself with the breadth of work that I have done- I can feel a creative stirring and churning going on as I enter a new phase in my creative life- this feels like a kind of marker and portal.
5. Community- I am so lucky that when I put out the word in the local list serve that I was thinking of an open studio event and wondered if there was anyone else who wanted to do it with me, 4 fabulous women artists responded. We have so enjoyed working together that we now have a name: The Shutesbury Arts Collective. And we are planning to keep working together to produce open studio events and other things as yet defined. I needed a community of artists and what a great way to invest in it!