Breathing- there is so much good stuff out there about awareness practices with breath. I have been thinking a lot about it in relation to making art- which, for many of us, is another awareness practice in itself.

If you want the fresh ideas in your work, if you want your work to be vital and exciting and alive, it's not just about doing and doing and doing.

There's the breath in it, which is a polarity.

It's about inhaling - expanding, bringing in all those exciting ideas, starting things, doing things.

It's also about exhaling - letting go, finishing, developing.

By letting it go you allow that there's going to be room for the inhale again, for that fresh energy coming in. You can't get the fresh energy coming in if you don't exhale, if you don't let go.

So here is to the exhale. Letting go. Finishing. Grounding. ​

​
​​ Let's create the reality of the well-fed artist.

​This is a question that I was mulling over with Laumee and Rachael in their podcast

Creative Explorers:
Layers of Community with Val Gilman

It was a fun conversation and I highly recommend going to check it out! I love these women- they are so honest and real in how they talk about their lives as artists. Their offering is truly generous and inspiring. I want to thank them for inviting me to participate and also for doing the work of creating this ongoing podcast series!


After that interview, I found myself thinking about the layers of community that create a supportive web for each of us. I am profoundly grateful to all the people in the various layers of community that I am part of. And just to be really clear- this includes you! The fact that you give me the opportunity to think about and talk about what goes into being an artist is a real gift. So thank you!

One of the great fallacies that artists live with is that as solo artists we not only have to do it all ourselves, but that being isolated and often lonely is part of the job.

Please do not buy this idea!

We are social creatures. It is not healthy to be isolated- and it is not good for your art either.


It is useful to think about  different layers or categories of community and ask which ones need to be strengthened, and how can you strengthen them?

I break it down into different categories below, but I want to give you the punch line: There are three things that will help you strengthen the web of connections and not feel exhausted with the isolation of being a solo artist:

awareness, gratitude and generosity.

It is amazing how the following steps can really help you feel nourished! Try it.
1. list out the connections to bring awareness to them, the more specific the better
2. sit with each of them and invite a sense of gratitude
3. find a way to demonstrate that gratitude- a simple card, email or phone call is often perfect- and delightful to receive in random moments.
4. invoke a sense of generosity when you sit down to do your work- whether it is making art or finding ways to promote it, or it is just doing the dishes. 

Creative energy flows through you- not from you. You are the lens, the shaper, but not the source of energy. The more you are aware with gratitude of the energy pouring into you from all the parts of your community and out through you with generosity back into the community, the less you will feel isolated and depleted. 



These are the categories of connection that come to me. I am curious what you would add to it.


1. Family and friends- really this is first. These are the people who love you no matter what. They may or may not understand your art/craft, but they affirm your personhood. They want to be there for you. 

After years of doing shows and then feeling isolated and lonely when suddenly the big push was over, the show was up, the event had happened, I finally got it that part of the preparation for the show had to include making sure that there was a post show event, a dinner date, or something small and intimate, to unwind with my core people and come back to being just human in loving connection with other humans.

Small acts of kindness and reaching out to them will help your stability and well being.

2. Self care- therapists, yoga, gym, restaurants, movie theaters, places where you walk or jog, grocery stores- what do you do to take care of yourself? Notice that you are being supported as a healthy strong human through these people and places!

3. Fans- Yes, it is helpful to have people who you know are interested and hungry for what you have to offer. It satisfies an essential human need- to feel like a useful member of society- that you offer something of value.

When this relationship is strong, it is not an empty ego boost for you. It feels like a two way living breathing web of connection. You are doing what you do from your heart, and offering it with humility and grace, and they find it useful and meaningful in their lives and they let you know that by buying, following, thanking and sharing their experience with you.

When the relationship is not strong- it can feel like you are needy of attention, you puff yourself up and then feel ashamed of wanting to have your work seen. You feel unworthy or like a fraud. It is painful and can actually get in the way of the flow of your creative work.

Try bringing awareness to the gift of connection, settling into gratitude and then offering your work from a place of integrity and generosity

4. Vendors and business connections- There are a ton of systems and businesses who support your work both in the creating and in selling or distributing it. It is like an ecosystem that you are part of.

It can be a great exercise to just list them all out so that you can see yourself as part of something much larger than yourself. And also so you can see how they are reciprocal relationships- there is need in both directions, and the ability to provide. Relationships of generosity and gratitude.

5. Circles of peers. Other artists and craftspeople are essential community. The important thing here is to be aware of the difference layers withing the circle of peers and to develop the connections that you need with a strong and supple personal boundary.

Imagine a bull's eye diagram:

5 a.  Outer circle peers. Artists and crafts people everywhere. Knowing that others are engaged in a similar pursuit is profoundly useful to your sense of belonging. Museums and galleries, podcasts and social media offerings, open studio event and arts fairs, and  other public forums are all a part of an ocean of creative engagement.

You don't have to engage with them directly to be aware that you are part of a larger creative community, but it helps to touch into it occasionally in ways that bring you pleasure.

5 b. Mid circle peers: These are connections of parallel play- each of you doing your own thing, and being nourished by knowing that the others are doing their thing. Maybe you have a studio in a building of other studios or you come to a co-working event or have a buddy system. I offer virtual co-working for artists and craftspeople because I work alone in my home studio and it helps tremendously to feel the presence of others.

5 c. Inner circle peers- these are the people you trust to really talk deeply about your work, and you care and are engaged with their work. This is where you can have the vulnerable conversations about the meaning of your work, the things that get in the way, the strategies for getting it out in the world, and all the challenges that come up emotionally as you work through it.

Having a safe container for this kind of connection is essential because it can be very tender.

Its important to note that, though your family and friends love you, they are often not the right people for the artist's inner circle. Family and friends often want to fix the issues, point you in the direction that they feel is right for you, and keep you from taking risks with your work for fear of you getting hurt. 

What you need is empathy, compassion, openness and non- judgement.
You need someone or some people who care that you are moving in the right direction for you and who hold complete confidence that you have what it takes to figure it out. 

When you have that everything becomes easier.
​Really- there is ease and pleasure, the struggle subsides. 

This is why I run my Taproot Artist Circle- which will begin fresh after the new year. And it is why I am a coach for individuals. It is not only necessary, but also deeply inspiring.

I am currently in a process of refining the design of the circle before promoting it  again. Your insights would be so helpful! If you would be willing to be interviewed for roughly 45 minutes, I would be more than happy to give you an hour of free coaching. This is not a veiled sales tactic- it is really more like market research. That said- if you find it helpful and want to know about what it would look like to work with me, we can also open that conversation. If not, that is totally fine- I will be grateful for your insights and I will do my best to make the conversation useful to you!

Stay in the not knowing as long as possible.

There is something there, calling you.

It is beyond the should’s and have-to’s. It is well past what you can see.

It takes some groping around in the darkness.

You will look awkward. You will feel unsteady. You will wonder if it is worth it.

You may even climb out of that rich loam, that deep unknown, that luscious unilluminated space of aching possibilities to fold the underwear and stack the clean bowls.

It’s ok- those are stabilizing tasks- they are the exhale, the safe space, the resting in the illuminated world.

Return and return and return to the darkness.

When you begin to find that thing, when you bump into it, and then tentatively let yourself caress it, your curiosity will kick in.

What is this soft bit and this other ragged? The feather of a morning dove and the song of your aunt Mae 43 years ago in the meadow. Can you smell the leaves crunching underfoot?

Oh, but then there is this particular shade of yellow ochre that pulls your heart as it lays down next to crimson.

Yes, there is a falling in love.
And there is a making love.

Discover through the delight of a line curling and squirming across the page, or the piccolo dancing with the long bow of the cello,
that which is both familiar and disquieting.

You have never seen it before, no one has, but you recognize it.

You will know you are getting there when you begin to giggle.

And you will draw it up into the illuminated space with your tender curiosity and delight.

Don’t rush this love making.

Don’t name it or shove it into the light before it is ready. Don’t try to understand.

Stay with it in the dark and dance.

Trust yourself.

It is only when you allow this full, slow unfolding that the deepest most needful truths are revealed.

​Stay in the not knowing as long as possible.
And allow yourself to fall in love.
 
 
Val Gilman
2022

What if it didn't have to be so difficult? Life I mean. And Art. What if The dishes didn't nag and the thing on the floor that I walk past a million times a day didn't call me a slob. What if it was just calling to me and it turned out it was easy to pick it up and put it away right now. Maybe it is a gift- hey the room would  look nicer if you closed the cabinet door. There would be more pleasure. Could there be more pleasure? Would it be ok- Like would I be a boring person if there was not so much friction around me? 

I was testing this idea this morning. Sitting on the pot- I saw three random things on the floor. Getting the things off the floor in the bathroom lead to tidying up around the sink and straightening the rug. It looked better. Pleasure. What would bring more pleasure? Humming a tune. I used to do that long ago- I would tidy and sing. Not that I can really sing- I can't remember a tune to save my lfe- but if it is just for the pleasure of the sound- that I can do- just for me. And it is nice- comforting- uplifiting. 

And later I noticed that my body felt stiff- like friction there too. Maybe there are candy wrappers and tissues that can be thrown away there too, and cabinet doors that could be closed, and a few dishes washed and a the counter wiped down...inside my body. Could it be a gift, a pleasure, a generosity to dance and stretch a little? To attend to the little things in my body that are caling to me. Instead of walking past them and having them make nasty comments about how much of a fat slob I am. What if I attended to the requests for attention that my body is asking? Pleasure. Wiggling around- saying hello- I love you with the pleasure of movement. 

Ok, so my desk area is cleaner- just having sat here to type and letting myself tidy while I gather the words. 

The thing is that my eyes do notice all the things- I'm drawn to them. And mostly they have nagged and been little itchy annoying spots. And honestly there are days when they have won- they really get me down. But if I start- as I did today- with just doing a few easy things that might make the energy of the room flow a little nicer- there is a sense of ease and competence that begins. I wonder if that will carry through my day. Can I do it with the naggy details that need attending? The life todo list grows like a weed patch. Can I do it with the business todo's- And the studio and art making? So many of them are so much harder- take more time- require a deeper attention.... in what ways could I make them more pleasurable, remove the friction? 

Ok- that is a musing for a different day. Right now I am going to stretch a bit more and hum my self back to the house to wake my kid. With pleasure. My guess is that softening those craggy bits in my space and body will make the bigger things flow better too... but it is a test. A trial. A wondering. 

#taprootartsinsight, #valgilmancoachforartists, #coachforartists, #honestart, #creativedirection, #creativeflow, #creativeprocess, #artwithintegrity, #artwithheart, #artwithinsight, #findingease, #pleasure principle, 

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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/schedule.php?owner=12649280&appointmentType=2437684
​

Sometimes you can feel like you are flailing in your creative process and direction. It is frustrating and painful and it does not have to be.

Recognizing the three types of creative flow and how they all are essential to creating work with integrity, honesty and heart, will help you lean into the pleasure of your creative work.


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I could not be happier with the way this project looks! My client, Susan, keeps sending me photos of it at different times of day and telling me about gatherings she has had in the space. I loved hearing that someone who came to a gathering said that the space was magical. 

Susan says, " It is a truely magical space. It is so so so beautiful! We are just so mesmerized. How can we ever thank you enough."

Wow. As an artist- it is deeply gratifying to create something that gets to live in someone's home and touch their lives. It is even more gratifying because I have had the opportunity to get to know these wonderful people and I know how much possitive impact they make in the world- so I get to be part of nourishing them and the good work they do in the world!

Thank you Susan and Peter for this collaborative and joyful opportunity!

I have never been this organized for Paradise City before and I know the trick: accountability. Yup, I know that my good friend Jeff, who is going to be helping with the big things, has somewhere to be in the afternoon- so he is going to show up here tomorrow morning at 7:30 and I need to be ready to roll. So my car is just about packed and all the details are in good shape.... almost.

Nothing like a deadline that involves being responsible to another person!

The other thing that has been a little different is giving myself a bit longer to focus on organization and taking better care of myself along the way.  Like giving myself permission to take breaks- real breaks- like an afternoon at the local lake beach when it was just too hot to think.

I definitely recommend some down time to keep the stress at bay when preparing for a big deadline.

I thought you might like to see a few things:

This is the newly painted and redesigned booth. So Swank!

In a month I will be setting up my booth (# 422) in the Paradise City Arts Festival, and I am really getting excited to see people again! I feel like I am crawling out a covid induced isolation chamber, and though I do love my solo time, I also long for connections with people.

I have been working on three very different commissions  which has resulted in a bunch of new glazes and sculptural ideas that I am looking forward to seeing in a clean space and sharing with you!

So I am revamping my booth, whole new look and color! It feels like making a new gown for the ball...Not that I really know what that feels like. But I can imagine the fun! I hope you will drop by and tell me what you think!