Why does coaching for artists work?

When you have a desire and you can't seem to get it moving, there are three major areas that need help:
  • Clarity: when you are not sure if you are heading in the right direction or have so many ideas that it feels like overwhelm or moving in fits and starts, it is essential to back up and find grounding in your strengths, values and life purpose. It is not a matter of making them up- but rather discovering them and leaning into them. Your creative mission and creative values are already there as well- and with some simple exercises they too become clear and like a guiding compass.
  • Practical guidance and support: setting manageable goals, timelines, next steps, etc. and having the accountability to get it done! It is very common for creatives to get overwhelmed because we want to do it all right now. It helps tremendously to have an objective sounding board as you sort through priorities and figure out what you need to learn and what you can ask for help with, and develop compassion for yourself in realizing how much time things really take!
  • Deeper healing: This can include dealing with a powerful inner critic, procrastination, self-doubt, or a myriad of other internal blocks. What you need is not to beat yourself up for this, but rather to find out what is going with these parts of yourself and to take care of them so that all parts of the self are in alignment.

How does coaching for artist work?

There are five basic areas to address:
  • Alignment: clarifying what is true for you, your strengths, your values and your life purpose. When you get all the parts of yourself aligned, there is a shocking lack of friction. It is a delight to work with the ease that emerges.
  • Awareness:  developing a sense of compassion and non-judgment as you become aware of what is really going on, where you are getting stuck, and what parts of you are acting out. This can be a slow unfolding, like pealing layers off an onion.
  • Transformation: by using the imagination as the bridge between the cognitive mind and the emotional and visceral psyche, you can not only illuminate the stuck places, but you can transform the parts that were causing friction into parts that help you succeed.
  • Practicalities: getting down and dirty with breaking your goals into logical, doable steps, letting go of the too-much and prioritizing what stays. Clarity, kindness and listening for the true call of self.
  • Compassionate accountability: when it gets tough, you can easily be distracted from your goals. Having someone walking with you helps you stay focused on the path.

What are the qualities of a really good coach

It helps tremendously to have the support of someone who has been there and who understands both the practical tangible things and also the painful psychological traps.
  • They need to be an exceptional listener, helping you to hear your own inner wisdom.
  • They need to offer you personalized guidance as you clarify your values, strengths, direction and purpose
  • They need to have a very practical side to help strategize your intentions into goals and doable next steps.
  • They need to have compelling techniques for learning from and transforming the challenging bits so that you don't get caught in the same traps. 
  • They need to see below the surface and around the corner- asking great questions with an open mind and heart so you can find your right answers.
  • The main thing is that this person has to not be pushing an agenda—the true agenda is up to you. ​

I would love to help!

Let me tell you a little bit about my background so you can get a sense of me.

My two years of training in psychosynthesis transformational life coaching gives
me an amazing set of tools and a depth of understanding how the human psyche works. It is an approach that values the whole person, with the belief that even
the challenging parts of the self are essential to the whole, and with some care
can actually be a help rather than a challenge.  

As a professional artist for the better part of 30 years, I have learned on the
ground how to make everything happen, from shows, advertising, and sales, to
just getting myself back into the studio after dry spells. 

As a professor of art at the College of Wooster, University of Redlands, California State University – San Bernardino, and Allegheny College, I helped over a
thousand students find their voices, learn to articulate their creative insight, get motivated, and present themselves professionally. Having taught courses at all
levels and in both 3D and 2D. I have practical skills and knowledge in a broad
range of visual art materials.

I also worked as a career counselor at a very progressive and inventive college,
​so I have some of those tricks up my sleeve as well.

If you want to see if we might be a good fit to work together, please start by taking the quiz!

What's the next step?

​If you are ready to get some help and talk about what your situation is so that we can assess what I can do for you, please click the link below to schedule a Free Initial Conversation. You will be directed to a set of questions- take your time with them! After you send them to me and I read through them, I will contact you to schedule an initial 30-45 min conversation.  There is no charge for this conversation, nor is there any obligation to go on from there. It is our chance to see if we connect to each other and want to move to the next step. 

Join the Virtual Co-Working for artists and creatives!

We meet weekly on Tuesday mornings at 9 on zoom to connect, ground and set intentions for about 15 minutes, then we get off the call and get to work in our individual studios until 10:45 when we get back together and share our successes. It is free, but donations are appreciated.