​Your honest creative work matters!
Val Gilman- Coaching for Artists

Taproot  Spring workshop

Cracking the Egg
June 5      1:30-3:30 EDT

Why is it so difficult to get your work out into the world? 
 In this workshop we will address what needs to be in place, both internally and externally, before you take the next steps, and what the authentic call to show is so that you are not forcing yourself into painful and unsustainable processes.

What does it mean to be a successful artist?

I'm going to argue that Fame and Fortune- the classic concept of success- is just not enough!
  • Fame and fortune are fine, but if your work is not honest and compelling for you, then it does not matter in the world.
  • Fame and fortune are fine, but if you are run ragged, overwhelmed and  and your life is not manageable, then it is not success.
  • Fame and fortune are fine, but if getting it out into the world makes you feel queezy or like you are selling your soul, then it is not success.

Being a successful artist means making work that is honest, compelling and matters in the world.

Being a successful artist means having a healthy, balanced and meaningful life.

Being a successful artist means getting your work out into the world in a way that feels good, fits with your values and is actually pleasurable.

​Being a successful artist may or may not have to do with making a living or being well known, but it has everything to do with tapping in to what is true for you and loving the process of making and sharing your work.

Three pillars of becoming a successful artist​

Create your best work

  • Tap in to your honest creative expression
  • get clear and excited about your  creative direction
  • clarify your creative values- what makes it really good?
  • believe in yourself as a real artist with something to offer
  • get past procrastination, self doubt and imposter syndrome
  • develop a reliable creative practice that you enjoy

Take good care of yourself

  • find ease and joy in eating well and moving your body
  • get past overwhelm
  • make your home and your studio places you love to be
  • decrease stress so you have more energy and focus
  • balance your work and personal life
  • focus on health through creativity

Get your work out there

  • Offer your work to the world in a way that feels good!
  • clarify what makes your own work exciting and valuable
  • become articulate about the purpose and meanings in your work
  • find your right audience
  • engage your right audience with heart and pleasure
  • get the business end of art aligned with your strengths and values so that it inspires you rather than draining you

You want to have confidence to tap into the deeper truths, even when it is a vulnerable process, knowing that there is great value there. ​

 If you are going to make your most honest and compelling work, and get it out into the world, you need to feel safe and nourished emotionally, intellectually, creatively, spiritually and physically.

It is that safety and nourishment that makes it possible to reach and stretch in your creative work, to dig deep and to discover your most exciting places.

This is what it means to be Tapped In, like a fruit tree with strong roots soaking up the nutrients of the earth.

And like that tree laden with ripe apples, it is right and good to offer your work to the world. I want you to feel confident putting your work out in the right venues, charging what it is worth and getting paid!

The well nourished artist knows that their own particular voice is important as part of something much larger than the self, the collective reality of layers of cultures over time and space.

These are questions that you can ask yourself to see how well nourished and tapped in you are:
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. Fodder: 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?

4. 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?

5. 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. 

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.