​​There are big and scary things happening to our world because of the way we, humans, have lived on this earth. And how we continue to live on this earth.

Yes,  many of us are trying to do right.  We work to be good stewards, champions for the care of the natural world, activists in stopping global warming, and so many other heartfelt ways of trying to be in right relationship. We are inspired and nourished by soaking up the beauty and we want to give back.

But we also separate ourselves from the natural world, in the stories we tell, as if we are not built of the same stuff, as if we are not also part of the living skin of the earth.
We have all sorts of ways that we see ourselves as better than, smarter, more important. Other animals and plants have a ton more ecological intelligence than we do and if we could get off our collective ego trip, we could learn a lot about living in right relationship to all things. 

We own the land very much like we used to own women or slaves, which gives us the right to use it as we see fit. Our mining practices, agribusiness practices, transportation practices, consumer practices and living environments are all devastating to the ecosystems of the natural world. When I look at it like this, I feel profoundly uncomfortable- knowing that I am in the class of oppressors.

I know it takes a lot to shift this way of understanding our place in the world. It takes humility and vulnerability, it takes a willingness to recognize the privilege that we have assumed, and acknowledge the harm we have done, both to the natural world and to the poorer human communities around the world who still suffer in service to our consumer needs. 

Making the shift takes being in the grief and finding ways to move forward with love, compassion and togetherness. 

One of the great skills that we have as humans is denial. We are able to live in a partial truth, in only the part that feels good to us, and ignore the parts that feel crappy as if they do not exist. It is this denial that makes continuing to live in the spoils of oppression possible. If we kept it front and center, we would not survive.

But there is a gnawing from underneath this partial awareness. Is that what causes depression and the internal imbalance that makes it so hard to take care of ourselves? That drives so many of us towards addictive behaviors and lascivious life styles? That fuels the capitalist machine and lines the pockets of the wealthy few? The gnawing creates a craving for anything that will muffle the pain of our own place in the oppressive and abusive reality of our cultural imbalance. 

The way out of the denial is to attend to our grief. This is not easy work. It is slow and iterative. We need to be in community and let ourselves feel the pain of it, register the loss, and hold ourselves and each other in compassion and love. In this way we can begin to heal and bring forth our will towards greater wholeness and healing.


​What would happen if we could really embrace the idea of being part of the ecosystems?

• Would we be able to take care of ourselves with more ease because we would be tapped into the same kind of deep knowing of how to live that it seems that all the creatures and plants have?
• Would we make decisions about how much and what to consume based not just on our own desires, but on an awareness of the balance of all things? 
• Would we have a greater sense of balance and health in our selves and our communities?
• Would the cancer of our consumer and capitalist greed stop growing?

I do not know the answers, and I have only just barely started to articulate the questions for myself. 

The thing that gives me hope is that there are so many people in so many fields who are asking similar questions and dreaming into how we might shift our paradigms, mindsets, ways of being. 

And as artists, we have such important roles to play in this process.

• We ask question,
• We bring awareness,
• We challenge assumptions,
• We envision possibilities,
• We express healing qualities of being,
• We engage paradox,
• We tap into the creative and collective unconscious to express the things that are at the edge of our own learning, growth and healing.

I do not know all the roles of the creatives, but I know that for me it begins with letting my animal body love what it loves as I feel into being part of the skin of the earth.  (thank you Mary Oliver for your Wild Geese poem!)

I want to invite you to my spring workshops so we can

• feel into the community of creatives who care
• tap into our connection with the earth and all living things
• realign ourselves with the good of the whole as part of the skin of the earth
• gain a sense of the value of each of our particular creative work
• relish in the diversity of our roles

Culturally the arts are often seen as frivolous, relegated to diversion, entertainment and decoration.

As artists we often struggle with an internalized judgment that says that we are not doing real work. Lets untangle those judgements and energize our focus with integrity, honesty and community!

The workshop is past, but if you want to know about what else is coming up, get on the mailing list!

My eyes were tracing the lines of the branches- discovering the negative shapes that excited me and there was a soft warmth of my daughter lounged across me.

Slowly the spring pond song  filled out- not as loud and shrill as I know it can get, but more constant and active than it had been when we arrived, and the color had settled to the lowest edge of the sky leaving only greys up high.

The trees in my neck of the woods have a deep red mist  amongst their still naked branches. Soon they will have a pale green mist, and then the lush green will flood in- and those beautiful lines of the naked branches will be fully clothed and obscured. 

And the other day the king turkey was strutting so puffed up and slow that I felt a strong urge to bow down and join the gaggle of girls he was protecting, claiming, seducing, charming, hanging out with... So many different ways we could write that story.

And as I sit here, writing to you, there is a very busy squirrel sitting in the birdfeeder looking at me, glaring at me, challenging me, thanking me, fearful of me... (again so many ways we could write that story!) as he chews on the food we intended for the birds. 

It is spring and today is the day to start digging out the space under the deck that I use as my outdoor studio space. And there is a new nest built just over the sliding glass door. This is a conundrum that happens every year. How do I share space with this new family without disturbing them? Why do they have to choose that particular spot?

I am so aware that as humans we have an awkward and paradoxical relationship with nature. Yes we are inspired and nourished by soaking up the beauty. 

But we also separate ourselves from it, in the stories we tell, as if we are not built of the same stuff, as if we are not also part of the living skin of the earth. We have all sorts of ways that we see ourselves as better than, smarter, more important.

We own the land very much like we used to own women or slaves, which gives us the right to use it as we see fit. When I look at it like this, I feel uncomfortable- knowing that I am in the class of oppressors.

I know it takes a lot to shift this way of understanding our place in the world. It takes humility and vulnerability, it takes a willingness to recognize the privilege that we have assumed, and acknowledge the harm we have done, both to the natural world and to the poorer communities around the world who still suffer in service to our consumer needs. 

It takes actively living in the discomfort of pain we are causing until we can no longer stomach taking advantage as we have. 

One of the great skills that we have as humans is denial. We are able to live in a partial truth, in only the part that feels good to us, and ignore the parts that feel crappy as if they do not exist. It is this denial that makes continuing to live in the spoils of oppression possible. If we kept it front and center, we would not survive.

But there is a gnawing from underneath this partial awareness. Is that what causes depression and the internal imbalance that makes it so hard to take care of ourselves? That drives so many of us towards addictive behaviors and lascivious life styles? The gnawing creates a craving for anything that will muffle the pain of our own place in the oppressive and abusive reality of our cultural imbalance. 

What would happen if we could really embrace the idea of being part of the ecosystems?

Would we be able to take care of ourselves with more ease because we would be tapped into the same kind of deep knowing of how to live that it seems that all the creatures and plants have? Would we make decisions about how much and what to consume based not just on our own desires, but on an awareness of the balance of all things?  Would we have a greater sense of balance and health in our selves and our communities? Would the cancer of our consumer and capitalist greed stop growing?

I do not know the answers, and I have only just barely started to articulate the questions for myself. 

The thing that gives me hope is that there are so many people in so many fields who are asking similar questions and dreaming into how we might shift our paradigms, mindsets, ways of being. 

And as artists, we have such important roles to play in this process. We ask question, bring awareness, challenge assumptions, envision possibilities, express healing qualities of being, engage paradox, tap into the creative and collective unconscious to express the things that are at the edge of our own learning, growth and healing.

I do not know all the roles of the creatives, but I know that for me it begins with listening to the peepers and feeling the warmth of my daughters body on mine, noticing the color of the mist in the branches, and the way the evening pink settles to the horizon. It takes looking into the eyes of the squirrel and feeling the pull of the puffed up turkey king and considering the well being of the fledglings who will hatch above my sliding glass door. 

It begins with letting my animal body love what it loves as I feel into being part of the skin of the earth.  (thank you Mary Oliver for your Wild Geese poem!)

I want to invite you to my spring workshop so we can

• feel into the community of creatives who care
• tap into our connection with the earth and all living things
• realign ourselves with the good of the whole as part of the skin of the earth
• gain a sense of the value of each of our particular creative work
• relish in the diversity of our roles

Culturally the arts are often seen as frivolous, relegated to diversion, entertainment and decoration.

As artists we often struggle with an internalized judgment that says that we are not doing real work. Lets untangle those judgements and energize our focus with integrity, honesty and community!

The Spring workshop is past, but if you want to know about what is coming up, get on my mailing list!

I had a day of the floor dropping out, but right now I feel a renewed sense of purpose. It was reading Venice William's poem that got me turned around. And below are my thoughts for all artists.

You are awakening to the
same country you fell asleep to.
The very same country.
Pull yourself together.
And,
when you see me,
do not ask me
"What do we do now?
How do we get through the next four years?"
Some of my Ancestors dealt with
at least 400 years of this
under worse conditions.
Continue to do the good work.
Continue to build bridges not walls.
Continue to lead with compassion.
Continue the demanding work
of liberation for all.
Continue to dismantle broken systems,
large and small.
Continue to set the best example
for the children.
Continue to be a vessel of nourishing joy.
Continue right where you are.
Right where you live into your days.
Do so in the name of
The Creator who expects
nothing less from each of us.
And if you are not "continuing"
ALL of the above,
in community, partnership, collaboration?
What is it you have been doing?
What is it you are waiting for?


The work that we are doing as artists and creatives is essential now and always. 

By doing the vulnerable and challenging work of being an artist, going into the not knowing of the creative process, allowing ourselves to follow our impulses and draw out the bits and pieces that sing true and that move our souls, that captivate us and let us fall in love, by doing this work, this play, this thing that seems at times like groping around in the dark and other times like dancing with your eyes closed, and still other times like caressing the delicate skin of your sleeping child, you are tapping our deepest and most needful truths.

Yes it is personal. Of course it is personal.

But it is not only about you. The more you can open your own heart, the more you reveal the heart of the culture.

So don't stay in the surface.
don't accept they are bad and we are good.
don't jump on the band wagon and rally the troops
You know it is so much more beautiful and sad and painful and rich than that.
None of us are all good or all bad, right or wrong
listen to the heart of the other- this is what we need to heal our divided place
listen to the pain and the struggle and the desires and hopes
and have the courage to share yourself as well.

We get to see into the complex challenging places at the edge of our own discomfort
We get to reveal the places that need healing and growth
We get to bring tenderness and love to the wounds
We get to provide rest and nourishment in our songs and colors
We get to push buttons with our wry lyrics
We get to be at the front lines of change- helping our cultures shift in subtle and powerful ways.

So take time on your couch with your cat
walk in the woods and pay attention to the light coming through the freshly naked branches
Listen to the crunching leaves of fall
Let go of the effort for a bit
let yourself rest for a bit
wrap up in a cozy blanket and drink tea and watch the change of light

and then get your clay in hand, your guitar, your paint brush or pen
and let yourself play into what is alive in you.
sooth your own soul first
then let the rest of us hear your song.
we need it.

warmly,
Val
Taproot Community-
Tuesday mornings on Zoom from 9 am ET to 11am ET and on first Tuesdays until !2 pm ET
This is for artists and creatives who work largely on their own and could use some accountability and comradery. I have found this group to be enormously effective at keeping us all focused and motivated and having just enough structure so that procrastination and distraction do not get the better of us. It's also just a really wonderful group of folks to connect with! 
​
More Info on the Taproot Community

You find your favorite mug on their shelves- bring it home and nourish yourself with slow tea. Like a favorite old hand knit sweater. 

I have been making pots that way recently- I think they are coming along. And I really do not want to stop.

I hope you will come see them at Paradise City in October!

My goal as I move toward that show is to slow down and enjoy each pot and each sculpture and every step along the way.

I hope you can slow down and enjoy your moment also.
Warmly,
Val

 
Paradise City Arts Festival
It is the second weekend in October at the Northampton fairgrounds. I hope to see you there! 

The other day I finally fixed my kiln (very pleased with myself for figuring it out myself with the encouragement from a friend) and was able to fire it off with a bunch of glaze tests. I am super excited to run another load before the fair with high hopes of bringing in some new work hot out of the kiln. Wish me luck- it feels very last minute- thus the anxiety.

​I just got back from the woods. It is a misty soft morning and there were drips of left over rain on all the tiny new born leaves and branches. Stunning!

It is spring and I have been dealing with a ton of ideas popping inside me- images of things I want to create. It is very fun. So much potential and bubbly energy!

I love it..... until it starts to feel painful.

The pain comes in the form of overwhelm, indecision, pressure, should's, impatience, and then moves into frustration, impotence, lack of energy, being stuck, and finally into a feeling of being a fraud, not really being an artist, being worthless, etc.

YIKES!

Does this sound familiar?

​With easiest possible techniques, make doodles. For me that means getting some clay or wax in my hand and start playing with form- make something goofy- like a critter. For you it might be hum a tune that you are making up, or play with words on paper, or close your eyes and dance. 

It is about lubricating the pleasure of making, and thereby ease the pressure.

It is letting yourself in by the side door. Let it be a casual visit, not too long and certainly no dressing up for the occasion. Just welcome your artist self in with a glass of water and let her sit at the kitchen table and fiddle. As she starts feeling safe again things will start to grow- and pretty soon she will be helping you the stove, cooking up a storm and inviting all her friends. 

What I mean is that it is in the doing that the creative process works- not in the thinking about it. So just get some material in her hands and look away, pretend you don't care and it's nothing big. When she starts to giggle, you are on your way. Don't make a big fuss, but give her a cookie and delight with her, and encourage her to come back tomorrow.

Ok- so it has taken a few days to get this out and I went for another walk this morning. I had to tell you about the image.

I was in the deep woods, which soon will be dense with full grown leaves- such that I will not be able to see the distance. But this morning I could see the far hills and the sun had just come up over the horizon and it was pouring through all the tiny little fresh leaves. It was like looking through a mist of emeralds. 

I hope you are getting out and noticing all the miracles of new growth! And if anyone happened to catch that particular idea in a photo, I'm betting I'm not the only one who saw something like this- send it to me and I will put it in the next email!

Warmly,
Val

On the plane home last night, coming home from being with my family for the holidays, I began to think about goals and resolutions. It is a hopeful moment infused with an energy of possibility. I love it because for this moment I let go of the weight of the todo's and lean into the lightness of possibility. 

I start with goals- resolutions are a next step.

I think about my personal goals first and then my professional goals, because my personal goals are the groundwork for everything else.

It is good if they can be very tangible- like, for me, training for a back packing trip with my daughter this summer on the Appalachian trail. Truly there is a lot I need to do to make it so that I am capable of this adventure! But what a win/win! I will become stronger and more confident in my body again! And I am so excited to share this with my daughter!

It was fun to start to break it down into all the constituent parts and begin to see how it will fit into my daily life. Like right after I write this, I will be heading out to take a hike in the woods.

The resolutions are more like the practices that will help you get to the goals. So in my example it is practices like the morning rituals of exercise, the afternoon rituals of movement breaks and physical therapy type exercises to strengthen my knees and ankles. 

If I think of them more like practices and less like chores, they have a quality of self-care and loving awareness. 

And this leads me to the main point of this whole ramble- which is about the qualities of being.

After I have set some goals in my mind, and looked at the practices that will get me there, I always ask myself what qualities of being will help. And then I call in those qualities of being.

Huh?

Surely I have mentioned this before so forgive me if it is getting old.

What I am talking about one of my teachers calls divine qualities and another teacher calls transpersonal qualities. They are things like courage, hope, simplicity, play, levity, compassion, calm, groundedness. They all sound good, or at least the ones I am talking about do.

There are, of course, the opposite qualities available as well. It may be that you are swimming in some of the uncomfortable ones without even knowing it. They are things like fear, anxiety, heaviness, hate, discouragement.

So the practice is to look at your goals for the year, and check in with yourself- how are you feeling about it? When it has gone bad in the past, in what way has it felt bad? And then what quality or two or three, but not too many, would be most helpful going forward? 

For me, when I have tried to get in better shape, I have found myself in a cycle of should's and heavy handed discipline and then resistance and rebellion- the chocolate and sugar calls so strongly any time I declare I am going to lose weight. Even just sitting here writing this I can feel the heaviness and stagnation that makes this goal almost impossible. I think there is even some self-loathing in the water.

Yuck. No wonder it falls apart!

So for me, as I move into the new year, I am calling in Love, Play and Compassion.

I will be writing them large somewhere in my bedroom so I wake with them and go to sleep with them.

I will be taking the time, and I invite you to join me, to notice, with an openness to seeing and feeling it, what painful qualities are stirring in me. And then I will wrap myself in compassion and love- opening my heart to let the qualities pour in. And when I feel the self care doing its healing work, I will invite play and light hearted pleasure to the party. 

This is what I want to bring to my personal goals and also what I want to bring to my professional goals. Strike that- it is what I choose to bring to my personal and professional goals. 

Want is infused with a sense of scarcity- I want something I do not have. Choice is infused with empowerment. I have options, as we all do, at any time. The compassion, love and play are all there available at any time, as are the nagging self- deprecation and feelings of deep disappointment.

It is a radical thought and I invite you into it:

Choose how you want to be with yourself and the world around you. And then Nourish that choice in your daily practices. 

So the New Year's Resolution to get in shape for my big adventure in the summer is really a resolution to keep coming back to an awareness practice and choosing to call in the qualities that make me feel good and help me to put engage the work that I do in a positive way.

• What is your goal?
• What are the practices that will get you there?
• How does it feel when it starts to turn bad?
• What are the qualities that you choose to bring to it?

I would love to hear what yours are! In fact, I bet it would be super energizing for all of us if there was a way to share all of this with each other.

Have a really fun transition into 2024! 
Warmly,
Val

Having installed the big piece that I have been working on for so long, (images below) and that took over as a really big push in the last month or two, I feel like my leaves are settling into gravity too. The exhale of the cycle. Letting go and landing. 

There is something so important about completion. Closure. Release.
​
It can also be scary. There is a strong sense of purpose and identity with the projects underway. Who are you without all the doing? And what if they are not actually any good? 

Many of us are much better at the starting and have trouble with completion. This can cause things to get clogged up and the overwhelm to build to the point of inaction. There becomes no room for creation.

Fall is a time of clearing out, completing, creating space for new work to emerge.

In order to complete things, you have to trust that you are ok in the silence of not doing and that the work will be what it is. It wants to be seen.

When you are ready, the next thing will already be bubbling up. It is in you waiting for it's time. And it will be served by your being able to see the last one to completion. You are learning with each one- if you let yourself see them to completion.

I have been working with a breath meditation recently that allows for a pause at the bottom of the exhale- a still point. If you sit in that silence for a moment, you get to a point where you can feel the urge, the desire, to inhale. I think of this as being ready to activate again.

So in my still point after completion, I am finding home again, reestablishing the rhythms of exercise and good food, nesting, catching up with all the people and things that slipped to the side during the big push. Being a person not just an artist and a solopreneur.

Having done a long overdue deep clean in my bedroom a few days ago- and reveling in being able to see the top of my dresser and the beauty of the clean windows, I woke this morning with a sense of emptiness. I started to feel it as a lonliness or something wrong or off, and then I realized that it is the sensation of my psyche asking for energy- calling for the activation of the inhale. 

It lead me to write this to you. And having done that, I feel renewed energy pouring in.

I gave myself permission for a kind of softness and self-care that is like a deep exhale. And now I can feel the impulse for the next thing beginning to emerge. A desire to be back in the studio with new ideas. And an urge toward offering a rich group experience, connecting in a process of creating.

Today I am ready to clean the studio again- create beautiful space to be in for the winter.

I tell you all of this with the question for you of what is closing? How are you landing? Can you give yourself permission to find closure, to let go, to have a pause in the still point, and then listen for the urge towards the next thing?

Don't rush. Revel in the cycle.

Warmly,
Val

I woke to a chill in the air- making me aware that we are on the out swing of summer. I can taste a bit of fall in the air. After getting so much news of this being the hottest summer on record, there is a bit of gratitude for the beginning of the shift. 

Yeah- I know- it is not over yet- there is more heat to come. And in some parts the heat persists.

It is a scary time of the reality of global warming making itself felt in the weather.

I know I am not alone in worrying about the ramifications of these changes- how will our cultures and the powers that be respond? Can we hope that not only will we slow and stop the engines that drive global warming, but that we will figure out ways to avoid the greed and violence that comes with fear?

It is a tall order. Layers and layers to it. So many aspects to the paradigm shifts that we need. I do not pretend to know all of it or even a fraction. 

That said, I do know that we as artists, have an essential role to play, or many roles to play.

We are the truth tellers, the cultural healers, the heart salve. We are the ones who can speak the deep knowings that have no words. Through music, art, dance and poetry we can draw up what is tender and warm, strong and complex, challenging and paradoxical in each of us and in the greater being of which we are all a part.

There is great wisdom available if we allow ourselves to enter that vulnerable space of not knowing. Face the fear  with  hope, gratitude and caring. 

As artists of all sorts our job is to open ourselves to the unknown and let it whisper through us. We do this by falling in love with the forms and marks, images and sounds as we refine them into full expression. You need only trust what is beautiful, compelling, moving to you and to let yourself revel in it as it comes into fruition. Maybe it is sorrow, maybe it is forgiveness, maybe it is hope, maybe it is inspiration. All of this and more is essential.

We speak from and to the heart of our world, and our world needs us so badly as we turn to face the troubles to come.

So please take good care of yourself. Rest and nourish and lean into the community you love so that you have the energy and focus to do the deep work of creative expression.

***If you would like more accountability and grounding as you create your work, please feel free to come to the co-working session on zoom on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons est.

***If these thoughts are resonant for you and you want to take your art more seriously, but find challenges in doing so, please sign up for an interview exchange. I am pulling together thoughts about programming that will be of greatest service and I would love to hear what is going on for you as I do this. 

***If you resonate with all of this and have considered going to grad school for your creative work, because you really are ready to take it more seriously, but are finding that there is no grad school that really feels right for who you are and what you have to offer- please set up an interview exchange. I am developing an alternative and I really really want to talk to you about it as I pull all the pieces together!

Warmly,
Val
​

 They were very accepting and wonderful- but I kept not being satisfied. Many rounds of tests over the last year an a half resulted in a few glazes that I really like and a lot of test pieces and test tiles. 

Last summer I was able to install the first part of the commission- a wall fountain and two medallions that you can see below. They look great! In the process of working out the glazes and processes, I made a number of other pieces which I was able to show at Paradise City Arts Festival last spring along with the fountain.

Finally this spring I finished glaze firing the original pieces- some of which you can see close ups of below. 

When I laid it all out in the original configuration I found it boring. Totally uninspiring. 

So I started to play- rearrange- add some of the test pieces- rethink the configuration. This is again a very fun process- it is like reinventing and giving it new life. 

Where it stands now is that this is a draft version. It is very different than the original- so I will be talking with the clients to make sure that they like it, or if they have thoughts about. 

I am going to give myself some time to look at it, and maybe do a second draft, before I get the backer board and start to set the pieces into a permanent configuration.

​​I had the greatest time yesterday (ok- now more than a week ago) going to the Asparagus Valley Pottery Tour- the one I mentioned in my last email.

It was fun to fondle all the pots, to see and feel how different everyone's work is, and to get to know a few people just a little better. I bought pots like a kid in a candy shop! And I was very happy to hand over my money because I love their work and I want to do my tiny part of supporting them.


In my 20's I used to do craft shows in NYC. It was a really big schelp- a ton of work to get the stuff together- a lot of making  what I imagined would sell, and then a few extraordinarily long days of setting up, smiling all day, and then tearing down. It was exciting and exhausting. And I remember how painful it was to watch most folks walk right past my booth.

It felt like rejection on a deep level. It felt a little like I was selling my soul, prostituting myself in the name of art. 

Now when I do craft shows- 30 years and a couple of careers later- it is again exhausting physically- but I come home invigorated.

My ego is not on the line and I am not prostituting my self. I have no trouble with most folks walking past my booth, because I get to have a few really great conversations with people who are excited about my work. I get to feel like the work is received; I am not mumbling to myself in a vacuum.  I end up feeling deeply nourished, re-energized, and inspired by the whole thing. 

It's connection with real people on a deep level about what I have created. What a gift!

The thing is that I had those deep conversations with a few good people then too. So what has changed? It's not just that I grew up- though that helps.

3 things off the top of my head that make it better:

1.  I now understand that if I am making work with integrity and honesty- following what is truly compelling to me individually, then the work will speak to a very specific set of people- and not others. And that is good. So I go to the show with the intent of having those conversations- connecting and enjoying being among my work and other artists work. It is an experience that I enjoy.

2. I don't  try to imagine what will sell and focus on making those things. I proved to myself way back in my 20's that the work that was best received was the work that I let myself play with, that I had let go of audience while I was making and just engaged the exploration.

3. I am not in a scarcity mind set. I do not have to sell. It's not that I am wealthy now, far from it. But my relationship to money has changed so I do not have the same kind of pressure, anxiety and fear-  on me to make it worth while financially. I trust more.

That third one is a big deal- it makes the difference between feeling like I am trapped and beholden to anyone who might give me money and feeling like I have agency and I can be generous.

If you are trying to make a living as an artist- you might be able to relate to this issue. In order to justify spending the time, effort and money on your creative work, you have to sell. You need the money. 

I want to poke a hole in that. A big hole. In fact I, want to violently destroy that concept that we have to sell to whoever will buy because we need the money. It is such a demoralizing, disempowering trap!

I have my story of selling to such a guy- bringing the work to his uptown apartment in a taxi at the end of a grueling day of at the craft show. It was my most expensive and significant piece and I had already lowered the price beyond where I was comfortable. He said he wanted to see if he liked it in his space. Once I was there he started to dicker with me about the price. I felt cornered and even though I tried to hold my ground I felt powerless. I was so shaken I was in tears leaving his apartment.

When he saw my emotional response, he told me to take it easy- it's just a game he said. A Game. It still makes me mad. It was my life, my heart work and I had put a lot on the line to be there. I felt like I needed his money. He had all the power and he was toying with me.  I still wish I had said no to him. He was not worthy of that piece. 

I heard a great story this weekend about a very famous ceramic artist who said no to such a person. She let a $75,000 sale go because the guy was behaving like an entitled disrespectful person. (I have stronger words coming to mind, but you get the idea.) It's fun to think of her saying no to that kind of money, but is it really the same thing if you have already reached that kind of success?

What if you had that kind of sovereignty even now? What if you only sold to people who were worthy of your work? I mean really, you are putting your heart and soul into it. You are not just whipping things off an assembly line conveyer belt. You are taking time with each and every part of the work. You care about it. It has meaning to you.

What if you valued your time, effort, skill, vision, creativity and soul enough to say no?

Do you really want it to go to some arrogant prick who is trying to get the best deal out of you, who collects work and brags about how little he paid for it and how desperate the artist was? Do you really want to grant him the power over you? 

Put that another way- would you want your child, or someone very dear to you, to give their power away like that because they need the money?



I know- but you do need the money. It is reality. Our economic system requires that you have money to survive. I get that. Hear me out.

Ok lets put it in a more positive way-

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. ​

1.  Community, and there are layers of community, I have that all laid out in this article.
The thing is, it's not just friends and family. There are lots of layers that an artist needs for a good solid Community. And it, when you have all those layers, it can be very supportive.

2. Practice: your own practice should be feeding you. If it's not nourishing you, you're not doing it right. So,  there are ways to think about how to make it really a nourishing practice. That's where you're going to get your best work.

3.  Inspiration, fodder.  What's feeding your work? What are you looking at? What are you listening to? What what are you thinking about? All of the stuff that is your engagement with the world, both  in your visual and your sonic, your personal and cultural, your spiritual and yourpractical and also your conceptual world.
All of that is fodder. So being engaged. 

4. Financial Security. I put it last specifically, this is where the well-fed artist is actually fed, with food. It is essential that you are not consumed by fear of not having enough to pay the rent or buy your meals. YOu do not need to make a living as an artist. Maybe. But you really need to have financial security before you can do your best work.

You don't have to be a starving artist. You really don't. And you'll make your best work if you're not.

There's a really big fallacy in the idea that you have to suffer for your work. There's enough suffering. Life provides that. You don't need to create extra in order to be an artist.

So, those four things. I hope this helps. I break it down in various other places, but I thought I'd give you those four big chunks. That's what I help people with. So if you need the help subscribe, follow, pass it on, 
and look for, there's all sorts of things that I'm offering that would help you out.  If you know anybody, if you know anybody who's feeling like a starving artist, send this on.  I would love to talk to them.


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. 



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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!

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.


Links
Subscribe to my newsletter to receive insights and invitations

consider coaching for your creative life  

Join Taproot Virtual Co-working for Artists and Creatives

​
#taprootartsinsight, #valgilmancoachforartists #honestart, #creativedirection, #creativeflow, #creativeprocess, #artwithintegrity, #artwithheart, #artwithinsight
​

Yes I have become a container geek- they just make me happy. Who knew I liked order so much!? Oh and yes- the final days have been so beautiful and I am deeply grateful for the space to fully set up and organize and also work inside and outside. 

These are the big new things that I have been working on- all related to a big commission that I have been working on. They are wall sculptures, intended to be installed outdoors (though indoors is fine too). I build them as singular pieces- slamming clay onto a board and pushing it around- what fun! And then cutting it into these rectilinear patterns, firing them separately and finally putting them all back together with mastic and grout. I am very excited to keep going with this, so I am hoping there will be others with a great outdoor space that need something special in it. I have to say, I love working in collaboration with a client!

I got tickled by the way they looked in parts on the board.

I am super excited that I will have this fountain - along with the bronze Persephone, out side between the food court and the second building where I will have a booth!

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!

Yes- it can be helpful to simplify.

If you are stopped up because they are all clamoring for attention and you can't get a good grip on any of them, it is a good idea to clarify which one or two you are working on right now.

But do not ditch the others. 

Just put them aside and let them rest. They will gestate- they will develop in the background without you having to do anything about it.

As a potter and a sculptor, I have had long stretches when I am not making pots. And then I come back to it, and fall in love with pots all over, I find that the shapes and ideas that I was working on before have developed without any direct attention from me. Same is true with the sculpture, or I should say with the various types of sculpture that I do. 

The cycles can happen within a week, within a year, within a month. The rhythms will change and are very particular to you.

So how do you figure out what to let rest and what to put your focus on right now?

When you feel that irritation or frustration that you are not getting anywhere and they are all clamoring, there is part of you that is asking you to pay attention.

And if you listen carefully, you will be able to hear the one that has lost its energy and motivation, that needs to take a nap, and the other one that is itching for attention.

It is really ok to listen to your desires here.

I find often that when I get that irritation it is because one of the things that I have been letting rest needs to wake up- and when I sit with it for a minute- it will become clear very quickly what needs to be done- what the next right step is.
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