Life, Creativity and Business Coaching for Artists and Creatives
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Is it possible to be an artist or creative, make real and meaningful art work, get it out into the world in ways that feel good, and still live a sane, healthy life?
Yes, it is possible! You absolutely can
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Your art is essential
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You know that your creative work is essential to your own health and well-being. You have felt that.
Life is flat and soulless if you are not engaged in some way in your own creative work. When you forget and then return to it and suddenly life is easier and juicier. |
Your work is also essential to the culture we are all a part of.
If you allow your creative exploration to develop with honesty and depth, you not just tapping into your own truth and places of growth, you are also tapping into our cultural depth. Every culture needs its artists to illuminate those places of disquiet, of visioning, of soul. |
Sometimes you need help to make room for it and to really give yourself permission to go into the discovery and unknown.
To do your best creative work, you need to be well nourished and supported
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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, you have the stability to withstand the storms, you are connected to the wisdom of the earth, and you have a way to absorb the nutrients and energy that you need to grow and flourish. 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. |
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Three areas of coaching for Artists
Which areas are of most concern to you right now?
Creativity
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Business
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Life
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How does Coaching help artists like you?
When you have a creative desire and you feel stuck, overwhelmed or scattered, there are three major areas that need help:
When you have a creative desire and you feel stuck, overwhelmed or scattered, 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, helpful structures, 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.
Imagine the best support you can get!
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How would it feel if you had someone who has been there and understands on a profound level where the struggles are?
With a good coach by your side, instead of getting stopped by the fears and frustrations that are endemic to following your creative dream, you can move through them, gaining profound insights in the process, and step into a sense of momentum and courage. It is those very parts of yourself that seem to want to keep you down that, with some transformative work, end up being your greatest allies. |
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Coaching for artists helps with these issues:
- clarifying and motivating your creative direction, goals and purpose
- finding and leaning into your true creative voice
- letting go of the harsh inner critic
- establishing and maintaining a work rhythm that makes sense for you
- where and how to get your work out into the world
- getting in shape physically in a way that feels good
- decluttering work and life spaces
- finding comfort, clarity and ease around money
Only you can decide the best path for you, but sometimes you ache to have someone else tell you what to do. That does not work. With a coach by your side, you hear and trust you own true calling and you can assess clearly where to put your efforts and how to present yourself to your best advantage.
Stop holding yourself back and discover how rich your own insights are and how deep your well of resources.
Five steps of Effective Coaching for Artists
- 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 great coach for artists?
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.
Hi, I'm Val Gilman, MFA
I'm a coach for artists and creatives and the founder of Taproot Arts and Insight. Trained as a Psychosynthesis Transformational Life Coach, I work primarily with artists and creatives helping them create lives of balance and nourishment as they discover their most compelling work and bring it out into the world.
I understand the struggles both from my own journey, I have been through a lot! And also from all the people I have taught and coached.
I have been a sculptor, working with a deep sense of discovery and following what is compelling for more than 30 years. During that time I have been a solo artist and I have found success in craft shows and through galleries and on-line sales. I have taught at the college level, through community studios and out of my own studio. You can read more about my journey on my about page.
Together we look at what you want to do, what is getting in the way, and how to move forward. These conversations are fascinating and deeply inspiring as we transform the very parts of yourself that seem to want to keep you down into valuable members of your internal team. It is thrilling to get all your voices into alignment and see how easy things become.
I provide compassionate accountability. I support you in clarifying your true purpose, setting tangible and achievable goals that are in alignment with your values and beliefs, and fit into your life, developing tools and resources to move in your own positive direction, and manifesting your richest, warmest, loveliest self and life.
I understand the struggles both from my own journey, I have been through a lot! And also from all the people I have taught and coached.
I have been a sculptor, working with a deep sense of discovery and following what is compelling for more than 30 years. During that time I have been a solo artist and I have found success in craft shows and through galleries and on-line sales. I have taught at the college level, through community studios and out of my own studio. You can read more about my journey on my about page.
Together we look at what you want to do, what is getting in the way, and how to move forward. These conversations are fascinating and deeply inspiring as we transform the very parts of yourself that seem to want to keep you down into valuable members of your internal team. It is thrilling to get all your voices into alignment and see how easy things become.
I provide compassionate accountability. I support you in clarifying your true purpose, setting tangible and achievable goals that are in alignment with your values and beliefs, and fit into your life, developing tools and resources to move in your own positive direction, and manifesting your richest, warmest, loveliest self and life.
Cost of Individual Coaching for Artists and Creatives
Monthly fee for individual coaching
3 Sessions a month: $610/month
Recommended for the first 3- 6 months
2 Sessions a month: $420/ month
Recommended for continuing the work once the groundwork is established
3 Sessions a month: $610/month
Recommended for the first 3- 6 months
2 Sessions a month: $420/ month
Recommended for continuing the work once the groundwork is established
What is the next step?
If this is all feeling right to you, I want to encourage you to set up a free session with me. We will talk about what is going on in your creative life, what your aspirations are, what challenges you are facing and what kind of help you are hoping to find. If we both are excited to work together, we can talk about what it would look like.
I work with people at all levels of professional commitment and experience and in a variety of creative mediums. What matters is that we enjoy talking to each other, there is a clear sense of connection, ease and trust, and that our values are aligned. We will know that when we talk!
I work with people at all levels of professional commitment and experience and in a variety of creative mediums. What matters is that we enjoy talking to each other, there is a clear sense of connection, ease and trust, and that our values are aligned. We will know that when we talk!
Virtual co-working for Artists and Creatives
If you ever feel like you are out there on your own an it is hard to get the momentum and accountability to get into the studio, join us for a dose of accountability and community!
- Tuesday 9-11:00 am EST co-working group. It is really magic how it works to get you focused.
