Awakening the Medicine of Art – Interview with Intuitive Artist Adrienne Stohr Lewis

by Amanda StoneAwakened Creator Spotlight, Creativity, Inspiration, Visual ArtsPosted on No Comments

“My painting practice is a sacred space where I can connect to myself and spirit. It is a space where I speak my truth and where I rewrite my limiting stories and beliefs.” Today’s Awakened Creator Spotlight is on Adrienne Stohr Lewis, an art medicine woman, intuitive artist, and community herbalist, who is reconnecting with her authentic spirit and ancestors through the medicine of art. Connect with her on Instagram @otter.woman. Here is Adrienne in her own words on her creative journey and what it means to be an Awakened Creator. Tell us about your authentic creative expression. What do you love to create and why? I love to paint. I love acrylic and watercolor mediums. My painting practice is a sacred space where I can connect to myself and spirit. It is a space where I speak my truth and where I rewrite my limiting stories and beliefs. It is where I reconnect to my authentic self and feel my ancestors and guides showing me my next right thing. This alchemy shows up in the very intuitive almost shamanic nature of my paintings.  What most often gets in your way as a creator and how do you stay in alignment and flow? The hard truth is, I get in my own way. My stories around perfectionism and productivity are my biggest obstacles. I was taught to hustle, to please, to be polite, and to excel at whatever I did, and if I wasn’t the best to drop it. Painting has helped me cultivate my personal integrity and authenticity, to be really honest with myself. I’ve realized that me being my most whole and authentic self is my greatest gift to the world. A big part of this alignment for me is staying in relationship with my menstrual cycle. When my critic shows up it is most often in the luteal phase of my cycle. My flow and alignment are directly tied to this cycle. In the beginning of my month I often feel very expansive, free, intuitive and creative. In the later half of my cycle I feel much more introspective, slower, and less motivated. Being in alignment with my cycle gives me permission to be a different new version of myself everyday and helps me recognize when the shadow of perfectionism and productivity threaten to dominate my creative space. If you could offer words of wisdom or support to your fellow creators, what would you say? A wisdom I love and think of often is the idea that we can only see what already exists inside of us. If you are drawn to the magic of a certain tree it is because the tree is mirroring back to you something magical about yourself. I trust that if you are here reading this and following Awakened Creators it is because your creative spirit has been awakened. We have all these ideas about what it means to be “creative” and an “artist”. The truth is we are all creative beings and we are creating all day everyday of our lives. It may not be the “art” you dream of making, but when we begin to look at our lives as art we begin to make the transition from matching a shirt and a pair of pants together as an expression of our unique selves, to the confidence to put that expression on paper or canvas or on the dance floor. You’re already an artist making life art, what else are you going to create?  How did you become a part of the Awakened Creators community and what does being an Awakened Creator mean to you? I found Amanda/or she found me (I can’t recall actually) on Instagram and I LOVE all of her posts. I feel like I’m growing with her posts. Sometimes I read them and I’ve just had an ha-ha about a post she’s shared, so it’s deeply validating, or she’ll share something and it creates that ah-ha moment because I was ripe for the lesson. Always I feel there is such deep magic and wisdom in her work and that she is of such service to this community which I deeply admire. Want to connect with Adrienne? Check out Adrienne’s incredible healing creations on: Instagram: @otter.woman Facebook: Otter Woman Earth Medicine or visit www.otterwoman.com for painting courses & herbal healing. Do you have the desire to align with your authentic creative expression? If you want to feel free to create from the heart, my HeART Alignment Creative Ritual guide will show you a pathway home. I will personally guide you (with quick video lessons) through a simple yet powerful creative ritual that will bring your heART back online so you can start creating from that space again. Access the HeART Alignment Creative Ritual guide for free.

Claiming Creative Freedom – Interview with Dadaist P.J. D’Agostino

by Amanda StoneAwakened Creator Spotlight, Creativity, Inspiration, Visual ArtsPosted on No Comments

“I would actually like to think that nothing gets in my way as a creator anymore, but it wasn’t always like this. It took a lot of energy to get here, and it happened very slowly.” Today’s Awakened Creator Spotlight is on P.J. D’Agostino, a dadaist, who brings forth their own unique expression by using unconventional mediums. Connect with them on Instagram @ser8phim Here is P.J. in their own words on their creative journey and what it means to be an Awakened Creator. Tell us about your authentic creative expression. What do you love to create and why? The medium I love to work in most is my menstrual flow, because it comes to me for free, and sometimes I find things in nature to paint on or with, so it feels like the entire experience is coming exclusively from the earth and really gives an enhanced feel of meditation while creating. What most often gets in your way as a creator and how do you stay in alignment and flow? I would actually like to think that nothing gets in my way as a creator anymore, but it wasn’t always like this. It took a lot of energy to get here, and it happened very slowly. Before, I would have told you that other humans’ opinions were getting in my way, or something like that. If you could offer words of wisdom or support to your fellow creators, what would you say? I want to tell all my fellow humans to create, and do it like you mean it! It can be anything, as long as it is done with love. With love, anything is possible! How did you become a part of the Awakened Creators community and what does being an Awakened Creator mean to you? I believe I saw [Amanda’s] comments on a mutual friend’s art, and [she] seemed so free and encouraging, and all of [her] posts made sense to me when I sought them out! Being an Awakened Creator means I am allowed to learn from and with a beautiful community of humans also committed to loving creation in this lifetime. Want to connect with P.J.? Check out P.J.’s incredible creations on Instagram @ser8phim. Do you have the desire to align with your authentic creative expression? If you want to feel free to create from the heart, my HeART Alignment Creative Ritual guide will show you a pathway home. I will personally guide you (with quick video lessons) through a simple yet powerful creative ritual that will bring your heART back online so you can start creating from that space again. Access the HeART Alignment Creative Ritual guide for free.

Finding Inspiration Everywhere – Interview with Digital Artist Ron Van Alff

by Amanda StoneAwakened Creator Spotlight, Inspiration, Visual ArtsPosted on No Comments

“Awakened Creator describes me really well, because I started creating art for the first time in my life (in my 40’s) in the same period that I started to awaken!” Today’s Awakened Creator Spotlight is on Ron van Alff, a digital artist, who explores his heartfelt expression through the merging of photography and spiritual intuition.  Connect with him on Instagram/TikTok/Twitter @ronvibesart. Here is Ron in his own words on his creative journey and what it means to be an Awakened Creator. Tell us about your authentic creative expression. What do you love to create and why? I love to take pictures of trees, the sky, churches, houses, flowers & lamps for example. Afterwards I look for a picture that “speaks” to me and I start editing it. Because I have been doing this extensively for a while now I have some tricks up my sleeve. But when I start I don’t know exactly what it will become. I work very intuitively. During this process I start seeing something, feeling something and it gets spiritual meaning most of the times. I tend to create lots of portals, parallel universes and dreamworlds. This process makes me lose time and relaxes me. And I get excited starting something new. That’s why I do it! What most often gets in your way as a creator and how do you stay in alignment and flow? Because I have several special interests, I might become too involved with other things and not create any art for a few days. It’s just something I realise and then I make myself start on a photo. After a short while the drive and the routine comes back. Creating my art goes hand in hand with my spiritual work. So meditation and reading about philosophy helps me in my creative flow as well. If you could offer words of wisdom or support to your fellow creators, what would you say? Create what YOU like. Get excited about that, create every day, you’ll get better. But don’t give yourself deadlines with that. Some people improve within weeks, some people take years. And as a digital artist: look for collaborations after a while. They can be fun and you can learn a lot from it! I know I have!    “Create what YOU like. Get excited about that, create every day, you’ll get better.” How did you become a part of the Awakened Creators community and what does being an Awakened Creator mean to you? I remember starting my Instagram account with my art last year and after a short while I gravitated to certain artists. What I noticed was their loving vibe, the positive way they communicate and the fact that they’re spiritual like me (in the end we are all spiritual beings). I started following Awakened Creators right away! Awakened Creator describes me really well, because I started creating art for the first time in my life (in my 40’s) in the same period that I started to awaken! I became interested in source, fabric of the universe, manifestation, reincarnation and more. Want to connect with Ron? Check out Ron’s incredible digital artwork on Instagram, TikTok, & Twitter @ronvibesart.  Do you have the desire to align with your authentic creative expression? If you want to feel free to create from the heart, my HeART Alignment Creative Ritual guide will show you a pathway home. I will personally guide you (with quick video lessons) through a simple yet powerful creative ritual that will bring your heART back online so you can start creating from that space again. Access the HeART Alignment Creative Ritual guide for free.

two paintbrushes on multicolored abstract painting

4 Concrete Truths Abstract Art Taught Me

by Amanda StoneCreativity, Visual ArtsPosted on No Comments

I have always wanted to paint. But I never felt comfortable with the medium. Even though I immensely love watercolor paintings, whenever I tried to paint them myself, it just made a smeary mess. And when I tried acrylics, the tiny tubes of paint felt so precious that I had this incredible fear of “wasting” paint. Enter…abstract art. I’ve always been attracted to abstract art. I appreciate how it can bypass the mind and go straight to the heart and soul. The experience of looking at abstract art is so different for each viewer and can speak to us in ways we can’t even articulate. Abstract art can be powerful. Over the last few weeks, I’ve been feeling the call to pick up some paints and give abstract painting a shot. So I set an intention to manifest some instruction and guidance and it wasn’t too long after that when Christa Forrest synchronisticly appeared in my Instagram feed. Her work resonated deeply with me and when I discovered she taught a FREE Artful Inspirations Course on Floral Abstracts I knew it was meant to be.  Exploring this new form of expression took me on a swift but deep journey where I was able to learn some concrete truths about myself and my life. I wanted to share what I learned with you and I encourage you (if you have interest in abstract art) to try Christa’s free course and see what emerges for you.  Truth 1: Just “going for it” = liberation and joy Before I even began painting, the experience of buying supplies terrified me. I was encouraged to purchase a canvas larger than I felt comfortable with and as I stood in the craft store, the size and price of the canvases scared me. “What if I wasted my money and just made a mess?” After trying to negotiate myself to a smaller size, I eventually just went for it and bought TWO 24” x 36” canvases and paints! The $80+ purchase made me nervous, but afterwards, I felt so free! I had invested in myself and my joy. And driving home with that feeling was priceless. Truth 2: Change is inevitable (and leads to growth) Each creative experience transforms us, taking us beyond the level we were at before. Sometimes the change is small. And sometimes, the change is HUGE and noticeable. As I worked through my abstract layers, each one painted to a different genre of music (Pandora/Spotify stations shown),  a different part of myself was unveiled and each experience was entirely different. Layer 1 was freeing and fun, totally loose and flowing. Layer 2 was soothing and spiritual, completely meditative and trace-like. But then came Layer 3 and…HELLO CREATIVE BLOCK!  Truth 3: Discomfort is a signal (not an invitation for judgement) Shortly after I began work on Layer 3, I started to feel totally lost. Something was blocking my creative flow and the experience was not pleasant. I could have stopped in that moment, said “screw it” and decided that I was not cut out for abstract art. But rather than judge myself, which I knew would get me nowhere, I decided to pause, tune inward, and compassionately ask myself what was wrong.  Truth 4: It pays to listen (to yourself)  As I got quiet and tuned in to listen…my intuition, my inner guidance, my higher self began to speak.  What was wrong, I realized, was that I was clinging to the work I had done in Layer 2, even though I didn’t really love it. I felt obligated to stay committed to the direction my piece appeared to be going. I was torn between what I had started and what my heart really wanted. In an instant, I saw so many parallels in my life. Jobs I had clung to, even though I hated them, but felt “locked in” and “trapped”. Obligations to other people that I knew I should have never agreed to in the first place, but felt chained to now that I said “yes” when I should have said “no”.  This was a moment for me to stand up for myself, for all those times I had let obligation and commitment rule me, instead of following my gut. So…I mixed up black and blue, picked up my brush and started making irreversible dark marks on my canvas. It was then, I realized I had come full circle by once more applying Truth 1, and going for it. Liberated and free, I allowed creative flow to return.  The last two layers (4 & 5) came quite naturally, and I even spent some time in the company of my family as I worked the final layers of my painting. As I look at my finished piece I am reminded of the incredible journey it took me on from start to finish. I love the symbolic nature of the lotus flowers that emerged (and the subtle nod to the Tower card in tarot). If you don’t know, lotus flowers grow in the muddiest, mucky waters and through all that, they bloom this pure, gorgeous expression of nature. I also see a lot of chakra messaging in the colors of my painting, mainly the blue (throat), green (heart), and violet (crown), encouraging me to speak truth to my heart’s desire in order to experience divine alignment.  Years ago, I could have never moved through this experience so easily. I feel fortunate to have a firm understanding of the Cycle of Creative Flow, a framework that came to me at the beginning of my creative journey, and has proven invaluable to my creative process. I apply the principles of the creative flow cycle to every creative project I undertake, including working on Awakened Creators content. And the best part is, that once you integrate these teachings, they stay with you forever. I share all the wisdom I have come to understand about The Cycle of Creative Flow in my online course, which features 15 quick …

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