3 Life Lessons Transforming Obstacles Into Opportunities

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A little story about persistence

 I loved painting, drawing from when I was three. In high school, I did not get the best artist award.  I knew I was one of the top artists, so I wanted to find out why. I found a moment to speak with the art teacher. She answered me sincerely and kindly, saying that it was not about my work, but she felt I wasn’t persistent enough. When I left her, I was distraught but decided never to let that happen again! 

Lesson #1 What I learned, was that in life, Don’t take your creativity for granted! Nurture it.

Why I love to make things:

Through creating art, I express my thoughts and ideas. After realizing how much I so enjoyed making things, I pursued art and art education in undergrad and graduate school. 

Life changed …

as I got married to a scientist who loved that I was an artist  ( Not everyone likes that you have a passion!). We had three boys, and from the beginning, I had to make time to do art. I felt I had no time to work on it. Did I let that stop me? No!

Lesson #2  Solve a problem by turning it into an opportunity.

 I used a large free zippered bag and put watercolor pencils/crayons, a water pen, a glue stick, a little piece of fabric and my favorite pen, pencil, eraser and a small/ medium journal. Anytime I was waiting for someone to get out of school or at a concert or game, I sketched. I never had the time to go through the journals until I had to move them off their shelves when we did some construction, four years ago. I thought I had 30. I had 130 journals!

I loved teaching art! 

Yes, it took time away from making art but gave me a window into reading about creativity. 

I began to teach as if teaching was a work of art! (And it is!) Intellectual growth became a priority in my teaching art. I researched the creative process and art history so I could provide my 600 elementary students with creative thinking tools! There are many excellent books on creativity, the best of which I have listed on the handout postcard

My favorite way of sequencing the creative process gleaned from a book called “Sparks of Genius” by Michelle and Robert Root-Bernstein. They were a writer and a scientist, interested in how the world’s most creative people, think. 

They interviewed people from all disciplines..such as  science, math, writing, engineering, architecture, philosophy since the goal was to reintegrate knowledge and imagination across all disciplines 

So here are the 13 thinking tools of the world’s most creative people; 

You can easily begin to use these thinking skills by just Observing the images, sounds around you.

I  often envisioned having entire days to do my artwork.

Uhmm   Not really. 

To sell/share my work, I need to do marketing, social media, make sales, prepare exhibits, workshops, exercise, volunteer, and visiting family,  and friends. I am now re-learning to prioritize by blocking out my painting and journaling as priorities. I am transforming what seemed to be less in terms of quantity of time, into a new way to be inspired and share my work with others. Last year I had five exhibits!

Lesson #3 Create art from your heart from the material of your life. It feeds your spirit, body, and soul.

I honor the artist in you! 

If you have any questions or want to say hi, you may reach me on my website. Artists need to stay in touch with each other.