Inspiration to becoming a professional Artist
After spending what seems a lifetime surrounded by artists, artwork and creativity in all forms. I always felt I was skipping around the edge of who I really am. I found myself ‘conforming’ to societies expectations, you know what I mean, work hard at school in order to get the qualifications to get a good paying job which will give you enough money to enjoy a fruitful and comfortable life etcetera, etc. That’s great on one hand, but it wasn’t until I read this book that everything truly began to click into place. The Artist’s Way is a self-help book by American author Julia Cameron. The book was written to help people with artistic creative recovery, which teaches people to gain self-confidence in harnessing their creative talents and skills. If you haven’t read it yet, then I recommend it goes at the top of your Christmas List!
One day I was sitting at my teaching desk dealing with yet another huge stack of paperwork and reflected how far I’d come and what I still needed to do in life. Time has a habit of getting away from you. Blink and suddenly, all your children have grown up, your vision becomes a little fuzzy and you’re wondering who the person is looking back at you in the mirror. It was then that I felt a ‘now or never’ moment. Everything came to a climax and after years of work related stress, bereavements, relocation, looking after elderly parents, menopause and feeling your skills weren’t being appreciated enough, I had a MASSIVE ‘breakdown’. Yes, I can talk about mental health and after a whole year in recovery, I have emerged a different person. The butterfly has finally been able to emerge from the chrysalis and I sincerely hope you will join me on my artist journey.