All posts

Welcome to my

creativity doula space

Here is where I help you unlock your creative potential.

Most people walk around daily, completely denying the fact that they are creating their own lives. We are all creative beings. Taking responsibility for the life you are creating for yourself requires claiming your creative power.

Whether you're a busy parent, an art student, a writer, or anyone aiming to embrace a creative lifestyle, I'll explore your current position in the Cycle of Creativity (the natural ebb and flow of beginnings and endings in our lives) with you and help you take your next steps.

So come and release your creative fire with me!

If you are curious about these sessions feel free to contact me for a free 15min discovery call.

Testimonials

Jana worked with me on (2022-2023):
PHD writing practice
Her fear of letting others down
Motivation vs. procrastination
Livia worked with me on (2019-2020):
Creative community building
Expanding creative collaboration skills
Site-specific art events
Mandri Sutherland worked with me on (2021):
Making a business out of her acting
Creating independent performance opportunities for herself
Social media strategies to market her performance offerings

1 of 3

SO, HOW DOES IT WORK?

Finding the Creative Spark

If you've always felt drawn to trying something creative, whether it's baking, painting, starting a business, or making games for your kids, I can assist you in igniting and nurturing that creative spark.

Scheduling a session with me is often the initial step in permitting yourself to explore your desires. And by calling yourself a creator, you embrace the audacity to express.

Alternatively, you may already be an established creative seeking to rejuvenate your practice. I provide a reflective perspective, serve as an accountability partner, and act as a muse to help you discover fresh inspiration for the next stage of your journey.

Mapping the Creative Cycle

In my coaching sessions, I use the Creative Cycle analogy to design a personalized journey that suits your unique needs, challenges, skills, and talents. This journey comprises three distinct stages, each corresponding to a specific offering:

Catalyst Drop-in Session: Igniting the creative spark.
Execution Container (3-Sessions Creative Unblocking): Expressing and acknowledging your creativity.
Creative Power Container (7-16 week Immersion): Grounding your creativity in a consistent and sustainable practice.

(You may be at different stages in different parts of your life or work)

Throughout these containers, I utilize various practical and reflective exercises tailored to your specific creative block. Together, we create immersive spaces where we can address and shift those blocks, allowing your creativity to flow freely.

Catalyst Drop-in Session: Birthing the Spark

If you're currently in the Catalyst stage, it means the creative spark hasn't fully surfaced yet. You might be experiencing various challenges, such as ignoring your creative impulses, having too many ideas without committing to any, constantly preparing but never starting, considering yourself creative but not sharing it with others, or feeling energetic but lacking focus. If you're feeling overwhelmed by these issues, simply schedule a drop-in session with me. Often one session is enough to kick-start a whole process.

2 hours, 1-on-1
Online or in person at my studio
This introductory session intends to catalyze whatever creative process you want to start or have been putting off

Execution Container: Putting Things Out There

In this stage, we confront the obstacles preventing your ideas from materializing. These obstacles may manifest as fear related to finances, time, or resources. You might also feel misunderstood, depressed, hopeless, drained, or stuck behind an insurmountable barrier. We tackle these challenges directly, addressing both emotional and practical aspects, to help you gain the confidence needed to share your ideas, dreams, or art with the world. And then, with me next to you, you plunge into the world allowing yourself to be seen!

2x 1-1 sessions in person or online
1x homework self-practice (in between 1-1 sessions)
Sessions spread over max a month
This 3-week container intends to shed light on what might be standing in your way of fully expressing your creativity

Creative Power Container: Becoming Unstoppable

With newfound awareness of our shadows, we tap into our inner strength and knowledge, making our loftier aspirations achievable. During the Creative POWER stage, our attention shifts to broadening and realizing your vision, establishing practical foundations, and securing success for a sustainable, comprehensive life practice.

Alternatively, this phase can serve as an intensive "birthing" process, where I provide accountability and coaching to bring a project to fruition over the agreed time. Together, we navigate the entire Creative Cycle, from the inception of the idea, through its development, expression, and eventual integration (this is a great container for when you have, for example, written a book but just have not published it or is in the process of creating a series of work and feel like you are losing momentum to reach your desired deadline).

4x 1-1 sessions in person or online
3x homework self-practice in between 1-1 sessions
Sessions spread over max 4 months
In this immersion container, we will muse on how to build a personal practice that is emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially sustainable

CLICK ON THESE BLOCKS TO VIEW AND BOOK EACH CREATIVITY CONTAINER OPTIONS

A Catalyst Session: Drop-in

Execution Container: 3-Session Creative Unblocking

Creative Power Container: 7-16 week Immersion

Byline

FAQs

Do I need to be a visual artist to work with you?

Absolutely not! For example, I have worked with an engineer that is trying to balance being a part-time musician, a massage therapist that is dreaming to create murals the size of buildings (with zero experience, mind you!), an artist who hasn't created in twenty years, and an ex-medical doctor creating an integrative retreat space, and an online education specialist that suffers from burn out. You do not have to have any experience in visual art to be creative. In fact, we are ALL creating our lives every single day and all humans are innately creative.

Why is art important? How can visual arts help me be more creative and balanced in my job or non-art related interests?

I can rant about this topic for ages, but here is a concise bullet-point list derived from The Art Therapy Sourcebook by Cathy Malchiodi to give you insight in my philosophies about the importance of art:

Art is a Visual Way of Making Something Special:
- Art allows us to express our unique essence and make sense of the world by creating something beautiful and significant. This is an extremely gratifying feeling.
Art Is a Way of Recording:
- Art serves as a non-verbal tool for documenting the meaning, experiences, and feelings of a particular period in our lives.
Art Assists in Emotional Release:
- Art-making has therapeutic benefits that help us engage with our emotions and express what words cannot. Many people turn to art when they reach the limits of language and logic in processing difficult emotions.
Art Teaches Us About Sensory Experience:
- Art engages our sensory understanding of the world and helps us connect with textures, sounds, scents, and forms. This makes it a valuable tool in navigating and understanding the world, as the understanding and use of materials are vital to human functioning.
Art Improves Visual Thinking and Metaphorical Understanding:
- Art has the ability to change minds and the world, as evident in political revolutions throughout history. Art and storytelling have gone hand in hand throughout history, with artists depicting cultural shifts through the metaphors, subject matter, and medium used in their art.
Art Teaches Us New Skills:
- Art-making fosters risk-taking, experimentation, and creative problem-solving abilities through curiosity and bravery, which spill into other areas of life.
Art Enhances Our Lives:
- It has been scientifically proven that engaging with art can transform inner conflict, reduce stress, and promote compassionate ways of engaging with the world. It challenges perfectionism and helps us transcend our rigid living patterns. Making and looking at art can act as a tool for accessing the mysterious, imaginative, and other-worldly nature of reality. Art is an important way of discovering new meanings in life, connecting with our inner child, and assessing and changing our values.
Art Is Conducive to Individuation:
- Art-making is a fun practice that promotes curiosity, playfulness, and identity formulation. It allows us to connect to our intuition and energizes us. Artistic expression communicates our unique perspective on life and can help us stand out in a world that often promotes a group mentality.
Art Creates Relationships:
- Art allows for connection and communication, as it can help release stress and mediate emotions. It also provides a platform for individuals to talk about difficult topics and share their perspectives, which can lead to growth and healing.

How can your Creativity Doula work benefit students that are studying art or planning on becoming professional creatives?

The academic space is fraught with limiting beliefs, judgments, lack of connection, competition and ego (I know this because most of my creative wounds and those of the people I work with come out of some kind of harsh educational encounter). I believe this is a result of art being squeezed into a structured box of percentages and logical arguments. Furthermore, in my opinion, there is not enough emotional support for art students. They are required to rack up the nitty-gritty-ugly-dirty parts of their soul to make "deep" art and is then put in front of a panel to be criticised. This requires a very strong kind of personal to make it through without emotional scaring. From my experience, Fine Art academies do not help students built businesses out of their craft, nor foster spaces where students can really be truly vulnerable. I help (aspiring) art students get clear on what it is they actually want to create, how to protect their mental health in critical spaces, and form strong artist identities. I also support on more practical matters, like how to set up an artist CV, how to write an artist bio and conceptual reasoning, as well as designing an artist portfolio - all tools a professional artist need after studying when they enter the working world.

Will I be a qualified artist after I have done a Creativity Container with you?

The idea the you are an artist is just a belief. As dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estes says, "an artist is an artist before they have ever made anything." In my Creativity Containers, I will help you face and work through the limiting beliefs standing in your way of claiming a creative life. I also assist in the building of an emotionally, physically, and spiritually sustainable art practice so you feel empowered to create what you desire. We work on steps to catalyse your process and set structures in place to ensure that your process keeps flowing.