“Life Begins at the End of our Comfort Zone.” -Neale...

Ever After 2016 – module 2 – work book

(All video content for part 3 is aired in September 2016 and can be found here.)

“Life Begins at the End of our Comfort Zone.” -Neale Donald Walsh

This segment is supported by a video, please watch the video titled:

“Introduction on Stepping outside of Comfort Zones + Productivity with Tamara Laporte”

Click here to go to Module 2 Ever After Ning group, scroll down to the thread links to fnd your video.

Comfort Zones & Exploring Beyond Your Boundaries

Once you've established a familiarity with and a confdence in your own style, methods, techniques and story telling, it's a great idea to look at ways and methods that help you further and deepen your own style & voice.

This segment of the workbook looks at ways to do just that. One really great way to take things 'to the next level', is by starting to move away from our creative comfort zones, to go beyond those boundaries and start doing some different, possibly uncomfortable & unpredictable things. (Do you feel scared yet?) ;D

Willowing Arts Ltd – 2016 – www.willowing.org - 1

http://www.willowing.org/

http://willowing.ning.com/group/ever-after-2016-module-2



In my personal journey as an artist, I foundthat when I did things that I felt resistancetowards at frst or if I did things that scaredme, bored me or didn't like, I grew as both anartist and as a person and it helped me furtherdevelop my own voice/ style. :) It can feelscary and uncomfortable to do things that wefeel resistance towards. Our comfort zonesare aptly named comfort zones because theyfeel so comfortable, ha. But as we all know:THE MAGIC HAPPENS when we explore theedges of our comfort zones and move farbeyond our comfortable and cosy boundaries.

When we step outside of our comfort zones the idea is not that we adopt/ incorporate methods/ subjects matters/ colour combinations/ techniques that we really don't like. No, instead we continue to follow 'our bliss' by checking in with ourselves what we do and don't like and what truly lights us up. Only bring back with you that which resonates with you and what makes your heart & soul sing.

But what does tend to happen when we take the plunge into these unknown territories is:

• we allow ourselves to be exposed to, exploreand learn from the wider art community and the myriad of approaches there are to the creative process

• we allow ourselves to discover new ways of creating we thought we didn't like but actually (possibly) do

• we allow ourselves to grow by having to overcome new challenges that we didn't need to look at while in our cosy comfort zones

• we allow ourselves to deepen our understanding of the creative process/ methods/ techniques and approaches that may or may not come with us into our own creative processes

• we give ourselves the opportunity to grow our own voice by fnding new and excitingways to create

• we face our fears, nurture creative courage, learn to deal better with our inner critics




Instead of following your bliss, this month I'm asking you to follow your fear, or at least: follow your resistance, or follow the 'thing that seems challenging to you'. When you notice resistance to a particular art technique or style, you can bet your bottom dollar that great learning and growth is hiding in the corner right there with it. :) So I'm asking you to take that leap of faith, and break out of your comfort zone into more uncomfortable areas of creativity.

Now; what scares me, might not scare you and vice versa, so the exercises we attempt to challenge us out of our comfort zones will differ per person.

This segment is supported by some videos, please watch the videos titled:

“Breaking out of your Comfort Zone Part 1 + 2” & “The Making of Tinker Bell in Limited Supplies – Bonus”.


Here are some ways of creating that I fnd challenging and get me right out of my comfort zone:

• Creating intuitively/ loosely/ freely without a plan (I have heart palpitations just reading that. Oh hello control freak ;))

• Limiting my supplies to either a few supplies or only 1 eg: biro/ ballpoint only or crayons only. • Changing my subject matter drastically

from the usual girls/ faces, such as: ◦ aged males◦ landscapes◦ cityscapes◦ realistic animals◦ fruit◦ vehicles

• Working with my non-dominant hand/ my eyes closed/ fngers only or limiting my tools such as: no brushes and drawing tools allowed: I can only work with a palette knife.

• Taking classes from people whose methods & techniques are very different from mine and/or whose art I don't necessarily fnd appealing.

• Working backwards from my usual process: eg, my usual process is starting with a drawing and then I build up paint layers. It's less comfortable for me to start with a messy paint background and then bring in the drawing and shapes.

• Combining unlikely supplies together (I once used crushed egg shells to pull through a print machine lol) or sticking to only 1 style/ method (eg: create a piece of art with collage only)





• Allow negative space: don't fll up the entire page (waaaaaaah, there is a bit of white there!!!) • Choose colours you have a tricky relationship with (hello red) or choose colour combinations

you usually struggle with.

Effectively, to help deepen develop your voice and style it's really helpful to step away from what you usually do once in a while. As another example:

I used to always stay clear from ultramarine blue, I used to hate hate hate that colour with a vengeance (I blame my time in art school, but who knows why!) Recently, an ultramarine blue tombow was lying on my desk, staring me right in the eye, slightly taunting me, with its icy blueness, and I don't know what came over me; it may have been sheer courage or laziness because couldn't be bothered to reach for another colour, but I grabbed it and combined it with a bright red (was I high?! ;)). And guess what happened? I created this painting:

And I love it more than many of the things I've ever created. (In fact many of the promotional images for this course came from this painting). This was growth for me, this was me developing my style, my voice, broadening my horizons and I hadn't even deliberately set myself the challenge ha.

Now, you may already love the combo of primary blues and reds, sooooo, you gotta challenge yourself to use olive green and grey together (or whatever colour combinations you feel a lot of resistance towards).

Also note that stepping out of your comfort zone can happen in baby steps. I only used 2 colours I usually felt resistance to, but big things already happened because I took those baby steps, I didn't even need to take a giant mega step to get a bit further with my voice and style. :)




Your Comfort vs Fear ZonesPlease write down all the creative approaches/ colours/ techniques/ styles/ methods etc that ft in your comfort zone and the ones that ft in your ft zone:




Comfort Zone Challenge Assignment

In the previously mentioned videos (Breaking out of your Comfort Zone) I demonstrated 5 ways in which I practised creative techniques that usually challenge me. Now it's your turn. You can do my challenges as demonstrated or you may have some other ideas about what will challenge you. As this challenge requires courage and strength it comes accompanied with a guided mediation:

This segment is supported by a meditation, please listen to this meditation:

“Strength and Confdence to Step into the Unknown – Developing Deep Trust with Tamara Laporte”

Click here to go to Module 2 Ever After Ning group, scroll down to the thread links to fnd your meditation.

Which 3 (or more) ways will you challenge your creative self to step out of your comfort zone?





Productivity and You

While we have established that developing one's own style and voice can take time, this process can be expedited when we consciously and purposefully set out a dedicated time, preferably daily if possible, for our creative practice.

One can muse and dream about making art in one's own style, but one thing that should not be overlooked is that we all need to put in the time and work. When we get more serious about our art work and really want to commit, looking at allocating a set time daily or weekly to dedicate to our art is a must.

Because many of us live hectic busy lives, art makingcan become important but overshadowed andswamped by all the other 'urgent' things, so it'ssuper important to purposefully make the time forour art if we deem it import to develop our ownstyle. It's simple really; in order to develop your ownstyle, you have to do the work. The more work youdo, the sooner your skills develop, your voice willemerge and the quicker you will fnd clarity andgrowth.

Before I had children I used to go through phases ofsetting myself the daily challenge of doing somesmall art in my moleskine every day. I managed to fll up pretty much 3.5 to 4 journals over a period of a year and half. My skill, insight, personal wellbeing (because I journaled) and my voice all deepened tremendously during that year and half. If you can somehow manage it, I can't recommend strongly enough to set yourself an allocated time of day to do a minimum of 20/30 minutes of art.




This segment is supported by some videos, please watch the videos titled:

“Productivity & Making Time for your Art with Tamara Laporte”.


Productivity Goals

To purposefully carve out time for my creativity ….. (tick the appropriate boxes + fll in):

I will look at how I can fnd a minimum of ___________ mins/ hours per day/ week/ month to dedicate to my art practice.

I will ask my family to help create this time and space for me as my creative practice is important to me.

If I miss a couple of sessions I will not be hard on myself. I will be understanding and kind and try to get back into the routine of practising my art at the dedicated set time.

I won't let this productivity goal become a chore or 'ruin' my fun. I will keep it light, but will remain mindful about trying to make my creative practise a purposeful conscious activity.

Other: ______________________________________________________________________

Other: ______________________________________________________________________





Though we work on a different theme each month, we continue to explore 'the story of you' by continuing with the 'core monthly assignments'. I encourage you to continue doing the new fairy tale lessons as presented by the new group of teachers and then answer the questions about those lessons in this workbook. Doing these assignments will help you deepen your understanding of and connection with yourself and it will help you further explore what your likes and dislikes are, and what voice inside of you wants to speak and come out.

Feel free to look back on videos from month 1 if you need reminders on how to 'follow your bliss' down the rabbit hole, or on how to stay connected to 'your true north'.

To remind you of what the core monthly assignments are:

When doing the 3 fairy tales try to:

1. Do the lesson pretty much exactly as presented (if possible, I realise you might not have all exact supplies), but basically try as much as possible not to do your own thing too much.

2. Answer the questions below for each lesson. Go into the lesson 'armed' with this workbook (or a notebook) and a pen and make notes about the you in relation to the lesson, each time.

1. What inspires me about this lesson?2. What techniques & supplies do I really love in this lesson? 3. What scares me in this lesson? 4. What shapes/ symbols the teacher uses inspire me? 5. What would I do differently? 6. What can I take with me for future paintings and adjust so that it's more 'me'? 7. Which colours and colour combinations speak to me in this? 8. What do I like about how this teacher interpreted the fairy tale? 9. What emotions come up for me when I do this lesson? 10. What am I learning about myself through doing this lesson? 11. What new things am I learning/ seeing/ feeling?12. How would you present this fairy tale differently/ in your own way?



http://willowing.ning.com/group/ever-after-2016-module-2/forum/topics/ever-after-2016-finding-your-true-north-with-andy-mason-tamara-la


Part 3 – Lesson 1Teacher's Name: __________________________________________________________________

Fairy Tale: _________________________________________________________________________

While doing the lesson, notice how you are responding to it. Notice what you love, dislike, would do differently. What materials evoke resistance, what supplies make you excited. Whatshapes, techniques, colour choices inspire you? Keep noticing and make mental and physical notes.

What inspires me about this lesson?

What techniques & supplies do I really love in this lesson?




What scares me in this lesson?

What shapes/ symbols the teacher uses inspire me?




What would I do differently?

What can I take with me for future paintings and adjust so that it's more 'me'?




Which colours and colour combinations speak to me in this lesson?

What do I like about how this teacher interpreted the fairy tale?




What emotions come up for me when I do this lesson?

What am I learning about myself through doing this lesson?




What new things am I learning/ seeing/ feeling?

How would you present this fairy tale differently/ in your own way?





Fairy Tale: _________________________________________________________________________







Like we did last month, I encourage you to do one fnal assignment where you focus on creating one or more paintings that incorporate more of your own style. Looking back on all the questions you've answered in response to the fairy tale lessons;

◦ Choose several elements you liked from the lessons you've done, take them with you and:◦ Adapt and change these elements to become more 'you', more unique, different to what was

presented in the lesson and:◦ Create a new painting (or more), based on one of the fairytales this month incorporating the

elements you loved in an adapted, newer style that feels more like you (OR: you could merge all 3 fairytales! How cool would that be?). Use your imagination, adapt, change, bring YOU into it as much as you can. You can watch my video below again for tips and hints on how to adapt/ change/ use the things you want to take away from the lessons.

◦ Consider what you want your painting to 'say' and how you put YOU into this painting to make it meaningful and personal. (Refer back to your earlier answers if you need reminders).

If you haven't already watched it; for examples and help on 'how to make stuff you like your own' please watch my video titled (frst aired in July 2016):

“How to take art classes and make the work your own with Tamara Laporte – The Story of You”





http://willowing.ning.com/group/ever-after-2016-module-2/forum/topics/ever-after-2016-module-2-make-it-your-own

http://willowing.ning.com/group/ever-after-2016-module-2/forum/topics/ever-after-2016-module-2-make-it-your-own


Here ended the 3rd month! I hope you enjoyed it and learned a lot. Be sure to recap andmake notes here about all that you learned and all that happened for you this frst month.



“Life Begins at the End of our Comfort Zone.” -Neale...

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