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Creative Confidence Starts With Play · Divas That Care Network

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's Divas That Care Radio.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Stories, strategies, and ideas to inspire positive change.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Divas That Care, a network of women committed to making our world a better place for everyone.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: This is a global movement for women, by women engaged in a collaborative effort to create a better world for future generations.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: To find out more about the movement, visit divas that care.com after the show.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, though, stay tuned for another jolt of inspiration.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to Confidence in Bloom, the podcast for women who are ready to move forward with clarity, courage, and commitment.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: This season, Determined Not Distracted, is all about purposeful action, resilience, and staying connected to what truly matters.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Today's conversation explores a powerful and often overlooked path to confidence, creativity.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: I'm joined by Tamara Newton, the creative force behind Creative Spark Art, a mobile paint party and art workshop business bringing vibrant, hands-on art experiences to people of all ages.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Tamara believes creativity isn't a luxury, it's a human right and an essential part of our well-being.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: She's also a tattoo artist at the Incantations Electric Tattoo and a passionate supporter of animal rescue organizations.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Together we're talking about the happiness of creating, why so many adults disconnect from creativity, and how reclaiming it can transform confidence, mindset, and emotional well-being.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you've ever thought I'm not creative, this episode is for you.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Mara.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: Hello.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: I'm so excited.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm one of those people that says I am not creative.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: So this conversation is going to be super, super intriguing for me.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_01: I can already feel it.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: Now, you I'm going to start with you feel that or you believe that creativity is a human right.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: Why do you feel it's so closely tied to happiness and well-being?
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think that creativity is so important and it's something that we don't value as much in today's society as we do, you know, we're always caught up with busyness in the world, and creativity helps us just get that moment to ourselves.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: It helps us to get out of the hustle bustle of the daily world and just get back to ourselves.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that it's so important that we do something creative, that everybody is doing a creative act in some way or another.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_02: It doesn't necessarily have to be art, but in creativity is happiness.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: There is happiness in just letting go.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: Even if you're just doodling circles on a pad of paper, there are studies that show that that actually reduces uh like 25% of stress within 10 minutes of doodling on a piece of paper.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: And there's a joy that springs when you make something and you you made that yourself and you're like so proud of that.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: I did that.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: And it may be, like I said, it doesn't always have to be art.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: It could be as simple as maybe you, you know, you plate your food differently for your family at nighttime.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: You you know, sprinkle the microgreens on, you do something that looks really beautiful, and that also could be an act of creativity where you just are using the right side of your brain, which in our world we use a lot of the left side of our brain.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it you know, it's funny that you say it that way because I'm thinking what came to my mind was I'm not artistic, right?
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_01: Like if you gave me a piece of paper and a pen and said, draw me a picture, you know, I would, you're getting a stickman, right?
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's that's the best I can do, right?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_01: But at the same time, I got to thinking, well, you know, I'm kind of a systems person, right?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: And so, you know, I can get creative in making up a system, right?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_01: Creative doesn't, like you said, it doesn't have to be art, it's basically just the way you create, like you do things, it's just creating, right?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, so the light bulb is starting to come on.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So, do you think then that humans are wired to create?
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yes, absolutely.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we live in a world of creation, right?
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_02: So, I mean, we're we're creation is so much a part of who we are.
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, all you have to do is look at a child, and they are the most creative beings in the whole world.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_02: You they don't they they live in their own fantasy world, they've got friends, they're making things, they've got a whole story about every little thing that they're doing, which is so beautiful.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I I like to quote Picasso because he says, every child is an artist, and it's how to remain an artist once he's grown up.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I think we put art on the back burner as we get older.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and yeah, I think it's really important to reactivate that.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: And I do believe that we are wired if we give ourselves permission to create.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I like that you added that because I think um that kind of leads us into my next question is what happens when we suppress that creative instinct?
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I can speak from my own experience.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, when I was in school, I loved, I was always an RD kid.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: I loved making art.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then when I graduated, it was like the world told me you can't make a living doing art, you need to, you know, do administration.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, my cat.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_02: Benjamin, put me butts.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um I couldn't make a living doing art.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: I had to work in administration or work in a restaurant or find a real job.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: And so I shut off my creativity for a long time.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_02: And um, I became quite depressed.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I became bitter, um, and I just felt lost, really.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: I I would flop flip-flop from job to job, going, okay, I'll try this for you know six months or a year, just not happy.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: So I try a different career or different path, um, still not finding what was bringing me joy.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so I think that, you know, we can get really, I think it can cause depression to not be creative.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And in fact, there's many, many studies done where people that do something creative feel better.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: They just do.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_02: Like, uh, I like to joke and say the paintbrush can replace your therapist.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_02: If you take it and use that as a creative outlet, um, but we we're lost, we're stuck in the we're stuck in the world of perfection, right?
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_02: Everything's gotta be perfect.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_02: I have to replicate this perfectly.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_02: Instead of just allowing yourself to just, you know, just to create it without a plan of what you're gonna make.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: I actually really love that.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_01: So I noticed that when my daughter starts to feel kind of low, she sets a day aside in the week to paint or draw.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like I'll, you know, I'll message her and I'll say, you know, are you coming over today?
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: Or do you want to, you know, do you want to come over?
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_01: And she'll be like, no, I need the evening tonight to I'm gonna just paint or I'm gonna draw, right?
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: Actually, and she'll say, I'm gonna do some art, right?
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_01: And so because I'm not, I'm that's not me, right?
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_01: I don't do that stuff.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: I find that odd, right?
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, what you're gonna like take the evening to like do art, like you know, but when I go to our place, like she's got her own art all over the house, right?
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's so like it's so inspiring because I think when she looks at it, she looks at it and says, Oh, I'm gonna do, I'm gonna add this to it, or I'm gonna, you know, this would go really close, good beside it, or oh, I don't like that, I'm gonna do something else next.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, I don't do that, right?
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like I love to decorate my house, right?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_01: And maybe it's the same thing, I'm not really sure.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe you can even help me, you know, decide that.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: But often I'll, you know, start, you know, I'll move this from, you know, have a few vases here and I'll move them over to the other side of the house.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, that's how I get creative.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm not really sure, but I like that you said what you said.
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: How has your own relationship with creativity evolved over the years?
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you said, you know, that you went job to job, but how did you figure out, you know, that it was creativity that you needed?
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so like I was saying in the the last part, was I had gotten bitter and depressed and just wasn't feeling, you know, working on these jobs that were unfulfilling for me.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: And so I had a friend and she was going to the U of A for art.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: And I mean, I I can't say that I didn't do anything creative in that time.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_02: Like I scrapbooked and I did like other little things, but I wasn't really creating art from the heart.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, and so I had a friend, she was at the U of A and she had all this art supplies laying around our house one day.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, I just decided she's like, hey, you want to paint?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, sure.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: And the second I picked up the paintbrush, it was like something exploded inside of me.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_02: I just like I fell so in love with it.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_02: I almost couldn't stop.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_02: I was just, you know, swatching colors on the canvas, playing around, manipulating the paint.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, why haven't I done this for so long?
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: Why have I denied this for myself?
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so after that, I just, you know, I don't like to use the word obsessed, but I became obsessed with art.
• 9:42
  SPEAKER_02: I uh, you know, I started painting, I started doodling, I eventually um started doing art for festivals, for music festivals, doing live art, so painting like canvases in front of a big group of people.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, then I started to do like help do doing props for festivals.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: So we were uh one of the festivals I did, we recreated a Mayan temple.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_02: And so we painted all this Mayan artwork and carved styrofoam and did all this amazing stuff.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and then I started tattooing.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_02: And so I started to tattoo, and then eventually I started to teach people how to paint and do different styles of art.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_02: So now that's what I do.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 10:25
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I'm not a big tattoo fan, I'll be totally honest, but I know that in today's day and age, you kind of have to like the tattoos to some degree, right?
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: Because I mean, quite honestly, every second person that you see now has a tattoo.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, it's it's very popular now.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: It wasn't, you know, even 20 years ago, it was kind of the you know, the alternative community had them, but it wasn't so mainstream.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_02: And now you see every a lot of people do have tattoos.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's very common now.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: So, like me, like I always say that I'm not creative.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, maybe I've kind of touched on something that makes me believe differently, but why do you think so many adults today believe that we're not creative?
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: And where do you think that that belief might come from?
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I think the belief comes from, you know, I think it comes from a couple things.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: I think it comes from when you're younger, where you're either comparing yourself to other people, going, oh, well, they can do it so much better than me.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I was guilty of that in high school too.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_02: I worked beside a gentleman who at 16 was already apprenticing to become a tattoo artist.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_02: And his art was amazing.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, oh, he's so good.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not that good.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: So I think there's like the comparison.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think also there's somebody telling you, you know, that your art isn't good or grading you on your art negatively, or sometimes it could be just a simple one word that can turn people off from expressing themselves in that way.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and the other thing I think is perfectionism, you know, needing to have it perfect and not allowing yourself, as Bob Ross would say, have happy little accidents.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, I mean, as any other limiting belief, right?
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: It could be, like you said, just one word that someone has said to you at one point in your life, and you're like, oh, so I'm not creative.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: I don't do that well.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, that's right.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I think in school too, I think I don't believe that art should be graded.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_02: I don't, I don't believe if you're in an art class in middle school or high school that that you should be getting A's for you know, being a really good artist, and somebody that's maybe struggling is getting a D.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_02: I believe that art should be based on your participation.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_02: If you're participating in the class and you're doing the the project, I believe you should get a a grade, you know, a passing.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_02: And it shouldn't be like, oh, this I mean, obviously you can look at art and be like, oh wow, that girl's really good.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_02: But when a teacher is like, well, you know, you're kind of not doing this right, and it's like, well, they're trying, and that's what Yeah, I I totally agree.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: It's like, you know, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: So if I'm how do I grade an art piece when, you know, maybe she did everything that came to her mind, right?
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: She put everything into it, and this is what came out of it, right?
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I have to agree.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And that's that's also like the perfectionism again, right?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, how do how are we supposed to, you know, judge that as perfect when, you know, in your eyes it might be perfect, in my eyes, it's not.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_02: Well, and you know, so often in my classes, people, you know, they're already they you always have the one or two that's like already judging themselves before we've even gotten started, or they're like, it's not perfect, you know.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: And I always say at the beginning of the class, check the perfectionists at the door, like leave the perfectionists at the door and just explore and have fun.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, not everybody's gonna replicate the picture exactly.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_02: It it, you know, like I, for example, I had just taught a class, and the one girl, she was so upset she liked mine better.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I liked hers.
• 14:01
  SPEAKER_02: I thought she did really good.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, of course, I'm the teacher.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: I've painted that picture a hundred times, so mine's gonna look better, right?
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_02: But in the end, she really wanted my painting, and so I ended up giving it to her, but I tried to talk her out of it.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_02: I said, like, your painting is really good.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: And then sometimes people be like, Oh, you're just saying that because you have to say that to everybody.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_02: And it's it's not that way.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: It's everybody just by the act of participation, you're doing something, you're stepping boldly and brave, bravely into a spot maybe you're really uncomfortable in.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that that takes a lot of courage to do that.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: I have to agree, and that's that's a pure example, too, of how perfectionism can steal the joy from the process.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: If you don't trust in yourself or if you feel that you cannot be perfect, there goes your joy right out the window.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and it becomes a stressful situation, not a fun situation.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: That's almost sad, but I can relate with that woman because I think I've done that at a painting class.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_02: Well, even like at pottery, when I started doing pottery, I mean, pottery is quite difficult to learn, um, especially when you're creating on the wheel.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: And my teacher's like, if it can hold salsa, it's good.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: That's a that's a good one.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_01: I love salsa.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I that's a that's a great one.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I wonder then, like, if you know, like I'll walk into an art room or an art class and I'll say, Oh, I'm totally gonna do this wrong.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_01: I like I already have that in my mind when I walk in, and I know that there's others that are very similar as me.
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, what would you say to someone who feels like intimidated by the class or you know, even just afraid to get it wrong?
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, if you're walking into a class um like that, I mean, I think for one thing, is if you're struggling, it's maybe try to sit towards the back.
• 15:53
  SPEAKER_02: I find that a lot of people, if they are struggling, if they're right at the front where everybody can see them, it makes them more intimidated, intimidated.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: And I think also, you know, express that to whoever's teaching the class.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_02: Just say, hey, I'm kind of nervous here.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_02: Because once the person like for myself, once we know that you're intimidated, we can give you extra special care.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like we can come over, help you, make sure we're showing you everything really close up so you can you so you can feel a little bit more confident with where you know, with exploring on your own.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_02: And trust that you might do it for me.
• 16:31
  SPEAKER_02: I rarely do it for them, but every once in a while, if they're getting really frustrated, I will give them a little bit of a hand.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_02: But I like to just sometimes it's a matter of just how you're holding the paintbrush.
• 16:41
  SPEAKER_02: It could just be how you're, you know, the the stroke or the pressure that you're doing, and all that needs is a little shift.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_02: And we can, you know, I can come over and show you, hey, just hold the paintbrush like this, and then all of a sudden they're doing it on their own.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_01: Ah, so it's sometimes it's just like a little tweak like that.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: So I just I mean, I'm sure you're gonna answer yes to this, but I'm wondering, um, have you ever witnessed like um someone's mood change?
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_01: Like while they're being creative, like do they become more confident or do they have like a mindset shift that's happening like right before your eyes?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um, yeah, oh, definitely.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_02: And I've seen it go in both directions, but mostly it goes in the positive direction.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: So you'll have the person come in that's intimidated.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, they've never even held a paintbrush or drawn a picture in their life.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: And when they get that extra special guidance, they're able to excel.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_02: And by the end, I've had people totally shocked that they were able to do that.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: They're like, wow, I did not think I was gonna be able to do this.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and so that usually that mood shift usually happens with it for a few people are quite surprised by the end of the class that that they were successful.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_02: And then occasionally you have the person that came and now they're frustrated and and and they're just getting more and more frustrated.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: And and there's not much you can do about those type of situations except for just to keep on encouraging them and you know, and encourage them to try again, right?
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: Because sometimes, for example, I'm gonna talk about pottery again.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like it, I took probably 20 classes before I was able to pull a wall, which is when you you create a cylinder.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and it's quite difficult to do, but I kept on doing it.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: I kept on trying because I knew I wanted to learn.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: And not only that, I really didn't care that I wasn't creating something perfect.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: For me, it was just a place for me to be creative without the expectation of perfection, um, especially with my job tattooing.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like I have to be perfect when I'm tattooing.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, but with pottery, I can be messy.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_02: And if the bowl's wonky, the bowl's wonky and you just go with it.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and if it holds salsa, it's good.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_01: I have a bowl.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_01: I have a bowl that I made in a it was like on a retreat, and we did a pottery class.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_01: And I made this bowl, and I remember before it went into the the oven, the kill, I was like, oh god, this is one ugly bowl.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: What am I ever gonna do with it?
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: And when it came out, I was like, this isn't the same bowl, like it was so beautiful.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_01: Like when I take it, like I use it all the time now because it's so pretty, right?
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_01: And you this is so gorgeous.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so I kind of think that somebody switched it on me because I'm pretty sure it didn't look like this before it went in.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, I wanted to make a comment too on the, you know, I did a paint night where it was like a ladies' night, and I had zero confidence in myself.
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like I came home and I was like really feeling like blue because I thought I really did not, I should not have been in this class.
• 19:45
  SPEAKER_01: And my husband was like, Oh my god, what's wrong?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: What happened?
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_01: And I showed him, I said, look at the disaster that I made.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_01: And he just looked at me like I was crazy.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: He's like, Tina, like that's really good.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: And I was like, I don't think so.
• 20:01
  SPEAKER_01: He put it up, like he took it from my hands and he put it up in our living room and he would not let me move it.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I bet you it was up for a good six to eight months because he was like, You need to show this off.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, that is hideous.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_02: Again, that's our, you know, it's it's it's how we perceive it, right?
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_02: So yeah, somebody else could see beauty in it.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and again, it goes back to the comparison.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_02: And I find that that's what happens a lot at like a paint night, for example, is you're around 20 other people, everybody's creating.
• 20:32
  SPEAKER_02: Some people are amazing, some people struggle, and some people are just not happy with what they've created.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_02: And so you're gonna have all those, but you know, if you took another painting class, then you would be like, Oh, I remember how we did this.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, that's it's easier for me the second time around, the third time around, just like it's easier on the 20th pottery class for me than it was on the first pottery class where I couldn't even do anything.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: So um, yeah.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_02: And I like to always encourage my clients and my customers when we do a paint night, like, wait till you get home and and and and wake up tomorrow and then look at your painting with fresh eyes when you don't have a room full of uh paintings and my paintings as well to compare to and get a fresh look and just no matter what, just love that you created something.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_02: Just like you love that pottery that you didn't love, you know, you but you made it.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_02: So it's something that you did with your heart.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think that that's what we should focus on more than replicating a pretty picture.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, I I have to agree.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: And I also think um it comes down to giving yourself permission to, right?
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like giving yourself the permission to be okay with whatever's gonna come out, right?
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_01: Just put your hands to the paint or your hands to the paper, whatever it is that you're creating and allow whatever, you know, is going to be to be.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_02: Right.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_02: Exactly.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_02: Just like Bob Ross said, happy little accidents, just go for it, right?
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_01: And so have you like, have you witnessed that where, you know, a woman will come in and says, you know, I don't think I'm very creative, but I'm gonna give myself the permission to be here and to give it whatever I have.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I I see that it's it's it's a common story, but I specifically remember this one little lady.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: She was she was a senior, she came and she was quite nervous, never had drawn a stick figure, didn't think she could do it.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, and so of course, because she told me that, I knew she was gonna have some challenges.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_02: So I just kept on checking in on her through the whole thing.
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_02: How are you doing?
• 22:36
  SPEAKER_02: You know, do you need any help?
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_02: And by the end of it, I mean, I just seen this little lady just light up because she had created something that she didn't think she could.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: Was it perfect?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: But did it need to be perfect?
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: No.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: She had done something and she was proud of herself.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: And in fact, she came to another one of my class a couple months later and she had like started painting bird houses.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_02: She went to the dollar store, she bought brushes and canvases, and she was just playing, and she just, you know, to have that kind of awakening, especially, you know, if you've lived your whole life never trying something creative, it was just beautiful.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: I almost tear up every time I think of it.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_02: And I and I think that those people touch me so deeply because it's more I'm seeing myself in them.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_02: I'm seeing this person who was bitter.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_02: And like I remember in my 20s, you know, walking around, I see people doing art and I'd be like, artists, right?
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_02: Because I was denying myself.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: And because I deny myself, it like art just irritated me because I was like, I have to do administrative work, I have to be this cubicle worker type of person.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: Well, that doesn't fit my personality.
• 23:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so when I picked up that paintbrush and started painting, it was like something clicked on.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_02: The creative spark opened, it clicked on, and um, and it's been open now for gosh, it's been like 20 years, almost 30 years, I'd say 25 years, yeah.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_02: Wow.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: I love, I actually love that, and I think that today, I mean, I I I I like to believe anyway, that today the world is a little bit different as far as allowing our young people to do what truly lights them up, right?
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like I think, like I know when my kids were growing up, I, you know, of course I wanted them to have professional jobs, but when the time came, what I wanted more was for them to be happy.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_01: And if that meant, you know, doing something, you know, creative, like, you know, being an artist, then you got to do your best.
• 24:38
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, just know that I can't support you, you know, forever.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_02: I think I've, you know, I agree with that.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_02: Like in the last 20 years, the shift towards um even just art being honored.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I mean, not that it wasn't honored in the past, but you know, it wasn't like a career, you know, that it was far a few between between, but with the with graphic, with the computers and the internet and graphic design and web design and all these other, you know, art's become more valuable in terms of a career path now than it used to be.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I think, like I said at the very beginning of our conversation, it's not necessarily that it, you know, creativity is art, right?
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_01: Like you can do, I mean, I I don't know how a doctor works, but you know, like I'm sure there's ways of being creative in your field, whatever your field may be.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I agree with that 100%.
• 25:36
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, creativity, I mean, I've done a lot of talking on like creativity and how it relates to business as well, because people think hear the word creativity and they automatically think, oh, it's art, but it not isn't necessarily because creativity is like how you yeah, you work with your customers, how you come up with new innovations, how you come up with new ideas, how you support your employees to also be creative in their thinking, thinking outside the box and all these things are they're so important that we value creativity in the workplace, in business, um, in leadership.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_02: Absolutely just a very, very important.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_01: And I yeah, like you said, thinking out of the box.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's that's a cue, right?
• 26:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's like get creative, right?
• 26:20
  SPEAKER_01: Think outside of the box.
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_01: I have one last question.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 26:25
  SPEAKER_01: When you think about the happiness of creating, what does that mean to you personally?
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_01: And how do you think women can bring more of that into their daily lives?
• 26:37
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, when I think of the happiness of creating, I think of joy, I think of contentment, and I think of peace.
• 26:44
  SPEAKER_02: Because when you're in the creative mindset, it's like all that left brain stuff is switched down and all your right brain stuff is switched out.
• 26:51
  SPEAKER_02: And you kind of just fall into the process of whatever it is that you're creating.
• 26:56
  SPEAKER_02: And I think it's just such an important time to get out of that like bubble of the world and anything that's like negative in your life, and just get into this bubble of creativity.
• 27:06
  SPEAKER_02: So that is like the joy, the joy that springs from your heart, um, and and the peace that you find residing in that space.
• 27:14
  SPEAKER_02: And I think women can bring that into their lives in a multiple different ways.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_02: I think you could just start off by recognizing that cooking dinner is an act of creation.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: The way you plate your food, the way you landscape your garden, how you set your flowers out in the garden, those are all acts of creation.
• 27:32
  SPEAKER_02: How you style your clothes and how you put on your makeup, it's also an act of creation.
• 27:37
  SPEAKER_02: And I think we need to honor all the little bits of creation and the little steps of creation that we we do each day as something special.
• 27:46
  SPEAKER_02: And then try something new.
• 27:47
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is if you've never done pottery, try it.
• 27:51
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to take like a different kind of like a watercolor class, try it.
• 27:56
  SPEAKER_02: If you want to try sewing, I mean, I think it's just try it.
• 27:59
  SPEAKER_02: And if it if it doesn't feel right and it doesn't fit with your personality or where you, you know, what you desire, then that's okay.
• 28:07
  SPEAKER_02: You can try something different, right?
• 28:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I just wanted to say quickly, the city of Edmonton, the City Art Center, they have a ton of cool programming from like learning how to cook Singapore street food to dancing to pottery, silversmith.
• 28:26
  SPEAKER_02: If you look on their website, they've just got such a plethora of different things to try.
• 28:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and yeah, and I just think just keep on honoring yourself and what feels right for you.
• 28:37
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for adding that in.
• 28:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we don't have a plug here for the city of Edmonton, but you know, it's good to have resources like that and to know people that have resources.
• 28:46
  SPEAKER_01: That's really good.
• 28:47
  SPEAKER_01: And I think also, too, like I, you know, you were saying to just to try something.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_01: How many times do you think, you know, you have to try something before you know that you like it or you don't?
• 29:01
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, at least I'd say at least a handful, if not a dozen.
• 29:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, sometimes, yes, sometimes you know right away.
• 29:10
  SPEAKER_02: Like I think there's some things where you're like, eh, not for me.
• 29:13
  SPEAKER_02: And that's okay, right?
• 29:14
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's good to, it's good to honor what feels right for you in the moment.
• 29:18
  SPEAKER_02: But if it was something like a painting class or a drawing class, don't allow yourself to get turned off just because it was hard the first time.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_02: Because the second time it will be easier.
• 29:29
  SPEAKER_02: The next time it will be even easier because every it's all about muscle memory and using your mind and your hands in different ways that maybe you haven't ever used them before.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_02: So I think it's like if you if it's something you that your heart desires, give it a fair chance to see if it will resonate with you and uh become a hobby.
• 29:49
  SPEAKER_02: I love that.
• 29:50
  SPEAKER_01: And I and I would even suggest and encourage, you know, if you're gonna do like a paint night or some kind of a class, you know, bring your community, like do it with the with the people you love, right?
• 30:04
  SPEAKER_01: The people that you're you know, obviously are not gonna judge you, like the people that you can be, you know, feel safe and comfortable beside doing something that's not your normal.
• 30:15
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, absolutely.
• 30:16
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's it's such a fun activity.
• 30:18
  SPEAKER_02: A girls' night out, I mean, going, you know, mother-daughter, just getting out and just doing something fun.
• 30:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like it's such a great way to bond and and to do something that you did together.
• 30:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like it creates a memory.
• 30:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and memories are really important today.
• 30:32
  SPEAKER_02: I when all of our memories seem to be on social media, like we don't have photo albums anymore, we don't have that tangible physical memories like we used to.
• 30:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I think that like, like I remember um me and my mom went on vacation to Montreal, and she's not a painter, she's not ours, but I said, Mom, let's go to a paint night and let's just go have fun.
• 30:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so we did.
• 30:54
  SPEAKER_02: And you know, we ended up swapping our paintings at the end.
• 30:57
  SPEAKER_02: So I took hers and she took mine.
• 30:59
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and because we lived, she lived in Florida and I lived here, it was just like every time I looked at it, I thought of my mom, and I was like, Oh yeah, that and I re went back into the memory of how special so that sounds so sweet, yeah, yeah.
• 31:15
  SPEAKER_02: It's just that yeah, it's it creates a tangible memory.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:21
  SPEAKER_01: Well, is there anything that you need our listeners to hear from you today, you know, based on what we were talking about?
• 31:27
  SPEAKER_01: Do you have any offers to offer?
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, you know, if they would like to join, I do uh I do have some upcoming paint events.
• 31:36
  SPEAKER_02: They can check on the links that are below in this podcast.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_02: And uh I, you know, I do private events, I love to cater to whatever kind of event you'd like to have.
• 31:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and yeah, I just encourage you if it's if you want to get on, be creative.
• 31:51
  SPEAKER_02: If it's not with me, find something that works with you for for you and your wherever you reside at and have fun and just allow yourself to make mistakes.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_02: That's the biggest one.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_01: I love that.
• 32:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's probably the best advice I've heard in a long, long time.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 32:09
  SPEAKER_01: Be okay with the mistakes, just don't judge them, right?
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, absolutely.
• 32:14
  SPEAKER_01: Because we are our worst critic, right?
• 32:17
  SPEAKER_01: We judge ourselves the worst.
• 32:19
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, 100%.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you so much for joining me today.
• 32:23
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks, Tina.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: I really appreciate you having me on, and this has been lovely.
• 32:27
  SPEAKER_02: And I apologize for the technical issues.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_01: Don't you worry.
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know what?
• 32:32
  SPEAKER_01: We all have we all struggle.
• 32:34
  SPEAKER_01: We all struggle.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_01: Awesome.
• 32:37
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you so much.
• 32:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, of course.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_01: This conversation was such a powerful reminder that confidence doesn't always come from doing more, it often comes from expressing more of who we already are.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_01: If this episode resonated with you, I invite you to reflect on this.
• 32:54
  SPEAKER_01: Where in your life have you stopped creating and what might shift?
• 32:58
  SPEAKER_01: What might shift if you allowed yourself to begin again?
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: And if you're a woman who's ready to feel more grounded, confident, and aligned in this next chapter, this is exactly the work I support through the Bloom Room and my coaching spaces.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_01: Together, we focus on building confidence from the inside out through clarity, embodiment, and intentional action, not hustle or pressure.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_01: You'll find links in the show notes to connect with Tamara and learn more about Creative Spark Art.
• 33:28
  SPEAKER_01: And of course, to explore ways we can work together inside the confidence together inside confidence in Bloom or Infull Bloom styling.
• 33:37
  SPEAKER_01: If you love this episode, please share it with a friend, leave a review, or take a moment to subscribe.
• 33:43
  SPEAKER_01: It truly helps this podcast grow.
• 33:45
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, stay determined, stay present, and keep blooming.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening.
• 33:51
  SPEAKER_00: This show was brought to you by Divas That Care.
• 33:54
  SPEAKER_00: Connect with us on Facebook, on Instagram, and of course on divasThatcare.com, where you can subscribe to our newsletter so you don't miss a thing.