Speaker 1 (00:00):
And just remember that everything has a season, every one has seasons. And this is part of the process of becoming.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is the Bold Artist Podcast.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You have answers, and you're expressing them in your art. Your art is important, and it needs to be seen
Speaker 1 (00:22):
Welcome. And let's get started with today's episode. Hey, Charla. So, we're here, having a little chat, going down another art rabbit hole. We tend to do that, don't we,
Speaker 2 (00:41):
We do all the time.
Speaker 1 (00:41):
Yes. We have a lot of rabbit holes that we explore. Uh, you know, we're producing this Bold Artist podcast and often there's a lot of rabbit holes that we go down -- little trails that we go down and talking about art, and previous episodes. And we just, you know, have a lot of deep thoughts and deep conversations that sometimes it's nice to include our listeners and watchers in on
Speaker 2 (01:07):
Well, it's, I think it's why we knew this was gonna happen. Like, why we decided to do the podcast. Because when we are together, no matter if we're talking about life, or art, or work, or whatever, we go down these rabbit holes of deep art talks, and they're always really good. So, why not record them so we can refer back, and maybe some people out there that are listening can glean something from them as well, and even join in the conversation. And that's what ultimately I'd love to see is a way for you guys to join in the conversation. In the comments, or send in your thoughts or questions, and we can talk about them later. But yeah, let's share our thoughts.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Yeah, absolutely. And that is actually one of the main reasons we started the Instagram at Bold Artist podcast was we, we had started it to use as a portal of information. So we got off to a great start. I think that the launch of this podcast went even better than either of us expected. We started having downloads and listens before we even made the public announcement, which was super exciting, but also a little alarming and made us bump up the release date, or let's say the launch date a week sooner, which put me into like fast gear, getting a bunch done. Uh, and then, and then now, um, we've seen just the response and that the Bold Artist podcast is meeting a need, um, meeting the need of conversation for artists, giving artists voices. And we've seen it so warmly welcomed and received by artists. And so, thank you everyone for tuning in subscribing, following and being part of that, Now in the pilot, Charla, and I shared our dreams and our vision of the podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
And we mentioned that this is a work in progress, something that's going to evolve. And we were, and are, excited to have you all part of the evolution, part of your you're going to get to witness how this grows and changes with time. And in that pilot, I shared a little of my personal story of how I became a podcast host. And I mentioned a lot of years of feeling that my voice was silenced. And then Charla, you and I got talking about how that isn't necessarily a negative thing. And that's something that I thought we could just talk about today is how I believe artists always do go through times of silence -- at times where we feel that we're on the shelf, so to speak. I have always, um, likened that stage of life to being like a butterfly in the chrysalis time of development.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
And even though I shared in the pilot that, you know, my voice felt silenced for a lot of years, and this has been a full-circle awakening for me to be back in the studio, I look at those years of feeling silence is not necessarily negative. It was a time of development, and it was a special time. One where though I was probably bursting to use my voice again, I think we need to go through times of silence. And I know that really, when I shared that with you, it really resonated with you, as well.
Speaker 2 (04:39):
Yeah, it does. And I think a lot of people that, um, message me in the, in Bold School when they're taking my classes, they say the same types of story that you're saying -- that they felt like they had to lay their brush down and do something else. And not necessarily because they wanted to, that they felt forced to, or they felt like there was no other option, or if they didn't, they would be ridiculed. Or, you know, it's the typical art story that art isn't important, or art is not going to make you money. You're going to be hungry if you become an artist, that type of story. So in, in essence, I guess you feel like you're being silenced by either somebody else or you're just allowing that to happen to yourself. So, I think it's a, it's a part of probably every artist story to some degree at some point in their life.
Speaker 2 (05:27):
And I've often wondered now that I am a working painter, it's just, my career is what I do. Um, I've often wonder, like, wonder what would have happened if I had done this right out of university? What if I had had the nerve or the, the bravery, or the courage, or whatever it took to start right out of university, what would have happened? But, um, of course, we can't look back. We can't have those types of like regrets in our lives. But I think about, like, if I had done that right out of school, where would I have ended up. It probably would have very different road for me. I was young and immature, and I had no clue about life or what it would take. The world is a completely different world now than when I graduated a very long time ago. So, I now look back at that journey from graduating with a BFA or Bachelor of Fine Arts to, it was, uh, almost 20 years later, maybe it was between 15 to 20 years later that I took on art as my career, fine art career.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Um, you know, in the, in that time I learned a lot. I was definitely in incubation period for what was to be now in, in a sense. I do feel like it was a preparation time. So, I started looking back at that as a very different experience than I used to think. I used to think I had been silenced or, um, what is, or that what I had done was just like a waste of time. You know, I could have been doing this sooner, but I wouldn't be, I wouldn't be this artist. I wouldn't have had the photography experience, you know, all of those types of things. And when I was learning or preparing to start Bold School, and I was getting the course together and learning how to use all my gear, you know, in, in those times, those probably two to three years, really before Bold School launched, I had all of these ideas in my mind and was putting them together.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
I was so impatient. I wanted to do it right away. I wanted it to have it now. And I'm still impatient in lots of ways. But I had to learn, I had to learn every step. I had to learn the gear, I had to practice. You know, I had to teach workshops in order to be able to teach online. I needed to have that live experience, to know what it was that people were going to ask, and what the students needed. There was so many things that I needed to do that I didn't even realize I needed to do. And you almost, you almost can't figure that out. You can't plan it. So, embracing the, I like to say incubation, I like how you called it, the silence, embracing that time and looking for what you can do in that time. Because when you, when you, when you're done, you know, in that chrysalis opens up and you're flying like a butterfly, you got no time to do a lot of those things anymore.
Speaker 2 (08:08):
You got no time is good English. You're, you're... Yeah. Like I, there's so many things now that I wished that I was learning two years ago. 'Cause I barely have time to like sit down, and put in that effort to learn those things now, because I'm so busy -- which is a blessing, and a great thing. So, silence and incubation, I think is, is a very important, uh, part of the journey to understand. It doesn't have to be 20 years long. You know, I could maybe just be a couple of months, but yeah, that's, that's what I, that's how I look at when you were talking about your time of silence. That's what I liken it to, for my journey.
Speaker 1 (08:46):
Yes. They say that silence is powerful because when you do what we call, hold the silence, so you're holding your silence, and then when it's time to speak -- which I'm using metaphorically -- but when it's time to speak, the word is, the break of the silence is more powerful. And so, that means silence is powerful. And I also like to think of silence -- you, you called it incubation, which is a perfect description -- I also like to think of it in through the eyes of being a potter, where you put a piece on the shelf. And I actually did a talk, I know in the pilot, we talked about how you met me while I was doing a, how my life is like pottery talk. There's so many ways that my life and my heart are like a picture of the clay process in the Master Potter's hands. A part of that has been a whole piece of being on the shelf.
Speaker 1 (09:46):
And when, as a potter, when I would put a piece of pottery freshly made on the shelf, I often just because I'm imaginative, I would think about how that piece feels. I made it, I spent so much time with it, and then I just put it there. And if that was a picture of my own labor heart, I would feel abandoned, and just kind of left. And I think that's the stage we go through being like pottery on a shelf, which is just waiting for maturity. And when I began to look at it like that, like as a potter, when I would put a piece on the shelf, I had intentions for that piece. I would put it there in order for it to dry, which actually is a maturity process, and it would dry and it would become harder and stronger enough to fire.
Speaker 1 (10:40):
And you could never fire a piece of wet clay. It just, it would not work out. It would explode in the kiln or become a huge mess. You couldn't fire it. It has to dry. It has to be short. It simply has no other way to become anything. A finished vessel has no other way except to sit on the shelf. That is the only passage to that kind of maturity. And just like we talked about the butterfly, the butterfly, there is no other way to get the wings. No other way. A time of silence, a time of chrysalis, time of incubation, whatever we want to call it, the time on the shelf, it's the only way. And so, going back to what I said in the pilot, where I felt that my voice was silenced, it's true. And it did feel, like ,perhaps negative, but it's not, it was necessary, totally necessary.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
And, and I'm saying this now. Yeah. I saying this now, because as we encourage artists to take all the necessary steps to become wholehearted -- you also mentioned before about being wholehearted artists. We want artists to be free and wholehearted. There are necessary steps. And part of that is stages of silence, of feeling shelved of incubation, where it's just you and Bold School playing on video, where you're learning, and you're practicing skills in your studio, all alone with no one, you know, praising you in galleries. Um, it, sometimes that's a season of silence, where you're just learning. Other times, the season of silence is where I get the chance to speak to a lot of moms of young children who feel that their passions and careers are on hold -- and that's okay. You and I both went through that.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
Yes, long period of silence.
Speaker 1 (12:34):
We both went through times where, you know, in your heart of hearts that you were made to create and made to create big, in big ways, but that your first mission in that moment is to raise up your little ones.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And, they take a lot of time, a lot of nurturing, and a lot of your energy. And at the end of the day, there really isn't much energy to learn skills, and grow yourself as an artist -- that is a season. And that is even what I would call as a season of silence. Which remember, silence is powerful. And it's a season. It would be a season where you feel that you're on the shelf or back burner. And I think Charlae and I are here today to say that that's okay. And that seasons don't last forever., The seasons change. And there's always going to be new. The butterfly doesn't stay in a chrysalis forever. The season is going to change.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
And you can, like, in that season have intention. Like, when it was during the, my season of creating Bold School, what I would say was two to three years before the launch of it, um, it was hearing a talk kind of like this, where they talked about it, that made me stop and consider, I have this moment. I'm not doing everything I want to do. I'm not living the dream or whatever the dream is, but if I can create intention in this moment to do what's needed in this moment, you know, and then, then it becomes important and intentional in your process. And I look back at that now, and I'm so grateful that I had time to read books and listen to podcasts about, about people who had been through these things. I mean, I learned, I read, uh, books about art and creativity, and I read self-help books just simply about how to become a wiser person, and business books about and creating good habits.
Speaker 2 (14:33):
You know, I did all of those things in that season because I had time, and I was able to process and put those things into practice before it got busy. And now I kind of feel like I'm living in almost another season of silence with my own artwork, which we were talking about this just over the weekend with me about in that I'm painting often for Bold School and with our bold artists in mind, what can I share? What can I teach? And I rarely put time in to paint on my own without the cameras on. And it's a little bit of a struggle kind of figuring out what that means, but in an, in a sense, it's a little bit of a season where I'm, I'm figuring out that transition and I'm, I'm doing something in a different way, but it doesn't have to always be this way. You know, with intention, I can use it for good, and I can transition into another season. Um, so I think we're probably always in some way, working in a season of silence to really, when you think about it in that regard.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Yes. Like one area of our life might be in that season while another is in a completely different season. And some of the listeners that are tuning in are in a different season than even what I described as that silence, where you're maturing as an artist, or a mom of young kids, or any of those seasons, perhaps they're in the season that you're in right now, where their business is booming. They're busy artists. And there may be -- this is just some food for thought -- something in you that is in a silent season that it's time to rotate and bring that out. And, and that we always have to be in tune with what's going on in here. And I love it that you're in tune when you texted me on the weekend, and you shared a bit about where you were at with, uh, always having the cameras on. And Charla what you have done starting Bold School,
Speaker 1 (16:29):
I've called it generous. Because even though it's a business, there is a huge outpour of generosity when someone teaches what they have mastered. And it's not always simply to be in business. I mean, that's a big component, but there is, when someone teaches what they've mastered, there is a component where you step into sharing your legacy. And it's not about just all your achievement, It's about content sharing and continuing your legacy. And some don't realize that that's what teachers do. Especially when they click purchase on a class, you know, that's online or something within Bold School, they think, oh, it's just their business, but it's so much more than that. And I know that firsthand from being friends with Charla, it is the pouring out of legacy. And when you create a class or a course that teaches what you've mastered and you had to break it down, like you step out of flow, you're no longer able to just flow in your art.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
You have to step out of that and break down the process into bite size pieces for students, beginners, people who know nothing about it to begin to learn from building blocks, step one, it is such a difficult task for someone who's mastered something to break that all down, and you have done it beautifully. But you've also done it at times with so many cameras on you sacrificing your special times of flow. And just so you all know, as Charla's friend, I'm always encouraging her to paint for herself, and to have those times of flow, as well. Because we hear that over and over again in all of these episodes, like the ones that we, um, proceed this podcast today, artists have said over and over again, paint, what makes you happy; paint for yourself. Paint, because you want to bring that out of you. And, and so that goes for Charla,as well, but there's seasons, and we have to be in tune with these different seasons.
Speaker 2 (18:43):
Yeah. So I guess in that sense, I'm in this place of trying to figure out that season really like in a moment of being vulnerable right now. A few months ago, I painted a piece -- I'd kind of known that this was happening, that I was always painting for our bold artists -- and I hadn't, I was sort of feeling like my work wasn't changing or growing, and what am I going to have to offer if I'm not growing? And, um, so I turned the cameras off and I'm like, I'm just going to go paint, and see what comes out, so I can enter flow. And I can just go into the zone and see what happens. And sure enough, I painted a piece I was really excited about, and I loved, and it felt really good. And then my first thought was, I didn't record it!
Speaker 2 (19:22):
No, one's going to be able to see what I just did, including myself! Like I want to be able to go back and watch that process of what I just did. So it's, it's an interesting play back and forth, I guess, of what's happening. I don't want to turn the cameras off because I want to be able to share it, but I'm missing my own growth, and my own flow, and all of those experiences. So, I think, Marijanel, what you told me over the weekend really resonated. And I have to figure out how to turn the cameras off and not, not feel kind of, I don't know what the word is, not guilt, but a little bit of guilt because I do want to share. I'm not sure what the word is. Not guilt...
Speaker 1 (20:02):
Maybe obligated? Would the word be obligated?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
No, it's, it's a positive word. Like I want, now I want to be able to share. Like, that used to be terrifying -- for the world to be able to look at me, or somebody to watch me paint -- used to be terrifying. It still is. I still don't want to mess up in front of the camera, but I, you know, I love our community, and I'm like, look what I just did, I want to share it with you. Which is fine. I can still share the final piece, but I want to share the process. I don't, I don't know what the word is.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
Maybe one of our listeners will know what the word is. They'll put it on our app, Bold Artist podcasts Instagram portal, because that's all about communication.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yeah. Please tell us what that word is. So, it's that go between like, I, I need to I need to come to a place where I'm okay with painting something and nobody being able to see me do it. And then I need to be okay with painting for the cameras, and it not being a masterpiece every single time because I'm teaching. And there's a little bit of sacrifice in, in the outcome when I'm teaching. So, for me in my space right now, this is kind of where, um, my, what I'm incubating, I guess you could say I'm incubating this. So, by the time I come out of the chrysalis of whatever this is, that I'm learning, um, I'm going to be a better teacher, and a better artist at the same time. So, that's worth, I guess, in a sense, the, the silence, because it does kind of feel like a silencing because I'm not able to be the best teacher I want to be, and I'm not able to be the best artist I want to be. So, I do feel silenced, but it's not a silencing it'sactually growth. And I'm actually coming through something, up through something that I've been in for a few years. And now I'm, I'm, I always like say leveling up. So, I think that, I guess I'm just figuring this all out while we're talking -- on a podcast that we're going to share with the world -- and figuring out that season that I'm in right now.
Speaker 1 (21:58):
I love it. I love it that you're vulnerable enough to share it, and let us all witness you, figuring it out. And I'm thinking about like, when you talked about that season, that... and doing it with intention -- being intentional within the season -- uh, and how it's almost like, it's like a dam that's going to break. And we did a, my husband and I did a road trip last week. And we were driving past the dam, and I hadn't really given it much thought of, like, the purpose of a dam, or how they get so full, and then they, they let it loosen -- it all rushes out. And you know, that season of silence can be like that filling up of that reservoir where it's so full and you feel the pressure. And I think that's you right now, you're feeling that pressure where you're like,
Speaker 1 (22:43):
I. Need. Time. Like, concentrated time,, in my flow as an artist, almost like in the secret place, in order to bring out that new, um, work to Bold School. And, and it's like the filling up of the dam, and it's going to let loose, and I can't wait to see what it is. It's so exciting. I love, I have loved watching you... I wouldn't even call it pivot, but there are things that you have changed through the years in your art and even how you added embroidery. Um, that's a whole topic that we've never even covered in a podcast, but you not only do these bold color, masterful portraits, but you add an element of embroidery, which is something that is very rare. Like, I don't know that I've met or seen another artist doing what you're doing. And if you don't know what I'm referring to, do go onto charla.ca and take a look at Charla's portfolio in closer detail. 'Cause you show close-up pictures of the embroidery that you do on canvas. But Charla, even that? The time, and the patience, and the artistry it took to develop that into your work is something totally new. And I know it came out of a secret place of silence, like something like that, just...
Speaker 2 (24:00):
It was, yeah.
Speaker 1 (24:00):
Yeah. So tell us a little about that.
Speaker 2 (24:02):
Yeah, like, I went, I had to go in back into incubation. There's gotta be another word for it, because only one, a caterpillar only ever becomes a butterfly once. But, I don't know what goes back in, and there's a metamorphosis all the time. But, I remember that process without... Usually I go into that space without even realizing I'm going into it. You only kind of realize you're in there about halfway through, and then you realize if you break out of it, something's going to be broken. Um, so you got to run with it in that moment. Um, which I guess is a lot about risking courage and bravery that we always like to talk about, but I just, uh, wanted to explore embroidery. I started seeing something on, I started seeing embroidery artists come up on my Instagram feed. I don't know why, I didn't research it.
Speaker 2 (24:47):
I didn't look up, I didn't look it up. They just came and something about it, just old fashioned embroidery just spoke to my soul. It was like a chocolate cake, you know, I just wanted to eat it. And I used to like, like it, and bookmark it. And then I started searching for more. I'm like, why do I like this? And then, um, I was like, I'm not going to become, I'm not going to do embroidery. My husband's going to kill me. Like, he already thinks I'm crazy 'cause I'm painting and wondering where's this going? 'Cause it was quite a few years ago, and I'm like, I'm going to do embroidery. But, I couldn't find a good reason to -- it was so time consuming. It wasn't expensive, but it's a time consuming art form. And what in the world am I going to do with embroidery?
Speaker 2 (25:30):
Like, is this even an art? So, I was researching it and finding some incredible embroidery artists, especially for some reason, I think a lot of the ones I would find would be in Asia, like Singapore and Beijing. I couldn't even understand what they were writing, but their work just incredible. Anyways, I was so inspired, and it was right before Christmas. So, I got this idea that I could reasonably go out, buy all of this stuff and make, like, Christmas gifts or Christmas ornaments or whatever. 'Cause, you can do whatever you want at Christmas, right? So, I went out, and I got all the gear, and me and my kids started embroidering Christmas ornaments. And, I just had so much fun. I just absolutely loved it. I started learning 3D embroidery and adding beads to it. And um, once I started to actually do the art form and go into a place of flow and inspiration, um, things started bubbling up, ideas started bubbling up, and I started thinking, you know, I'm holding a canvas in my head and embroidering into it.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
Why can't I embroider onto my painting canvases? And I was too scared to do it. So, I started Googling, what do people do with embroidery? And I found some really amazing things, but I found not one person who embroidered onto a painting. I just, I tried every which way. And I researched for months and could not find it. I found people who embroidered onto photography, um, embordered into clothing. And some people would put color onto their clothing or embroider over top of like a printed photo or something like that. But I didn't find anything where they were doing it with acrylic. And I just thought, I'm just going to do it myself. I'm just going to do it. So, I found an old painting that I wasn't in love with, and I thought, well, if I ruin this one it;s not a big deal. So ,I grabbed my needle and thread and I put some thread and punctured the canvas and put some thread on it.
Speaker 2 (27:22):
And that was the beginning of everything. So, it became a definite period of incubation because I had to kind of go down into this place, and I didn't tell anybody what I was doing except my kids, and my mom was watching me. And I just explored, I guess. And even when I put it onto canvas, I didn't post about it. I didn't share it with friends, nothing until I kind of had something more solid in mind of how I was going to present this work. So it was definitely a period of, of learning and growth and, and silence and incubation. But it was, uh, for lack of better words, it was beautiful, and freeing, and you know, there was no expectation from anybody, and it didn't matter what I did. You know, now when I'm embroidering, I'm like, okay, this is a big canvas, it's a big piece of work. I'm going to present this. People are expecting it. Now, there's more pressure behind it. But in that time it was just a beautiful experience of learning and exploring and growth. And that was great. And it's kind of nice to look forward to in the future, kind of doing that again. But right now I'm not doing that at all.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
I love hearing that story. I, I mean, as your friend I've seen that, like you said, you didn't tell anyone what you were doing. So, the thread on your canvases began to pop up in your new pieces. But I never heard the full story of, you know -- you and I talked about it -- but never in that whole, you know, fullness of the story. So it's, it's really neat to hear and how it came out of that place of silence. It came out of that desire to explore and find something new. And also, what intrigues me about it is how we first get the spark of an idea. Like, on your Instagram feed up pops these ideas, and there's something sparked in you. And I've always been one in my, in my own art forms, I really try to pay attention to that spark. That, that thing that turns my head, that I go, oh, I'd like to try that. Or, I'm interested in that or that texture. You know, just thinking it probably caught your attention, the texture of the, of the thread, the colors of the thread, the silkiness like who knows, who knows what actually sparked you, but you paid attention to that. And then you followed it like a bunny on a trail. You just followed all of the leads that, that was,
Speaker 2 (29:46):
It was a bunny. Actually the first one was a little, little tiny bunny with flowers all around. So old fashioned. Yeah. But you also have to be careful because that happens every day. I see stuff that just sparks and I, you know, yeah,
Speaker 1 (30:03):
I know.
Speaker 2 (30:03):
Yeah, you know, you know, you multiform artist, you.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
We were talking, we were talking just before we hit record this morning, we were talking about the distractions because, uh, when Charla and I communicate, it often sounds like, you know, good, intelligent talking and, oh, there's a pigeon outside. I've never seen a pigeon at my house before.
Speaker 2 (30:22):
May have happened yesterday
Speaker 1 (30:24):
that may have happened a few times. And there was some other bird outside or a spider. There was a spider. And so
Speaker 2 (30:31):
It was a wood pecker yesterday, the wood pecker.
Speaker 1 (30:34):
Yes. So, and yeah, it's, it's that we get easily distracted with our creative minds. And I do have, you know... And that's the thing about these social media feeds popping up things that they think you're going to find interesting because you do find them interesting, and then it sends you down that bunny trail. I try to really, uh, stay the course, put the blinders on and do what I'm doing. But the sparks, the sparks are important to pay attention.
Speaker 2 (31:03):
They are. Like, for a year or two years, I've been kind of secretly obsessed with aerial views of the land. I don't know what this means, and I've not really even talked about it with anybody before. And what this podcast is doing to me. But, I've been really obsessed with them, especially there's embroidery artists who embroider landscapes from an aerial view, I'm hitting my mic. Um, and I just, I, I love them. So I'm bookmarking these, and I'm looking at them all the time. I have, I've sort of played around with a few ideas, but it's not come to anything in my art. So what I've done, um, it's just, it's, it's not, I didn't, haven't laid them aside. I haven't laid that aside. I follow it. And every once in a while, if I want to be inspired, I literally go and look at aerial photography and just see some incredible, beautiful, it's very abstract, very colorful, and I bookmarks some stuff.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
And I think about what I might do with it. But I, and it's probably been about two years that I've been obsessed with this. And I'm, I'm waiting for that breakthrough moment where I, I know what I'm going to do with it, or I know what it means for me, I'm guessing in my artwork. Um, I right now currently have no clue what that means, but I know that it's something that I've had a spark with for a long time. So, I know that it's, it's important. It's not just a whim. 'Cause I love just about every piece of art that comes across my feed, but this is something that always gets my attention. So, it's a good example of like a beginning of something and, and the patience and giving it the space and the time that it needs. It's not bubbling and breaking forth yet. It's still just kind of sitting down there and ruminating, I guess. Um, and maybe one day, it'll all come out, and it'll all make sense, and it'll seem easy. But I think that's just an example of where a beginning could be, and not to necessarily rush and grab that and do something with it before it's really time. Because there's other things you probably could be doing right now instead that are more important in your process.
Speaker 1 (33:11):
Yeah. I love how you talked about it. Ruminating. And I think in my life when people see me step into something new and fresh, because I have had a lot of pivots, a lot of changes in my art, and uh, through the years, like not just in short periods of times, but over the years, people will say, well, well, when did that happen? Or when did you become a podcaster? And, it's hard to explain to them, well, these things have been going on for years, but they're just not public. They're just brewing on -- ruminating -- on the inside. And, and that is a really important part of the creative process that I think people overlook. They know what... They don't, um, take into much account all that's stirring on their insight and where that will eventually lead when the time is right, as you mentioned. And this just got me thinking that it's like, I need to text Ryan. Like, Hey Ryan, Charla needs a drone for Christmas.
Speaker 2 (34:09):
I've come so close to buying a drone so many times, but I have not done it yet.
Speaker 1 (34:14):
Yeah, no, maybe you never know, just wait for the holiday. Um, but that would be perfect for you. You're obsessed with aerial views. Uh, so yeah, no, definitely. We have to pay attention to those sparks because as artists, it's important for us to be pulling and drawing on those inspirations, even if we're just funneling it into our current art form. You know, we are current mastered skill or the skill that you're mastering. Even if you can draw those inspirations in somehow, just like you demonstrated in beginning to do embroidery on your acrylic pieces. That's a perfect example of how it doesn't have to take us down completely different rabbit trails, two completely different art forms like Marijanelle does sometimes, but we could try to figure out how to make it work for what we're currently mastering. When I've spoken before about that balance we need between practicing what we're mastering and play -- so practice and play, practice and play; it's like a balance. That play is anything that sparks us. And we bring in that spark into our play. We experiment. And then what happens is you end up with something that takes your art, your mastered art, to a whole other level like Charla's embroidery. It's something so rare, not a lot of artists are doing it -- and watch, you're going to have requests. You might, you might need to have a new Bold School course.
Speaker 2 (35:40):
Well, there's some people in our community have been putting embroidery in their art now.
Speaker 1 (35:45):
Oh, there you go. Because they follow you. So, you'll have to launch that course. So, we'll have to see what happens after this podcast. But anyway, just encouragement that whatever sparks your interest and even if it's not physically possible to fully carry out the bigness of what you would love, you can start it in ways in small ways, begin to apply it into what you're working in now. And, uh, and just remember that everything has a season, everyone has seasons. And this is part of the process of becoming. We have our times on the shelf, our time of incubation as Charla calls it. And so, we're excited here at the Bold Artist podcast to see you through, not just the season of this podcast, but the seasons of your life as an artist. And to share our seasons of artistry has been a privilege. So, thank you everyone. Yes. Thank you for joining us today. Charla, any closing words?
Speaker 2 (36:46):
Yeah. I'm just going to close with saying that. I always say, when all else fails, I'll just do it when I'm retired, when I'm 80. Because most people say, well, I'm going to paint when I'm retired. Like, what am I going to do when I retire and painting as my career? So I'm going to sculpt when I retire, I'm going to quilt when I retire, all those things that I really wish I had time to do. It's when all else fails, it might seem a little bit far away in the future, but it will come. So, I'll just do it when I retire, which means, I'm never, ever going to retire, but I'll just do it when I'm 80.
Speaker 1 (37:15):
I know. I can't imagine that you will retire. I can't imagine what that would look like for either of us really.
Speaker 2 (37:21):
Are we ever going to give it up? So, that's my closing remark.
Speaker 1 (37:26):
Yes. Thank you for joining us today on theBold Artist podcast. We're so happy to have you all here. You can watch on the Bold School YouTube channel and listen on all available podcast apps, particularly Spotify, Google, and Apple. We're right there if you search Bold Artist podcast. Hit subscribe, follow us, leave a review. We're so happy to hear from you. The @boldartistpodcast on Instagram is a portal where you can send us messages. You can even send us a voice memo in the DM and ask us questions in person like your own little podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Bye for now, everyone
Speaker 3 (38:30):
[inaudible].
