Welcome back to The Inspired Artist.
Each Friday, we explore identity, creativity, and the way who you are influences what you create. Then you'll receive a new mixed-media printable to spark your creativity.
Your Business Will Show You Who You’re BEing
I’m writing this from the Pinners Conference, where I’m here with two of my coaching clients. There are thousands of people here, and we came because getting your products in front of that many people can create opportunities for your business that you simply cannot create from home.
But being here also gives you an opportunity to see how you are BEing in your business.
Last week, we talked about self-concept and the ideas you have accepted about who you are. Those ideas influence your business because you are the person making the decisions inside of it.
The way you see yourself sets parameters around the way you operate your business. You make decisions from what already feels appropriate for someone like you, which means your current identity can continue influencing the business even as your vision for it grows. Eventually, there can be a gap between the business you say you want and who you are BEing while you build it.
Then you do something that interrupts your usual experience of yourself.
For my clients this week, that means bringing their products to Pinners and putting them in front of thousands of people. They have to show up and talk about what they’ve created with people who have no previous relationship with them or their businesses.
Now they have an experience that their old self-concept didn’t have before. They have seen themselves do it.
This is one of the reasons experience matters so much in identity work. You can think about becoming someone for a very long time. The moment you experience yourself BEing that person, you have something new to build your identity from.
This is where identity becomes real. You can have a goal for your business and know exactly what you want to create, but at some point you have to be brave enough to take the action that moves you toward it.
Coming to Pinners required my clients to do that. They committed to being here and put their work in front of thousands of people. By taking that action, they gave themselves the chance to grow their businesses while also seeing themselves differently.
Courage isn’t something you wait to have before you move. It develops through the experience of doing the thing that asks more of you. Each time you act, you expand your experience of who you are and what you know you can do.
That’s how who you are BEing begins to change.
From Anaconda Art: Alcohol Ink Kits
I’ve recently added something new to Anaconda Art that I’m really excited about. I’ve teamed up with Pam Morgan Studio to bring her alcohol ink kits into the shop.
Alcohol inks are incredibly fun to create with because the inks move and interact in ways that make every piece unique. Pam has taken her experience as an alcohol ink artist and created kits that make it easy to sit down and start creating.
Each kit includes a curated color palette and the materials you’ll need for the project, along with step-by-step video instruction from Pam. You get to learn how the inks work while creating a finished piece of art of your own.
If you’ve been curious about alcohol inks or want to experiment with a new palette or surface, you can find the Pam Morgan Studio Alcohol Ink Kits at Anaconda Art using the link directly below.
