I've been thinking all week about what to share with you. The pieces I'm creating are so new and developing that they need time to take root.Like any newly planted seed there is a huge amount of nurturing, effort and time that is needed for this tiny seed to start its growth....
My thoughts and story about my relationship to art, have been featured on Crescendoh. Head over there for an interesting read....
these wind whispers shall be winging their ways to these 7 peeps! Thanks so much for all your loving comments, truly they make the journey worthwhile...
I had some girly time recently and watched Burlesque and throughly enjoyed it.I loved the costumes and generally felt entertained. I'm a Cher fan and I loved Moulin Rogue so I figured I'd enjoy this one.And lets face it there is nothing like escaping into some sequins and stilettos for a while...
After this visual feast of textures and glamor I felt totally inspired and surfed the web until I found Bibian Blue, fashion designer from Barcelona...edgy, feminine and a little burlesque.
Encouragement, validation and acceptance for my creativity and myself, is what I found in my Textile teacher. She stretched me and my ideas and challenged me to be more than I thought I ever could. She believed in me and I felt alive and awake, thriving in her presence. It was a time I believed in the possibility of everything and that everything was possible. That year I topped the state with my final year marks for Textiles.
The upside of this amazing year was a feeling of being filled and fulfilled, blissful in a time where I really needed to believe in myself and my direction … I was 17 and I felt I could do anything in the creative world.
However the Universe had some tough love lessons for me..
Since then, I’ve spent a lot of time trying to find that full feeling of external validation for who I am and my creativity. Universal experience has been a firm handed teacher with many life lessons over the years. Looking back I can see how reliant I was comments from others about my art and how this shaped my direction, trying to seek their approval and acceptance for validation.
Finally I came to the realization that I’m not able to gain that fullness of validation from any other individual: not my parents, nor my partner, not my children, friends, university lecturers, clients or even strangers. I now know that relying on external validation is a gamble at best. True validation is definitely an inside job! It comes from doing the work, refining my skills, knowing I am doing the best I can at the time, with no comparisons to anyone else and telling myself “Well Done”. It’s a way I can fill my heart regardless of anyone’s opinion.
Truly I am grateful for what I learnt about myself in that year. My kind hearted teacher gave me a kick start in a life lesson about self validation. I got to feel how amazing validation is at its fullest, what huge achievements I can reach when I believe in myself and what I’m creating, and what happens when I stretch beyond what I think I can do. Thank you KB, you gave me a wonderful gift.
Dearest Oprah,
It is true that you have kept me company in my art studio over the years. Listening and watching whilst drawing, gluing and painting. There was no better way for me to fill my soul. This was when I felt the connection to my best Self.
There were days when your knowledge and wisdom gave me exactly what I needed to unlock the next part of my journey. Truly, synchronicity at its best. You gave me confirmation I was on the ‘right’ track, the tools and the words to help me become the person I dream I can be.
Whilst watching your last show it did indeed feel like you were sitting in my lounge room, telling me I have an important job to do and that I need to get on with it. That my dream is worth pursuing ….because I am worth it.
Deep within my heart I know I have something special to share, a purpose beyond my own. Through my art I see others connecting to the best part of themselves…
My vision for my art is for it to reach deep inside of someone, to awaken a part of them. To connect with that special something rising inside. A heartfelt connection. It might be a feeling of being loved, a special memory returns or inspiration to make some changes in their life. Maybe it’s about just feeling so damn good about who they are that they want to keep looking, feeling…
Thank you for encouraging me to be my true soul filled self. This is who I was meant to be. And thank you for always being there when I needed you most, with the words I most needed to hear…like a true friend holding my hand, telling me “Yes, you can”.
Oprah, thank you for being all that you can be….you inspire me to be all that I can be. Truly.
With much heartfelt love
Nic Hohn
yes I emailed this to Oprah and yes I got a reply. both from O and the Universe...and I am working on being my best possible creative self I can be.
* here's some more O reading from Liv + Michelle Ward
How did your creative story begin?
I was only very young when I started to create. My mum used to belong to the CWA (country women’s association) so she was always making things. That’s when I started to sew a lot at the start, then it just took off from there.
How did you come to be creating the art that you are?
I love that you create with recycled elements, how do you go about sourcing these?
How do know when a “find” has the potential to be something more?
It's a feeling when I find that piece it just stands out to me I have to have it. Sometimes it might be a object that I can put a picture in it, I never pay big money for them, they are usually someones junk, my treasure.
You live in
I have no arty friends where I live, an artist waste land. I always joke about it. I travel to Melbourne a lot so I try and catch up with my arty friends when I can. I also travel to teach Brisbane and Perth so I keep in contact with my friends when I teach. I have made lots of wonderful friends when I travel, we all share a passion of art. I also keep in contact on line with Blogs and facebook. My main friends are Arty People.
What motivates you to create your art?
One of the piece's Jen's teaching @ Art + Soul
One of your all time dreams has become a reality and your teaching at Art & Soul,
I'm so thrilled to finally reach this goal. In my art life it has been a dream for such along time. I would love to do a book one day, but we will see. I just want to share my knowledge with others, that’s what it is all about, sharing what you love.
Jen + Keith LoBue
What or who has inspired you in your creative journey?
In my early years I must say my mum did inspire me, as the years went on, a lot of my arty friends inspired me.Julie Van Oosten for my love of paper, Christine Atkins really inspires me to try even harder in my art and Linda Lynch inspire me in Life and art.
I have had the opportunity to take some amazing classes with American tutors who have travelled to
What, if any challenges do you find living + creating in
And a little more about Jen...
Jen lives in Miners Rest, a small country town in
Jen has no official degrees in the art field. She's mainly a self-taught mixed media artist. When she first started, she was interested in paper art, vintage styles (of course), and the love of metal and paper. Combining the two together became an obsession. Naturally the next step was jewerly, but Jen still combines the paper elements that she loves.
Jen's been published in many Australian paper arts magazines and published several times in Somerset Studio and Belle Armoire Jewerly and she's been teaching her art for over twenty years now, travelling through out
Jen welcomes visits to www.amarkintime.blogspot.com and www.amarkintime.com
