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Episode Summary: In this episode, host Kate Shepherd interviews Wisconsin based Juliette Crane, a painter, writer, and creative educator, with international recognition and thousands of collectors, customers, and students.
Juliette shares pivotal moments along her creative journey and the difficult circumstances that led her to rediscover and her passion for art. They discuss Juliette's creative journey, her connection to creativity, the themes in her artwork, and the importance of embracing creativity to heal and thrive in life. Juliette shares her experiences, challenges, and insights that have shaped her artistic path and offers valuable advice for aspiring artists.
Highlights - What We Talk About:
-What she did when she was fired from her job via an email. And how it led her back to the true artist she always was.
-The incredible, movie-like moment involving hundreds of butterflies that she took as a sign that she had to make a change in her life.
-How the creative process helps Juliette process the world around her and tell stories through her art.
-The connection between healing and creativity in Juliette's life.
-How she overcame false beliefs and societal dysfunctions by reactivating and trusting her inner creative intelligence.
-Juliette's inspiration, intuition, and how she communicates with creativity.
Episode Notes: Juliette Crane, a renowned painter, writer, and creative educator from Wisconsin, shares her creative journey, themes in her artwork, and the connection between creativity and healing. She emphasizes the importance of embracing creativity to overcome false beliefs and societal dysfunctions. Juliette talks about her struggles and challenges on her artistic path and the role of intuition in her creative process.
To learn more about Juliette Crane and her artwork, visit her Instagram (@juliettecrane) and her website. Juliette offers courses and workshops to help artists get unstuck and unlock their creativity. Take a step towards nurturing your creativity and explore the magic of art with Juliette Crane.
Stay Connected: Follow me on Instagram (@kateshepherdcreative) or by subscribing to the newsletter
My sign off message for you from the edge of the end of Season 2
I am so grateful you are here and that we are doing this together - thank you for being here, making time for yourself and your creativity. Please take time to rest during the summer; experiment, play and make some time to re-listen to some episodes of the show, you will be amazed by what you catch the second time around. And join the Patreon community to access bonus episodes, activity prompts, and connect with fellow artists, I think you will wonder why you didn't do it sooner!
If you long to express creativity freely but believe you are not good enough or lack the creativity within you, remember this: creativity is the intelligence that animates the entire universe, and it already lives and breathes within you. Embrace play, break the rules, and discover the magic already inside you.
I'll be back in September with more inspiring interviews and stories of creativity. See you then!
FULL TRANSCRIPT
Hello to you? My sweet, wonderful creative genius friends. I am sitting here in my kitchen, preparing to take a much needed rest. For the summer, I always take August off. To give myself a little bit of a break, and I'm feeling all kinds of feelings about this being the very last official episode of season two.
Of the creative genius podcast. It seems like just yesterday that I had this lightning bolt moment where the universe grabbed me by the heart and said,
you need to stop everything and start a podcast about. How humanity's glitching because we are disconnected from creativity. And to inspire as many people as we can to reconnect with this. Gorgeous. Beautiful. Infinite, deep wise, loving, playful, fun. Abundant did I say that already? And her G.
That is all around us. That is actually us. And I did. I listened to it and started the show and it's been an amazing journey. I feel like I've gotten to know so many of you over these last two years, and it's a real honor to host this show. So I wanted to just take a minute and thank you for, for listening and for sharing the show with your friends and loved ones.
And to every single guest that I have had the honor and privilege of interviewing on this show. opening up your heart and being vulnerable and sharing your story And a lot of the times sharing the things you don't know and haven't figured out yet. Has been amazing for all of us. So to every single guest that's joined us. Thank you.
So we will be back in September. . I have some incredibly inspiring people lined up for September already. But if you can't wait a need your creative fix . Or find that listening to the show is kind of the lifeline or the support you need to keep going with your creativity.
You have a couple options the first one would be to join the Patrion. I'm going to continue the bonus episodes throughout the summer. you don't know this already in between regular episodes, I do private episodes for the Patrion community. And these often include musings about things I'm learning or roadblocks I've come up against and how I'm dealing with them.
I also provide activity prompts and journal worksheets, and guided meditations. there's often a really wonderful conversation about some of the things that we're doing in the creative genius family. Which is a private Facebook group that you can request to join, even if you're not a Patrion yet. All you have to do is go to patrion.com/creative genius podcast. And that's P a T R E O N slash creative genius podcast. There's also links to the Patrion in my Instagram at Kate Sheppard, creative. And of course in the show notes on Kate Sheppard, creative.com.
So I encourage you to do those things to tide you over throughout the summer. You can also go back over past episodes and listen to the ones that you missed. And if there are none that you missed. Go back and listen to your favorites.
And then take a minute to send a message to a couple of guests or even just one guest. That said something that really spoke to your heart. Often I'll hear from a guest and sometimes it's months or even a year or more later. Saying, I just got the most amazing email from one of your listeners and it really made my day and I think we can often sort of pedestal people who we think are in these sort of high profile positions in a lot of our artists that we have on the show.
Have big followings or have done really impressive and amazing things. And it's easy to think of. Well, I couldn't, I couldn't reach out to them. And in fact, one of the reasons that I hand select every single person that appears as a guest on this show. Is because I had a deep sense. Of what a. Humanly human. They were, and I have not been wrong yet.
I don't think there's a single guest that's appeared on this show. That wouldn't be absolutely delighted to hear from you. And I I'm scratching my head, trying to think of. If there's anybody who, who you might not hear back from, I don't think there is. , if you're feeling called to send a message to a guest,
Do it because they love it. And that's a wonderful way to connect. Even more deeply with somebody that said something that affected you. Changed your life.
To close out season two. We have a guest that I'm extremely excited about. I've been trying to get her on the show. I think since before I even launched the first episode and her schedule was really busy and we couldn't make things line up until now. I'm talking about Juliet cream.
Some of, you may know, Juliette from her magical fantastical portrait series that she does. She does these really beautiful faces. Maybe while you're listening to this, if it's safe, just pull up her Instagram right now.
It's at Juliet crane, C R a N E. Juliet's one of those magical people and she has an incredible connection, deep, deep connection to creativity. And it's why I wanted to talk to her. I wanted to find out. More about how that happened and what were the ups and the downs. And what was her big moment? Did she have a big moment when she realized that she had to dedicate her life to creativity, and we talk about all those things.
She started off painting on pizza boxes or whatever. She could get her hands on at home.
And we talk about how.
Sometimes the drive to create. Once we realize what we love to do. We start to get these ideas about how it has to look. And how we can kind of become. Sort of stressed out pushing ourselves to create. And that's from a place of ego and that can push us into places where we actually lose ourselves rather than find ourselves. And it's a subtle thing that happens.
But we can find ourselves at the bottom of a tailspin really quickly from it. So we talk about that. How to recognize that, how to look for the signs of what the signs are and what to do about it. If that has happened to you, because it's never too late to get yourself back into a pure version of creativity.
Juliette shares so much with us today from the novel that she's working on and the up and down road that that journey has taken her on. What she does when something really big is on her mind to help her process that.
And I loved, she talks about how she brings an element of meditation , into her daily walks that I thought was really accessible. And it's a really good idea that I'm going to try doing. I think you might really like that too. It's a simple thing, but it's, it's really changed her whole perspective.
It sounds like it's really supercharged her levels of inspiration. And it helps her keep seeing the little things which helps us to stay connected to all of that.
She also shares with us, how, even though she wasn't raised by people who were gently compassionate with themselves, or maybe even her with her creativity. How she learned how to become a gently compassionate person with herself.
And steward her creativity into being so that she can bring these magical. Images and.
Ideas. To life in the world that we live in Juliette is an absolutely beautiful human. It was a privilege to talk to her. What a wonderful way to send us off the end of season two. And into the rest of our summer. Here's my conversation with Juliet.
Kate Shepherd:
Juliet, I'm so happy to meet you. Thank you so much for coming.
Track 1: Thank you for having me. I'm so excited to be here
Kate Shepherd: I think we feel like we've been planning this for about 18 months and
the day is finally here.
Yeah,
Track 1: It's so nice to connect with you.
Kate Shepherd: me too. You're a painter and a writer and a creative educator, and I, I know you're in Wisconsin, but for some reason when I first found out about you, I feel like I had you in like England or Australia,
and then you said that happens too a lot.
Track 1: I have no idea why. I have some English, ancestry, but, um, a lot of people think that, I live in England, which is kind of strange. I don't know if it has something to do with my art. Like I'm, I'm definitely very influenced by like, kind of all I watch is BBC tv and especially old crime shows and
I love that stuff. the hairstyles that I often paint are very much like renaissance style and that sort of feel.
Kate Shepherd: I wonder if that's it that Totally, because I was really trying to get to the bottom of that, cuz like for a, like for the first six months where I was trying to get you on the show, I was like, I just kept thinking
Track 1: Mm-hmm. ? Mm-hmm.
Kate Shepherd: England, England, That's so funny. I
love your paintings so much. I love your artwork so much
and I know that I'm not the only one.
I know you have thousands of collectors and customers and students all over the world, and your work has been featured in Glamour magazine and oprah.com and you've published five of your own books.
Track 1: Yes.
Kate Shepherd: I just
think it's amazing. You're amazing, you're a
creative powerhouse. I was thinking maybe for the person who hasn't discovered you yet, if you could tell us a little bit more about your work.
Like, I know I love the, I love what you just gave us around the, the hairstyles and stuff like that, but what is the energy of it and what's behind it?
Track 1: Yeah, so, I stopped painting for years after college. Like I've always loved art and I just sort of didn't know. It was just like it's in me and I have to express myself and I love walking in nature and being in nature and then sort of taking the magical elements of nature and putting that into art.
I had started doing some writing projects and that burned me out. And I ended up then going back to painting, in my early thirties to renew my spirit again. I had been painting before but never characters. I always painted abstracts, like super, super colorful abstracts that's how the painting started was with this base layer of an abstract, super colorful on canvas or Masonite board, or originally I was painting on pizza boxes, like whatever I had around I would paint on and just kind of like my processes laying lots of stuff out in front of me with lots of supplies, whatever they are.
If it's inks, acrylics, I've experimented with oils and colored pencils, sort of anything I have because I've always collected art supplies and. Have never really felt like there's a right or a wrong. I just sort of layer it and see what happens. And once I started doing these, abstracts, like for the first layers, I felt like I wasn't attached to the painting.
So I decided to start drawing faces and these characters. And once I started drawing these faces, then it was like it was a mirror for myself. Like I could see my own feelings and my own story in the painting. And then as the painting evolves, it's kind of like it's major therapy. Like I'm just sort of going through my own personal story and narrative that I might be telling myself.
And then it's like the painting is reflecting those feelings back to me and then helping me evolve as I paint. So I might go from, um, feeling like really crazy and stifled, and that's how. The character and the woman that I'm painting looks, and then I get to kind of just, ah, no, I wanna breathe more. So I really even out the background, even out her skin, maybe make her hair wilder, you, know, like whatever I need to express, I put into that painting, and then that's how it evolves.
And then each painting evolves from there,
Kate Shepherd: can you remember, and cuz I think this is such a fascinating thread that, that goes across artists from almost all walks of life and all veins of creativity. Looking back when you were a kid, how did art show up for you and how did, can you see your current
paintings now in your things that you were drawn to when you were little?
Track 1: I always loved magic and nature, I was just always super whimsical out in the woods, playing, you know, I'd like. Using my imagination to play or then taking art supplies and a sketchbook out into the grass And just coloring or dripping watercolors. That was one of the things I used to do was lay out a bunch of paper on the ground and just drip and splatter watercolors when I was six years old because it was so fun.
I just love color and I love to see what would happen. And then, you know, if you're outside, it's like the color can just drip off the paper or you can pick it up and then like, let the color, or make the color drip and drip onto another piece and see what happens. And so that's kind of always been my creative process is to just explore and experiment and see what happens.
I also did a lot of,
cards I used to make. I had like a card shop when I was. Five or six years old with like, in order for him, and I took it to my neighbors and I had these different, you know, like you could have me write Happy Birthday on it or what, Merry Christmas or whatever you wanted me to write on it.
Thank you. And then I had like a few different, um, one was a panda bear that I would draw and then like another one was like a balloon drawing or something. I would take it. to the neighbors and to my family and stuff and be like, can I make a card for You
and you can pay me for it,
I mean, they were cute, you know, it was like a little panda bear holding balloons and stuff for
Kate Shepherd: who doesn't love a kid coming to your house asking you to buy their art?
Like, I mean, it might be different if you or I were to do it now in the neighborhood,
but as grownups,
maybe not. I don't
Track 1: a long time ago. people, you just, you know, you. lived right close to our neighbors and we would just always, get together with them and stuff. So going over there wasn't weird or anything like that. It was kind of like an extension of the family.
Kate Shepherd: Yeah. I love that about Mar our neighborhood's like that right now. And I
Track 1: That's really nice.
Kate Shepherd: My kids right now are working on this thing that we've, we live on the corner of this very suburban tree filled. We're like four, four streets from the forest line. Like we live close to the wilderness, but it's a very suburban neighborhood.
Lots of families. There's lots of like foot traffic, people walk in their dogs outside around. We live on the corner. And my, I'm, I'm an introvert. My son is a super extrovert and like, loves people the way that I love art supplies. Like, he
just thinks people are treasures. And from the time he was tiny, he would hang out over at the balcony of, of, you know, off the kitchen and he would, he knew all the na he knew like the old, the 70 year old
guy.
Oh, Ken, how's it going down the way? And so Everybody knows Cosmo and his sister Elvie. And they're working on this thing right now called the Corner Store. We, we reclaimed this piece of furniture like from our buy Nothing group,
and we're building it into this lemonade stand and they've painted it and they're gonna sell poems and they're gonna sell face
tattoos like hand, you know,
I just think there's something magic about it.
I watch the things that they love now and I'm trying to kind of store them away
so that when they get a little bit older I can say to them, well this is what you loved when you were a kid.
If that's any, if that's any help to you because I think we forget it. And you, you mentioned a minute ago that you sort of journeyed away from your creativity for a while and I wanted to go back to that and ask you what that was about for you.
Track 1: As I graduated high school, went away to college. Nobody necessarily told me that I couldn't keep playing or keep doing art. I just assumed I was going to go to college to study biology and, you.
know, be an environmental biologist and I just could not stay away from the art room, thank goodness.
Like that was the thing that brought me joy I had a giant piece of paper in my dorm room that I did these crazy abstracts on, and then I had this white cabinet in my dorm room and I was like, I'm just gonna paint with color pencils on that. And I couldn't not do it yet. I still didn't do it as a career and that really made my mental health.
I didn't know it at the time, but I'm much happier now. Being able to consistently express myself and feed that part of myself. I was really, really, really like keeping that part of myself down because it felt like I didn't fit in when I was that super creative spirit.
Kate Shepherd: When I first started this show, it was because I saw very clearly in like an epiphany moment that as a whole, humanity is glitching because of this. That disconnect that
you're talking about between us and creativity, and it isn't just like a, oh, it's a nice fluffy thing to say about art and creativity.
It's important. Like actually, I feel like it is the intelligence that's animating the universe and we, when we try to shove it down, it's almost like kinking a garden hose. Like it
just starts to leak out in weird ways
and you get holes in things and it doesn't, so what ha what happened for you
Track 1: Well, I know that I was, I just tried different jobs and jobs that didn't fit and I, because they were jobs, I'm not a job person at all. Like in terms of a nine to five or being in an office. My first job out of college was, working at a newspaper and it was an arts and entertainment newspaper, I thought I can like get into arts writing and be an arts journalist and, and report on, gallery exhibitions, music concerts and stuff like that.
Theater, which was great, but that only fed like 1% of that part of me. But I didn't know that until I kept doing it for a while and going into that office every morning that just completely stomped my soul down.
there were fluorescent lights above my desk and this metal desk, and so I hung these like scarves up above me. everybody knew I was like the weirdo in the office, but everyone would always be attracted to my desk at the same time because they also, needed that to come out in themselves, which has kind of always been my purpose or my role in a lot of situations.
I definitely was like, okay, I can't keep, hiding this part of myself and I would just take longer and longer lunch breaks and I would go outside whenever I could. I remember one lunch break I was sitting on this like back stoop and there was a meadow in front of me next to the building and all of a sudden, like all these monarch butterflies started coming around me and it was this magical moment where I just was like, I knew I shouldn't be in inside that office building.
I knew my place was with these monarchs and near the flowers and the meadow. I just didn't know how to make that jump , but I knew that was where my happiness was. And so I just kept jumping from job to job, in different cities as life progressed to try and get closer and closer to it.
I ended up doing web design for a while. I did like programming then I ended up in a flower shop and that was definitely like, Fabulous. But it was still inside, but at least I was like working with flowers and plants. So it Was like each little thing taught me, , how to be a little bit closer to what I loved.
Kate Shepherd: Was there a moment when, I mean, I love the butterfly moment. That's magical.
it sounds like that wasn't the moment where you were like, okay, I have to actually do something about this now. for some people it is like black and white, like, Quitting my job tomorrow I have to do this.
And for other people it's a little bit more gradual. Was there another moment that came after that where you realized, you know what, I actually really do have to dedicate myself to a creative path. cuz I hear a lot of people talking about like, there was a moment when I, when there was a decision was made.
Maybe
the answer didn't happen that next second. But can you remember a moment when you made a, the decision.
Track 1: There were many, many moments where I felt stuck like that in a job, and each one of those. Led to me making the decision, like knowing that I was unhappy and I needed to quit and find something else. it wasn't until I had gotten married, I moved from Chicago to Wisconsin We had a house I was writing this novel, which I now have come back to and I'm very excited about. this was a while ago, it was the first version of this novel I went away to this, six week, you know, intensive writing program. And that was kind of, that's What burned me out majorly.
So that was kind of like, so. The impetus of me turning back to my art finally, and then making it into a career. But I came back from this program and there was so much criticism and I was like determined to finish my book by the end of the year. And there was so much like drive with passion, but so much drive that it burned me out and I lost my voice in it and I lost myself in it.
And I was just so completely looking at the end mark rather than enjoying the journey. I ended up losing my job. like guy fired me via a voice message. Of course, it was like the best thing that could have happened because it led me back to my art.
But it was just devastating at the time. It was like, oh my God. So I lost my job and then that was when I just took my art supplies out into the backyard like I used to do as a little kid. I was like, if I don't do something for myself to heal my soul, I am, this is not going well.
So just let myself play. And that is what kind of brought me back to art. I put my novel aside and I put that whole career path aside and just focused on painting. And then it was kind of like my joy came back again. Friends came over and they were like, oh, these are really good paintings.
Can I buy them? And you should have a show. And it was just one of those fantastic moments in life where everything just was like this wave of flow and keep following this, follow this, follow this. within, you know, six months I had my business started and I was selling stuff and it was just, everything was happening really quickly and easily.
Kate Shepherd: it had been patiently waiting for you
since you, since you got here on earth. Right. It
sounds like it was just like playing with you when you're a kid and then it was like, okay, well let her go off and do that. You know, cuz it loves you and it wants you to do whatever you wanna do.
But it, it sounds like it was just kind of patiently waiting for you and when you were
ready it was like, okay, let's go. I wanted to talk to you about stuckness cuz I, I, I feel that that's a strong theme in like, I, I, I can feel from you a real desire in to help people find their creativity, connect with their creativity, but, but so much more than just about like color theory and
composition. And like for me, what I get from you is like, you wanna help people and specific and tell me if I'm wrong, but this is just my impression. You wanna help people with this piece around being stuck. Is that true?
Track 1: Yeah, So, my mom and my mother-in-law, they both passed a few years ago and they, I saw them stifle their creativity and stifle themselves, like just press themselves down I was able with my mother-in-law to paint with her a little to the point where she was finger painting and like enjoying color and stuff.
And with my mom, I never, she came out in of her shell in different ways, but that was just always my, my like, my purpose specifically with them to be like, I see this beautiful star inside and this is how I feel about everyone. I just want that star. A flower blooming, however you want to imagine it It's just this thing inside where whatever it is and however it needs to be expressed or can be expressed uniquely by that individual, I want them to express it and share it and put that the world with confidence. And that's why I constantly say like, there's no right or wrong. and it doesn't just have to be, you know, whatever type of creativity or anything that you are holding inside.
It's just like, please let that out. And I feel like through my classes, that sort of a first step for a lot of people I just launched this watercolor class and it's this daily watercolor paintings. And that's kind of this like first step in a little direction where oh, you can just have a set of cheap watercolors, some water and a sketchbook.
That's easy, right? That's usually like people's first supplies. That was some of my first art supplies. You can easily simply just sit down and and play, and it's like once you allow yourself to play and open up that door, then the next step can happen being able to somewhat be a guide or at least like have that opening for people is very important for me.
Kate Shepherd: Yeah, it is for me too. There's a set of really grumpy neighbors that live across the street from me. They're an older couple, and I, I get why they're grumpy, like
they're not expressing themselves and like you, like I have so much compassion for people who are deeply unhappy
because again, I, I feel like it all ties back to their, they're holding something
Track 1: Mm-hmm.
Kate Shepherd: that needs to let out, and that that's the, that grumpy or rude or dysfunctional behavior or whatever it is, is simply a function of like, that's how I see
Track 1: Mm-hmm.
Kate Shepherd: What do you think is. You know, with your mom and your mother-in-law and maybe even in yourself or people, students that you've worked with, what do you think is the sort of most common thing that we're telling ourselves that has us do that?
Track 1: it's not even what we are telling ourselves. It's what the external, what's happening outside. So it kills me when someone in my classes will be painting something and then they say, oh, but my friend told me to paint over it. Or, oh, my husband told me that it wasn't good, or somebody told me That's not art.
Like that?
is just, I mean, it's like a lot of people that take my classes as kids, they were told they're not artists or that their artwork wasn't good. And so so much of that is just like coming from the outside and then of course you're not gonna allow yourself to take that step you're gonna totally just shut that down that's what happens.
It gets shut down because people are telling you it's not okay or that's not good, or you shouldn't be that way or something. I'm
definitely the,
person that's telling people like, no, that's fantastic. It's beautiful. Like, and I, I mean it because I see it as an expression of their inside their heart.
Kate Shepherd: two of my favorite things to say to students in that moment are, the art can hear you, like don't, it's a living thing and it can hear you and you don't hurt its feelings.
Track 1: Yes.
Kate Shepherd: but also the thing that you hate about your art is actually the thing that makes it so special. Like the way that you do that stick drawing of a dog that you've always done since you were a kid, cuz you can't draw a dog.
Your dog is magical because of that weird way that you do it
Track 1: a lot of people,
they look at my artwork they might compliment it, and even still, I wish I could paint differently,
but I cannot like, I have to paint the way that I paint, I could probably control myself, but then that would just be another way to like push myself down. Cuz I wish that I could paint things that were more detailed and like more, you know, beautiful renaissance portraits that look like real, more real people.
But it's like there's this other worldly thing that comes into my artwork and, and it is me. It's this extra whimsy, weirdo, magical world that exists somewhere and I'm bringing it into this world and that's the way it has to be. Mm.
Kate Shepherd: What's your relationship with that? Think I, cuz I, that resonates with me. Like I can feel when I'm in the flow or when I'm in a, when I'm. Even editing of an episode or writing something, I can feel when something's moving through me. That isn't me. Like little me. It's like it's coming from somewhere else.
And to me that's creativity. Like that's the creative intelligence moving through us. What is your relationship like with that, with that
Track 1: What are you referring to as the, that is the, that um, kind of like the universal creativity and then the little me would be that inner critic voice.
Kate Shepherd: well, or the little me is just the body of like, to me there's like creativity, which is this ineffable intelligence that's alive, but that isn't, um, it isn't able to create things without
a body to do
it through. So, you know, it needs a musician to play
the instrument. It
needs your hands to paint the painting, but it's a collaboration with this.
Like, whenever I try to paint from the rational mind, blah, like that's just, it never works, right?
Like when you're. So it's that collaboration between kind of me, Kate, and I just refer to that as little me because the creativity and that, that,
that
just feels so big and limitless. And, and I was, I guess I'm just wondering like what your, what your connection is like with that, because I think a lot of people find it frustrating that that kind of ebbs and flows.
It's like
sometimes I feel super connected to that. You know, like you came back to the painting again in the backyard after years of, and it was just like it took off. Like you couldn't make that happen by deciding to start a, you know, woodworking company like
that. You weren't gonna get that kind of flow cuz that wasn't what it wanted to do through you.
Right. Like
it had, it has a stubbornness, it has a a vision and it wants to do it through you and it's not gonna give you the flow until you do the thing that it wants to. Right.
But it also, it also doesn't, it's not obedient. Like it won't come on command. It won't you. We come to it, right? Like it doesn't come to, it's like, I will
bless your life with this flow when you do the thing that I wanna do through you.
Like it's in charge, I feel like. So what has your relationship been like with that, and how do you navigate that?
Track 1: Yeah. That's very interesting because it definitely for me has so many layers and of course has a sort of spiritual component to things and sort of a universal world view component. look at things as know, everyone being connected in some sort of bigger way and then being able to, like, people ask me, what's my inspiration?
And that's one of the most common questions. I'm just like, everything like, My world. Your world, like what I hear from you, and then my perception of it and what I see everywhere, what's in nature, what, what I've done in my past, what I will do in the future, and dreams. It's sort of like bringing in all of it.
And so that's why it's so interesting and unique to consider this whole like idea of the creativity from this larger perspective and how it works and what I can do with it, not just in this human body, but then in this way that I'm choosing to interpret it on top of it. I feel super fortunate because I've been doing all the, this painting and I've really navigated that creative thought.
Through teaching in my classes, being able to look at it from this sort of inner critic perspective and see, like, actually hear my thoughts as I'm painting, which I then add in as voiceovers to my class videos so that you can kind of see like, okay, this, I know this is where I got, frustrated and this is what I, I did like, these were the marks I did to change that and this is what I had to tell myself to make myself not go down that rabbit hole and then try and control the whole painting.
So I can definitely hear the voices in my head as I'm painting in particular, which then really helps in the rest of my life to kind of recognize when those voice, you know, when I'm, um, being scared of something and not moving forward for certain reasons. You know, either it's following the intuition or it's actually like something from the past, you know, that I don't wanna repeat and I'm afraid of that.
I feel really fortunate that I've been able to navigate that in, in my painting process. And then now that I've come back to my writing practice and writing my novel, and that's kind of, you know, transformed into this new writing project. now I've been able to see how those layers develop in writing a novel as well.
And when you're talking about the flow, it's, you know, really magic when you feel that flow and you feel like, oh, this is how, um, this creativity wants you to express it I feel like I have this painting practice now as sort of this way to, um, you know, kind of like daily sketching, you know, like just.
Educate myself to keep it going, but then this writing project and future writing projects to really like go deep into it and that is how I'm feeling. You know, the universe or whatever wants me to express itself now,
Kate Shepherd: I got goosebumps when you
said that. That last bit. Like I, yeah. I feel like, oh, it's just so obvious that it's, it's doing something through you, right? Like
it's just so
clear when you, especially when you can see it. Like it's, sometimes it's harder to see that in our own lives cuz it's happening
to all of us. Right. Like,
Track 1: it's
very like, I didn't recognize it in my own life until you said it.
just a few moments ago. I was like, oh yes, that's exactly what's happening.
Kate Shepherd: Yeah. And that's like the gift of like, to me that's a, like an and more, more, more goosebumps here. Like, we are relational beings. Like they're part of the reason creativity is doing these characters through you and wants to write the book through you. And is so that I can see it. So that I can see you, so that I can see
itself.
Like it's, and we
help each other.
Track 1: Exactly.
Kate Shepherd: Oh, I love it.
Track 1: Yep. I love talking about the creative process and that's why I love creating, and I love how it really is a parallel for living life on all these different levels, and then like when you connect it with other people and their lives, it's just this amazing. you know, zigzag of all these connections,
Kate Shepherd: to me, creativity isn't just the book and the poem and this painting and the, you know, architecture. It's also the intelligence that's telling all the molecules in a chair how to stay together
and be a chair. Like it, it is the intelligence that's animated, like literally everything.
Like nothing is separate from that.
it's so easy for us to lose sight of that we're part of that, like that that's
Track 1: It's very easy, and I think like that's what my painting practice has really taught me because I still feel so much joy from painting, especially now when I simplify it. And not every painting now has to be this like huge upheaval of all of this, you know, stuff and all these layers and things. It, I've simplified my process so that, um, it's more fun and it's more lighthearted and it's more of this initial expression of, whatever it is that needs to come out.
that just feels so much lighter and easier to move through And navigate rather than having all of this heaviness.
Kate Shepherd: Well, it seems like the, the heaviness may be connected to the urgency, like when it, when you did, when it didn't ha have your attention, there was an urgency. It needed to get your attention a little bit louder cuz you, it, you weren't listening.
Then you started listening and then you went through a number of years or whatever of like diving into that and then it felt like it had your attention and it could hear you and now it can be, now it can get back to like, okay, well what I was trying to say before you were listening to
me is let's go play.
And I'll tell you like,
cuz that, and what I was gonna say about that intelligence is that it is a wordless thing. Like it's not like you and I can have a conversation and share meaning to a certain extent with words, but we, creativity can't literally talk to us. And so it speaks to us through these, I find mostly the yeses and the nos.
So, you know, it was saying to you Yes. With messy paint and playing and, and
you had that feeling and the flow happened and it was like, that's how it told you. Yes. More of that. Keep doing more of that.
Track 1: yeah.
That's really interesting because if you don't listen to that. Nothing happens.
You have to listen. And the more you listen, the more magic happens.
Kate Shepherd: Yes. Are there specific rituals that you have in your life that you feel are kind of like the powerhouse rituals that really keep your connection to this going or your flow states coming, or just even nurture, like
what are the rituals that you love the most?
Track 1: Yeah, there's a lot. And then I also feel like they're consistently changing, which can be frustrating. But now I've sort of
accepted, oh, these things just consistently change. I've always journaled, which to me means, you know, just sitting with a journal and a blank book and pen and.
Writing in the morning, and usually I do that for at least 15 or 20 minutes. And
Kate Shepherd: And
what kinds of, what kinds of stuff are you writing in your, and you don't have to tell us word for word, but like
what, what, kind of stuff is that?
Track 1: well that's definitely something that evolves over time. Um, but really it's kind of, you know, the whole morning pages Julia Cameron thing where it's getting, getting out all of the craziness And sometimes I'll choose to just meditate instead of journaling. it sort of depends.
Like now I've finally come to the place where it's like, oh, if I have all kinds of questions and like anxiety, things that I need to, I'm feeling like I need to answer, I then I need to write.
Kate Shepherd: Okay.
Track 1: probably actually need to meditate at the same time, but it's like I only have so much time to do, you know, one or the other.
So like I, I try to just go with my gut and be like, Okay.
today's like a journaling day or a meditation day or whatever. sometimes I'll come back to it later in the day too, because if something, it's basically like if something is really on my mind, it helps me so much just write it all out. Pages and pages my thoughts,
I just write it out and then that simplifies it. It's like then I can see, oh, why am I going over and over and over and over this
in my head because this is the answer Right,
here. Like,
I just wrote it down. I just showed myself what I need to do so I can now hopefully at least tell myself to stop thinking about it every time it comes up.
And that is what the journaling does for me. The meditation then also, It just really helps to get me connected to kind of the way I feel when I'm out in nature. Just sort of this major groundedness and, and peacefulness,
Kate Shepherd: Do you go through phases where you resist doing those things?
Track 1: not so much anymore because I see how helpful they are. And that's been maybe the last year, It's kind of like eating really healthy. I've always eaten pretty healthy, very healthy, and I know that it makes me feel good. And so
when I do these sort of morning rituals, then like having a walk outside is my other ritual.
Like definitely sometime during the day I will take a walk. And then like another thing that's sort of changed for me is, I started like walking for exercise, which is great, but then I was. Missing the meditation side of walking. And so now I've started taking photos on my walks again, which is something that I, I used to do when I first started my business because I started a blog and I would, you know, post photos that were inspiring me.
And now I'm just like, oh yeah, like this slows me down so that I look at, you know, the little things and then remember to smell the flowers when I come out of the house, or, you know, to not walk so quickly and get out of Head and
Kate Shepherd: It's crazy how easily we forget that.
You know, even just to look at stuff, go on a walk and look at stuff.
Track 1: Absolutely.
Kate Shepherd: I asked you if you come in and out of it, because I think, I know I have in my life kind of come in and out of it. I go through these phases where I know how much it serves me to have a meditation practice and to journal, and
I go through these stretches where I'm doing it and there's this expansiveness and things shift in my life and then something ha I don't know if it's like a part that of me get scared.
It's like
we're shutting this down now because we're scared of
Track 1: Well, sometimes for me, like it stops working. Like I, I feel like it stops working. So, or like Steph will get more chaotic. And that's just what happens in life. And it's like, rather than making more time for my journaling practice or my painting practice, meditation practice, walking, things that bring me joy, those things get cut out because
I get super, super busy and other things feel so much more important.
And then that's where my levels really drop. And
then it's harder to rise up above that again. And it's not until I'm like down in this deeper pit that I feel like, Oh yeah,
here it is again.
You better start taking the small steps to get back And that.
can be, you know, however much time, you know, it's sort of irrelevant.
It's that it just consistently happens.
Kate Shepherd: I think you can bail on it when it seems like it's not working or you can bail on it when it seems like it is working or it
You think you've gotten to a place where it's like you've kind of,
you're past the, .
Track 1: no. I just have gotten to the place where it's like with paintings where like I observe that inner critic in every single painting. There's that. I always think that there's an ugly stage in every painting and. Oh Yeah.
It's just recognize I've gotten to that stage where I see again that it's, it's happening where I can like stop and pause and see, oh wait, I'm in it again.
That's the stage. Not that everything, you know, is always good or anything like anything close to that. It's just the awareness, I guess.
Kate Shepherd: Yeah. Well that's huge. Like cuz
otherwise it's kind of, you're being rag dolled by life.
You're being rag dolled by the ebbs and the flows and the, but if you can know, oh, it's gonna happen. I'm gonna have the ugly day, I'm gonna have the bad mood, I'm gonna have the time when I feel uninspired, I'm gonna ha like they're coming.
And just keep going during those times
Track 1: or when you're in it.
it's mostly like when I'm in it,
I can more quickly recognize now when I'm in it And to, rather than keep barreling forward, stop and pause,
Kate Shepherd: And what else? Pause and take a break. And are there other things you do to nourish yourself during those
Track 1: That's, I mean, basically I stop everything cuz that if I don't, then that's when I start feeling anxious about things. That's when I do things too quickly and it doesn't work out. That's when a quick argument will happen with my husband. Or I'll just be wasting my time and energy trying to make something happen rather than recognizing, wait a second, I'm in it.
painting has taught me this also. I always recognize that there's this ugly stage, but sometimes I have to keep going and I push and I push and I push and I cover up the painting again and again and again. And the paint will be wet and it'll be so muddy and ugly. But I'll keep going cuz I keep thinking, oh, I can do this, I can make this work.
I make it work, and it gets worse and worse. And then finally, I'll dump water over the whole thing and then wipe the whole thing away and walk away, that has taught me to recognize that in my life, if I keep going and going and pushing and pushing, that's not the way
so do whatever it takes. usually I cancel all my plans because I need to recenter myself. So whether that means take a walk or just sometimes the means of watching TV and eating a bunch of macaroni and cheese and not doing anything for a little while,
Kate Shepherd: I've had that in the moment with the painting and I've had that, you know, with writing, knowing when to walk away, and I've
even had that to a certain extent in my life. You know, I have all these to-dos, but actually, you know, that's why I take August off from the shows.
Like, I, I need, I need to stop sometimes and I
actually need to wait until it's not an emergency.
Sometimes I just need to like, schedule the, the stopping. But what about the times when you feel like you truly can't afford to stop, but you really do need to stop? How do you, or when you're sitting on the, on the couch and you're like, okay, it's day three of eating macaroni and cheese, or five or
Track 1: Yeah. No, no, no, no. It doesn't get to that. It
doesn't, because I know that if I do that for more than one dinner, I am going into that pit,
Kate Shepherd: Right.
Track 1: and I don't, I know that once I go into that pit, it's harder to come out.
I allow myself that kind of like, Day off or not a day off, just like comfort food to me is, and watching TV is kind of my, okay, you can have this time to just, um, and this, is me just talking to myself like you can have this time to just, um, not think about anything. But then that's not realistic to do that for, you know?
I don't even wanna do it for more than a day.
And cuz I know also that that will make me feel worse. so
it's time after I do it. like for one dinner to then wake up and do something that I know it's kind of like I have to consciously, it's same with my paintings again. I have to consciously make that shift. I can't just let my emotions lead me or let my mind lead me because then I would be, you know, curled up on the couch every day
And that's no good
Kate Shepherd: cuz it. It doesn't know where it's going. I mean, it knows where it's going, but it's only going to the same dark PI pit
Track 1: Yeah, it's totally based on like past, you know, hurt and past pain and all that kind of stuff. So what I've really started doing, so definitely in the last few weeks because I'm trying to finish my book and then I've been launching this new class that's been a, a lot of stuff and the way that I handle things when that's going on is to not let my head get in the way because I can easily let my, an anxious thoughts take over and overwhelm, take over.
And I have to be careful because I have to Like acknowledge those thoughts and that's what the journaling, you know, partly is about. But then there's kind of the adult me that has to step in, and. Parent myself. Basically, it's basically telling myself, listen, you can just break this down into steps.
And what works really well for me is to just tell myself, all you have to do is write for an hour today, just work on your novel for one hour. And I usually end up working on it for way longer, but it's again, like painting. I have to trick myself into believing, oh, it's just an hour. Okay. I just go and I sit into my studio and I write for an hour.
And then, you know, in the morning you have, you just have to do this task. You know, I set like maybe two or three tasks for myself each day for the business, and then whatever task. And then also, I don't allow myself to overwork because I have a huge tendency to overwork, and that's not good either. So I have a very, you know, pretty strict calendar in terms of what I wanna get done and breaking everything down into small steps and not letting my mind take over and think.
It's too overwhelming. It's like, no, you just have to do this right now.
Kate Shepherd: How did you teach yourself how to have that discipline, but also with great gentleness, like you do this with great gentleness? I can hear it and I can guess. Based on the very tiny little bit you told me about your, your family or your mom and what she had to do, holding it in. I'm guessing she didn't have that
gentle connection with herself.
How did you learn that in the absence of being taught that?
Track 1: Yeah.
it's been a lot of learning. Um, I listened to a lot of podcasts.
Kate Shepherd: Yeah.
Track 1: My husband and I, we've gone to therapy basically since we've got married. And all of those little things have added up in addition to, you know, just self-awareness and observation. Um, of my own actions and how certain things make me feel.
Uh, it's really just been a lot of like, oh, I. don't wanna make that mistake again, so I'm going to do something to turn that around and not feel that way. And each time it's like this, you know, expansiveness,
but then sometimes it's a coming back again and then expanding again and
Kate Shepherd: I.
Track 1: and whole learning
Kate Shepherd: I'm familiar with that.
Two steps
forward, one step back, and the growth part. Yeah.
Track 1: Exactly.
Kate Shepherd: Tell us about the novel that you're writing. ,
Track 1: Yeah. So it's been in progress for quite a few years I started this new version of it. when my mom passed away in 2016, I really needed to heal from that whole experience and better understand who she was and who I was. And I really had a lot of thoughts about death and what happens when we die.
And so I wanted to write about. This, and I had already started, this novel about a girl who could jump into her drawings. This was before I started painting again. I started this book just for fun. And that evolved and evolved. And then I got burned out and I started painting. And then I started painting some of the characters in the book. which I didn't even, you know, realize that I was doing until I took a step back and then realized, oh, this is this character,
this is what he looks like.
Okay.
Kate Shepherd: Right.
Track 1: And then like I had to keep putting the book aside because I was painting and I had my art business and I kept getting burned out and too in, you know, involved in it emotionally. And I didn't have like time and energy to make it what it needed to be. And so when my mom passed away, that was kind of this new, life That could go into the book I used it as a healing experience I was able to have this healing process by, it wasn't really about my mom at all. It was just kind of an escape.
And then certain things would come, come out. It was a continuation of the initial novel and the initial story of this girl who could jump into her drawings, but in sort of new ways. And as I was writing it, I was, you know, I started reading more. I started reading fantasy and science fiction and, um, all of these sort of new inspirations came into it.
And so over the years, I've become a much, much better writer because I've started reading and reading all, you know, everything. Like I, I love, I love books now. Like, thank goodness I didn't read as a kid because. It got me into art as a kid and then now as an adult, like reading is this huge escape and I just absolutely love it and that's what I hope to be able to provide for other people.
this novel has really transformed into, this heartfelt story about this woman who loses her grandmother and has to travel to another world to, . Visit as she does, she learns more about herself and who her grandmother really was.
And she gets to jump into her drawings along the way.
Kate Shepherd: Oh, I love it. How did, so I love so many things about that. How did, how did you teach yourself having not been a writer or a reader even, like, just even technically, what was the process like to just sort of get your ideas down? Like I'm thinking about. Us when we're painting and you're kind of getting it all down the paper and like there's a process for that or on the canvas.
How does that look? Writing.
Track 1: Yeah,
I mean, again, it was just this sort of like learning over time. Um, the first drafts were horrible. The first stories were horrible, and then I was able to go into this six week writing program, which eventually burned me out. But that was a novel writing program. And so it was all about learning about characterization and theme and dialogue and working with novelists, to like one-on-one to really.
Take this. I took my initial project and worked on it, and it was still absolutely horrible at that time, but that was like one stepping stone. And as I kept reading, I kept sort of also reading technique books. And then I've just always journaled and, and written. And then now that I've been reading, I can see more so how things are structured or need to be structured.
the most fun for me though, is figuring out the process that works for me. So obviously, like I had this huge piece of writing and it's changed and evolved so many times over time. And I went from like, I'm like, okay, some people, some novelists have all these like, uh, no cards. So I like wrote down, alright, every bullet, cuz I don't outline or anything like that.
It's like my, my paintings that just sort of come out, like maybe I have a simple structure to begin with and then the color, but that's just my, my base layer. And so it was kind of the same sort of uncovering when I was writing the novel is that, okay, how is this gonna work for me? Like, just
have all these bullet points and all these cards and that didn't work at all.
My mind was just like, I can't do this because I, I work great when I can just like do the background painting, which would be just write the book from start to finish and see where it goes. I just kept, kept writing and wrote down all my ideas and it was crazy and it was okay that it was crazy cause it was just the first draft no one was gonna see.
then as it got to, you know, having to make it make sense, that's where I kept just drawing from other novelists that I would see online or talking to in person. Be like, how do you do it? And then I would try their way of doing it and, and getting that structure in place that's very difficult because it's difficult for me in life.
It's difficult for me with my paintings just to get to that point where you can figure out how to like get rid of all the chaos and really get into that, you know, key focus and stay focused as you do it. And that's why it's taken me so long and it's sort of been, um, having a few friends who are like, Okay, you gotta do this because you can't stop talking about it, so do it.
And I actually, I hired an editor. The thing that really helped me last year was I hired an editor like really was the push I needed. So that's what I'll be doing in the future is like hiring an editor, somehow working with an editor who can, take away all that initial chaos that I put myself through and just kind of streamline the process.
Working with someone who, who knows,
Kate Shepherd: well it's that relational thing again. It's the mirror reflecting back to you again, right?
Like, we need each other, we need, we cannot do even the most amazing things that seem solo. You know, we can't, we can't actually do them alone. We need that reflection.
What would you say so far along the journey to your novel has been your,
the biggest lesson that you've had, or what have you learned about yourself or learned about how to do too differently
Track 1: I would say that that's the, the biggest lesson right there is asking For help?
getting help, knowing my weaknesses,
and looking to other people where they are, where my weaknesses are, using their strengths instead so that I don't have to, um, do so much work. Basically, it's like make it, it's okay to make it easier on yourself and you don't
Kate Shepherd: That's a huge, cuz that's something we inherited from that generation behind us, that things have to be hard. We don't have to do it the way it was done before us. Like, there are so many other ways of living and I love your idea of how can we make this easier or, you know, it doesn't have to be hard.
It
Track 1: Definitely. Well, there's so many times where I, I will just be plowing ahead and then it's like, hang on, wait, why are you doing it this way?
Like, it's again, that awareness of when I recognize that I'm stressed out about something, it's like, wait, are, can you maybe just stop for a second and make this easier for yourself?
Or, you know, why are you trying to make It all fit into this box? It doesn't have to It's okay.
Kate Shepherd: yeah.
Track 1: But you just get so caught up in your mind and, and the way you think things are supposed to be That, I mean, even as I was revising my novel this last week, I, the editor that I hired gave me the most remarkable, fantastic feedback.
And then now this last week, I've been at this point where it, it's just the last, you know, few nuggets that need to be revised before I handed off to somebody else. And I had this whole, you know, organized document with all these bullet points of what I still needed to change and stuff. And I was like, wait a second, why do I have these bullet points and why do these need to be changed?
Because I felt overwhelmed by each freaking bullet point. I was like, wait a second, no, look at this bullet point and then what actually has to be changed? I could get rid of like three-fourths of that document because I didn't actually have to do the work. I thought that I. I was telling myself I needed to do.
Kate Shepherd: That's a powerful one when you just actually Cause, cause we can let things pile up and actually not do the things we need to get done because we think that they're gonna be too much. there is a place for discipline. Like it can be good to say, okay, well I am gonna sit down and I'm gonna make myself look at my to-do list.
But like, not with an eye to stressing myself out and shaming myself for not doing everything but
just with an eye to saying like, what can I get done here today and get it off my
ecst
Track 1: exactly. Whenever it's something that I'm afraid of. So like publishing a book or submitting this book to an agent has been something I've been afraid of for 20 years. And I mean, it is terrifying. And I'm recognizing that it's, I'm So terrified that I'm I've sabotaged myself.
And like made excuses and redone this thing a million times. So that's why this week it was just like, no ,
Kate Shepherd: Where do you want people to go to find out about your work?
Like, where can people
take a class with you? Can people like dive into your artwork? What is the best place for people to go?
Track 1: I have, uh, my website is the best place for everyone to go?
which is juliette crane.com and it's j U L I E T T E. C R A N e.com and I have a lot of classes there, but my favorite class right now is my new class, which is the Portrait Painting Masterclass. And the reason I love that so much is because that is what has really, like, I was really wanting connection and creativity in my every day and more joy in my every day.
And I wanted it to, to last. I didn't just want to paint and then have things feel heavy again. And so I started this daily painting practice, which sounds heavy, but it's not, cuz it's just the whole watercolor thing and a sketchbook and you know, a quick seven or 10 minute drawing and. I realized that, that I didn't start the class that way.
I started the class with my regular, like mixed media. People wanted me to teach more about painting portraits and painting faces and eyes, um, specifically for women. And so that's what I kind of set out to do because I wanted to connect with people and share more. And I had this like voice in my head going like, just do these daily watercolors.
And I was just like, what on earth? Like I'm not just gonna do these watercolors in my sketchbook, and I know better than to shove that aside. But once I started doing it, that's when I was like, oh my God, this is So fun. Like I just love doing these daily watercolors and each one is so different and it just brings me joy.
And once
Kate Shepherd: that's, that's a, that's a live class, right?
Track 1: I'll probably be running it, if not later this year. Again, I'll be running It again next spring, probably. Um, it's a live class in the sense that everyone, it starts at a certain time and everyone will be going through the daily paintings together for four weeks at least. And then I'm just
kind of available to give feedback and answer questions.
And I love just seeing everybody's artwork and seeing how each person takes, you know, the project a little bit differently and adds in their own unique style
Kate Shepherd: somebody's listening to this and they wanna do it, but they've missed it, uh, they can just get on your newsletter list. That's a
good thing for them
to do, and then
Track 1: and you can sign up for the newsletter list specifically. The v i p list is
Kate Shepherd: Okay, perfect. Okay, the last question I wanted to ask you was the billboard question. I mean, there's, to be fair, there's actual, I feel like we could talk again for like another
hour and I would not run it of honestly like this has been such a wonderful conversation.
Uh, but the last question I'll ask you for now is, The billboard question, which is, you know, thinking about all the people like your mom and your mother-in-law, and all the women especially that we know right now who are listening to this or out there in the world who haven't found out about this show yet, who are experiencing that, a longing, whether it's kind of a conscious longing or an unconscious longing, there's that, that longing to connect with and express this intelligence, this creativity that wants to move through us.
But they feel like, cuz of all these ideas we've talked about, all these limiting beliefs that come at us internally, externally, all of the ones that we hold that it's just not for them. It's not in them. They shouldn't have access to it. They're not good enough, uh, uh, whatever the, all of those reasons, but that they would read these words from you on this billboard.
And this is a magical billboard. It has magical powers to
like actually get past a lot of the defenses and it would land in their heart and plant a seed. What would you. What would the words be that you would put on the billboard?
Track 1: Yeah, so for me, I, you know, I'm very into magic and I'm a visual person, so it's not so much about the words, but I would really want my billboard to hit people's hearts. I was initially going to say I would love for it to be a heart on the billboard made out of neon pink and red, and that's what it'd be for me.
But what I would love is for whoever sees it, for it to kind of transform into whatever they need to see to awaken that part in their heart. So maybe it's a star or whatever it needs to be, so that. they feel that reflection in the billboard
in that moment, and then can maybe like keep driving by maybe it changes
Kate Shepherd: And you always get what you need, right? You always
Track 1: Exactly. That's exactly. I would love that.
Kate Shepherd: You are such a magical person. Thank you.
Thank you so much for today.
Track 1: Thank you. It's been so fun to talk with you.
I feel like that was the absolute best way we could've closed off a second beautiful season. Of the creative genius. This podcast.
When Juliette shared that moment she had outside her. Industrial office building. When she went outside and was sitting across from that field And all the Monarch butterflies began to swirl around her. I could feel how that was. One of those magical moments in life. You know, the ones that are.
They seem designed to grab your attention.
When we continued to have that conversation about the moments, you know, the, the moments where the realization happens about what we're supposed to be doing and how we're supposed to be doing it. And. How to get there.
I love that Juliet went on to say,
How actually for her, the realization was a result of many, many moments.
From her childhood and young adulthood and into, even into adulthood. It was a series of many, many moments and many experiences. That kept pointing her back home to her art and to her true self. It can be really easy. I know I've fallen into this trap of looking for these big moments to show me the way. And actually the truer thing is that yes, those moments happen sometimes. And we can enjoy them like fireworks once a year. But there are beautiful moments peppered throughout your day. That are always pointing you back to yourself. It's just a matter of listening. And I love how Juliette's form of listening involves so much play. And experimenting. So, if I was going to give you some homework for the rest of the summer, it would be join the Patrion, take up the challenges that we're doing there.
Go back and listen to some past episodes at random. Listen to ones you haven't heard yet. Listen to your favorite ones again. I promise you new things are going to jump out at you and you're going to be collabed. You went back and did that. And make some time for yourself to play the way that Juliet likes to play.
What happens if I do this, what happens if I mix this paint with that paint? What happens if I break this rule that I've always thought existed when it came to creativity, whether that's with your materials or with yourself. Whether it's leaving the discipline that you, maybe you've always been a watercolor artist and you're amazing at that, but you've always wanted to try sculpture.
where can you break the rules? Give yourself a little bit more freedom. . And conjure that energy that Juliet did after she got fired via text message and just gathered up all of her art supplies and went out into the backyard and played like she did when she was a kid. What might be available to you if you did that for yourself? Have a beautiful rest of the summer. Please leave a review for the show in apple podcasts. It makes all the difference in the world.
I'm going to just say it one more time. The Patriot is bustling with beautiful people, just like you, who cannot wait to connect with you. And also with so many of the exercises and beautiful activities that I'm creating for you .
All you have to do is go to patrion.com/creative genius podcast. And that's P a T R E O N slash creative genius podcast. There's also links to the Patrion in my Instagram at Kate Sheppard, creative. And of course in the show notes on Kate Sheppard, creative.com. So join us in there. Have a wonderful summer.
And we'll see you in September.
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