Mindset for Artists: How to Nurture your Creativity

Class Description

In this class we will be focusing on how we can nurture our creativity and allow it to flourish. Art can bring us many benefits, from joy and relaxation to self-expression and satisfaction. It can have a positive impact on our health and wellbeing, reduce our stress levels and improve our relationships with the people around us. But it is quite common for artists to experience mindset challenges that prevent them from getting the most out of their art.

In this class we will look at how we can identify any challenges that affect our art, through reflection and journaling, and how we can challenge and reframe any negative thoughts and take positive action that supports our creativity. There are numerous practical exercises and prompts to get you thinking about ways you can nurture your inner artist, and actionable things that you can take away with you.

In the class, we will concentrate on:

• Our why - what is our purpose for being creative and how we can develop a strong connection to that so that we can prioritise it more in our lives and articulate it to the people around us.
• What is a Mindset - what is a mindset and how it can affect our creativity. The mind is a powerful thing!
• Negativity Bias - how we have a tendency as humans to look for the negatives (and how this can show itself in our art), and practicing ways that we can consciously focus on the positive.
• Growth Mindset - how reframing our thoughts to those of a growth mindset can support our creativity and encourage us in our art.
• Confidence - Ways that we can develop confidence with our art and deal with self-doubt and imposter syndrome.
• Perfectionism - Why perfectionism can be damaging to us as artists and how and why we should start calling ourselves "imperfect" artists!
• Finding time - A common challenge is finding the time to be creative so we look at how to align our time with our values and ways to save time to make more space for the things that add meaning to our lives.
• Finding inspiration - What inspires us and how can we find inspiration when we are feeling stuck.
• How to approach our art - Being intentional with how we approach our art can allow us to get more out of it.
• Affirmations - how to use creative affirmations to support our creativity.

I am passionate about teaching and encouraging creativity for joy and relaxation because I know how much benefit it can bring to your life. I have experienced these mindset challenges myself, so I talk a lot from experience in this class, and I have heard my students talk a lot about feeling similar things. I hope this class will show you that those thoughts do not have to control you and that there are simple ways to feel more positive and get more out of you art practice.