by Andrea Fedder | Sep 4, 2019
ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
I came across a Japanese saying today that definitely holds truth, but not much constructive advice, and I thought of a way to reconstruct it.
“Beginning is easy. Continuing is hard.”
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And so for anyone doing any kind of creative project – this is my advice:
Bridge your gaps with beginnings.
If you think of your project as one giant task, with a beginning, a long drawn out middle part, and an end – it’s more likely to experience ‘the continuing’ as hard.
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But if you think back to before you started and reframe the story as:
– the beginning was where I made a brave choice
– the long drawn out middle is where I get to choose daily to reaffirm my choice
– the end is when I become something I would never have been without all the ‘continuing’
then each day holds purposeful value and is in a sense a series of brave beginnings.
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Hope that way of looking at things gives you the energy to keep at your creative endeavour.
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And if you have a sh*t day of it, don’t worry – tomorrow you can begin again😉
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(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting)
Inspiration: common license imagery
by Andrea Fedder | Aug 11, 2019
ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
“To understand nothing takes time” – Zen Proverb
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📸 inspiration via Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting
Inspiration image: common licence
by Andrea Fedder | Jul 12, 2019
ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
Have you heard of Glennon Doyle? I adore her. I keep her and Cheryl Strayed and Liz Gilbert and Brene Brown all squished up next to each other in a chamber in my heart (because its the chamber of all things magic, brave, vulnerable, wild and warrior-like 😉).
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Invariably I find when I need the words of one of them, I soak up the wisdom of all three.
I wanted to share this, by Glennon, with you today.
“You are not supposed to be happy all the time. Life hurts and it’s hard. Not because you’re doing it wrong, but because it hurts for everybody. Don’t avoid the pain. You need it. It’s meant for you. Be still with it, let it come, let it go, let it leave you with the fuel you’ll burn to get your work done on this Earth.”
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🙏
(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting)
Inspiration image: artist’s own
by Andrea Fedder | Jul 10, 2019
ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
Before I was an almost full-time painter, I was a writer. Before that, I was a sculptor. It’s was a part of my life I didn’t fully understand the unfolding of at the time, but now looking back, I see it as a period of emotional tuition for the creative soul. I was fortunate enough to learn an immense amount from Carrol Boyes herself during my years as a prototype restoration artist and designer with @carrolboyesofficial.
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One thing Carrol always said to me was to ‘have the courage of your convictions’. Those words have never left me. They’re now etched into the guide book of my heart. Alone they sit on a page that I turn to frequently when in doubt, only to realise there was no real doubt to begin with.
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Another fragment that never left me after I left CBFA was the desire to sculpt, to create dimension. I tried doing it as a writer too – always shaping a deeper narrative. And now – immersed fully in the world of paint, the little sculptor inside is knocking at the door again. In the last few weeks, I’ve found myself drawn to a sort of texture painting. Today it came out in the impasto petals of this aloe.
And it made me realise the versions of ourselves we were in our younger lives never truly leave. Instead, I think that’s our formative versions firing arrows way into our future to nudge us toward who we want to be at our deepest level.
So, they’re really more like boomerangs then hey?
I’d love to know if any part of your younger self is making a reappearance in what you do or want to do now with your life.
(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting)
Inspiration image: artist’s own
by Andrea Fedder | Jul 8, 2019
The expression to ‘nip it in the bud’ refers to halting it in early stages of development before it becomes a bigger problem. Expressions that are counter to nature’s way just don’t sit right with me. Buds are made for blooming.
So, if it feels like there’s something unignorably bud-shaped inside you pushing from within – for goodness sake – let it bloom.
(artist retains all rights to print reproductions of this painting)
ORIGINAL COPY POSTED ON INSTAGRAM DURING THE CHALLENGE
The expression to ‘nip it in the bud’ refers to halting it in early stages of development before it becomes a bigger problem.
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But what if the bud stage IS the problem? Or rather, the containment in the bud, the stuck in early stages?
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Often expressions that are counter to nature’s way just don’t sit right with me. Buds are made for blooming.
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So, if it feels like there’s something unignorably bud-shaped inside you pushing from within – for goodness sake – let it bloom.
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As Anais Anin says “and the day came when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.’ 🌺
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