Guest Artist | Ivy Newport
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I’m very excited to share my interview with the lovely and talented Ivy Newport. She is a beautiful artist and caring teacher, I know you will enjoy reading more about her passion projects along with the techniques she uses to tackle fear and frustration while creating.
Welcome, Ivy, I'm so happy to have you as my guest. Your creative business has grown and changed over the years into a beautiful offering of online classes, European Art Retreats, and now, your gorgeous Studioworks Creative Academy and Studioworks Business Academy. What has been your favorite part about running a creative business?
My favorite part is the freedom to decide what, when and how I share my creative ideas. I love coming up with concepts and then bringing them to life through our business! I thrive on this energy of ideation and then transformation and delivery! Working with my husband, Chris truly harnesses our strengths and he brings my dreams to life with all his technological gifts! I’m very grateful to work with him.
Why did you decide to start the Studioworks project?
Well, it began with the idea of having a membership structure and providing a more cohesive way for our students to experience our offerings. The Studioworks Journal came about through what I now refer to as a “flash” idea. It literally flashed in my mind to create an online magazine as a way to guide, inspire and teach each month. I was surprised by the idea honestly, but I went for it! It just felt right.
You put a tremendous amount of thought, research, and planning into creating every Studioworks Journal. I particularly love how every issue is inspiring to the senses. It has so many beautiful layers of inspiration, from the word of the month to your podcasts, playlists, Master artist presentation, to a creative tutorial. Was this your intention while developing the format of this journal? Please tell us how people can sign up to receive it and what is included in the membership.
Thank you! We (my husband, Chris) and I love building the Journal! It is truly a labor of love. I have always enjoyed diving into a theme and having the journal provides a wonderful container for whatever theme I decide upon for the month. When I sat down to design the contents of the journal it all just kind of came together. I knew I wanted it to touch on many levels from emotional to spiritual and bring a deeper sense of connection to living a creative life. Anyone interested can head on over to www.ivynewport.com/studioworks to learn more! We are a growing community and we are so incredibly grateful!
In a few of your Instagram posts, you shared that you were, at times, frustrated with your artwork. I not only love that you share these moments but also think it is incredibly brave of you as well. Do you have any advice for artists about how these moments are truly important to our creative development?
Oh yes, frustration, failure, and fear (the three f’s) lol…are such a part of living creatively! It takes immense vulnerability to create but the payback of joy, love, and delight is well worth it! If we stay in our safety zones we simply don’t grow. Growth takes a risk and it takes a willingness to get it wrong, to make mistakes! These “mistakes” are critical to learning and without them, we just don’t get anywhere. When you feel fear in your creative life, take it as a GOOD sign!! That means you are approaching “unknown” territory!! Take a deep breath and keep going. Tell your inner critic you GOT THIS and push through! Plus, let’s face it, doing the same old thing over and over is pretty boring right? Doing new things takes courage but it’s all part of the wonderful journey!
Often, it is difficult to simply begin something creative, do you have any advice as to how to structure a creative practice and overcome the many obstacles we face on a day to day basis?
Yes, it really is! I think the two things that really get in the way are fear and time. So, one thing I like to do to tackle the fear part is to start a drawing or painting with my non-dominant hand…it just instantly quiets the critical mind and lets you not feel attached to those first marks. It gets you in the door so to speak…
The second thing that I mentioned as a roadblock to creating is time. We never seem to have enough - so to push that one, I will set a timer to 10-15 minutes and work fast! Just get moving!! Instead of thinking…oh, I need at least 3 hours to create, I do the opposite and think - “what could I do in 15 mins?!” Get curious, set the timer and GO! Often we just need to race past that initial fear to get going and then we don’t want to stop!!!
Ivy Newport
I would like to thank Ivy for being a part of my Guest Artist Series.
You can learn more about Ivy and her classes below.
xo
Renee
Website - https://ivynewport.com/
Studioworks - https://ivynewport.com/studioworks
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ivynewportartist/
Facebook Community - https://www.facebook.com/groups/ivynewportstudents/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/ivynewport/