Today I'm absolutely thrilled to welcome Tracy Carlton and Gretchen Miller to Wild Creative Heart! They are here sharing a little about Connie Hozvicka's 21 Secrets: an Art Journal Playground! Tracy Carlton's art is being featured from Gretchen's class with some words from both of them!Gretchen is the creator and teacher of the 21 Secrets class "ready for revo'lution". An amazing, thoughtful, caring woman (I know that because of the work she does.) whom I've only just met and am looking forward to getting to know better.
Tracy is the 21 Secrets member and artist who is being interviewed. I met Tracy last September during Connie Hozvicka's BIG class we took together. She is an awesome, loving woman and the way she views the world and her writing really touch me. I especially was drawn to her art for Gretchen's class that Tracy calls "success". You'll see it below.
Thank you to both of them for participating and for their speediness in returning the information to me!
-------------------------------------------------
So let's begin with Tracy Carlton and hear about her experience of 21 Secrets:
21 Secrets is truly a magical playground! I can come to this celebration with the intent to play and to experiment. To try new techniques. To learn new methods. All without worrying about the final result. It’s the ultimate *be in the moment* experience! And there is this seemingly endless gathering of teachers to learn from!
At first, when I first started choosing which classes to try out, I realized I was choosing *easy* ones, meaning, ones that didn’t intimidate me or scare me. But as I delve deeper, I’m letting my intuition guide me as to which class to take next. I seem to keep ending up in exactly the right place, learning lessons I need to learn, or being stretched in new ways just when I need it most. I’ve been surprised by this, but in a deliciously joyful way! I have a feeling it’s just going to keep getting better and better!
Gretchen’s class gave me the chance to try something I’ve always wanted to do, but hadn’t made the time for: repurposing a board book. That she wove it together with intention setting just made it that much juicier and richer. I watched her videos, I downloaded the pdf, I absorbed all that she had included in her class. And then I disappeared! Off I went to create my book. For over a week I joyfully worked on it every day, every night, every moment I had in between all of life’s other commitments, I didn’t come up for air very often. I was so absorbed by the process of it all, the end results were a pleasant surprise!
I’m so thrilled that 21 Secrets is being kept open until the end of the year! I feel like I’ve barely had time to get started, and would really like to spend more time connecting with others in the classes. That I have another six months to do so is awesome!
Kudos to Connie for creating such a wonderful place to connect and play! And thank you Lisa, for asking me to share my experience and my art. I am so blessed!
The intention behind these pieces was to create a road map of personal values that I wanted to embrace and embody in creating my very own artistic business. The five intentions were Success, Create, Inspire, Connect and Love. Yet in the process, something told me that the pieces wouldn’t end up being about a career, but instead be about who I am deep down and how I envision the world.
Connect: One tribe, many paths. I believe we are here to connect with others. Others who share our dreams as well as those that can teach us new perspectives. By letting go of the fear of judgment, we can take risks, be vulnerable, and connect with others in such deep and meaningful ways. Connecting is what we are meant to do.
Create: Through our creativity we discover our inner voice, our intuition, our soulful selves that yearns for expression. Creating from a place of joy takes us to that magical place of timelessness. Where we have permission to dream big, to be anything we want to be, to do anything we want to do. And, especially, to create Beauty in this world.
Success: Success is completely individual, yet many don’t question the definition in modern society, Success=Money. For me, I envision a new world where success is in our intentions, in our connections with each other, in how we love, and ultimately in how we find our personal joy and individual creative expression.
----------------------------------------------------
And now I'm honored to share words from
Gretchen Miller
Creator and Teacher of "ready for revo'lution"
My class, ready for revo'lution, was inspired by a year end practice and tradition of creating my own “revo’lution” instead of the typical New Year's resolutions. This includes a process where I identify concepts that I want to focus on and bring into my life during the upcoming year. I then create images in response to these concepts and make an annual revo’lution book as a visual reminder of these intentions throughout the year. I continue to enjoy seeing, reading, and learning about the revo’lution making happening with 21 SECRETS community members such as Tracy. Witnessing participants’ processes, shared reflections, comments, and revo'lution inspired art journal pages has been very exciting to see unfold. What I love most about the 21 SECRETS community is the creative energy, inspiration, discovery and connection around our common interest in art journaling!
----------------------------------------------------
Gretchen is a Registered Board Certified Art Therapist practicing in Cleveland, Ohio. In her clinical practice, Gretchen specializes in the area of childhood trauma and loss, working with youth and women impacted by domestic violence. She enjoys finding inspiration, creating good vibes, and discovering transformation through working with mixed media, painting, collage, altered art, making short films, and creating handmade books. For more information about her work, interests, and to check out some of her revo'lution making, please visit Gretchen's website at http://www.gretchen-miller.com/ or her blog Creativity in Motion at http://www.gretchenmiller.wordpress.com/.
Tracy Carlton is remembering who she is ~ reclaiming her creative self, shedding old limitations, pursuing joy, and embracing the unknown! She happens to do this from her home base in the Sierra Nevada mountains in northern California, from a wee little cabin that houses her 3 cats, a fiery red-headed son, a handsome husband, and copious amounts of art supplies. You can find her blogging away at Expressive Souls. And if you feel like connecting, she also spends far too many hours on Facebook, but would love to meet you there! ( http://expressive-souls.blogspot.com/ ) ( http://www.facebook.com/indigomoone )
----------------------------------------------------
Registration is still open for 21 Secrets if you still want to join. Register here!
21 Secrets is open through January 1, 2012. Register through October 1, 2011
Mission Statement & Artist Bio:
