Creative Genius

Episode 24 is the last episode of Season 1 of the Creative Genius Podcast! It has been an incredible year and I am so glad you are here. We’re taking a bit of a break over August so that you can go back and listen to your favourites, while we work on some amazing things to kick off season two with a bang in September. Our guest today is Autumn Skye - an incredible artist with a massive online following, and when you see her work you’ll immediately get it. Her pieces are equal parts painstakingly detailed and evocatively magical. This is a deep and deeply nourishing and expansive feeling episode. We cover a lot of ground from the practical to the esoteric. I came away from this conversation feeling more spacious and filled with a sense of possibility and wonder that I have in a long time. If you’ve been on the fence of stepping into yourself as an artist you’ll want to hear the amazing things she says about how art can serve as a tribute to the past, a processing of the present and of forward visioning. And how as artists in this potent time in history  we get to ask ourselves what we want to put our energy behind and what vision we want to create for our future to invite others into their own creativity and healing. My favourite part comes towards the end when she shares the ritual she does whenever she goes to a new city that deepens her connection to creativity and presence instantaneously - and then connects it to how we can be in our creative lives. I loved it and cannot wait to try it out next time I go on a tripAutumn was one of those lucky individuals who was encouraged to nurture and follow the creativity in her from a very young age. This resulted in her being fairly unencumbered by distracting limiting beliefs that so many of us have to navigate when it comes to creativity.  She has a beautiful, generous soul and is passionate about sharing the wonder and power of creativity - helping people free themselves to infuse playfulness, curiosity and discovery into their own creative journeys through teaching engagements and retreats She’s partnered with Alana Fairchild and created artwork on the Sacred Rebels oracle deck, has her own beautiful self published deck, and will once again be working with Alana on a new oracle deck in the coming year. (more information on that at the end of the show) Things we talk about in this episodeHer powerful advice for anyone experiencing fear about beginning to express creativity (hint: it's something you could go out and do today)Her mission through her artworkWhat is creative Draino and why is it so important?Her understanding of the creative process, how it works and what it is trying to do through usHow being willing to be surprised is a key in the magic of her artworkSurefire ways to stop epiphanies and creative insight and how not to do those thingsWhat intuition feels like for herIncorporating muscle testing in the creative process as a way to cultivate intuitionWhat she does when she bumps up into limiting beliefs (and it’s not about silencing them!)Using limiting beliefs as a catalyst to not only do the thing, but do the thing and then someHow to approach our creativity in a way that helps it feel safe to come outOur tendency as women to dim our own light. Loving advice for the person who feels they don't even have the right to try - or may have been bullied by a loved one not to shine brighter than them.How artwork can be like a map for humanity as well as shape our reality - it is at the tip of the spear of cultural revolutionHer poetic and inspiring definition of what creativity (which might be the best definition of creativity I have ever heard) truly is that might just change how you look at every single momentResources discussed in this episode:Liz Gilbert (fear being a passenger in her car)Sacred Rebels DeckAlana FairchildGOOGLE HER DECKS AND LINKS to themABOUTAutumn Skye lives, breathes, and dreams art, and has done so since she was old enough to hold a pencil and reach for a piece of paper. Her childhood and early adult years were spent traveling the landscapes of both her wild Canadian backyard and distant international shores. Through her wanderlust she developed a deep reverence for the beauty of nature and the diversity of humanity, and continuously endeavors to translate this inspiration through her work.  As a self-taught artist she is forever a student of the intuitive, creative process. Autumn Skye perpetually explores and plays in many artistic mediums and modalities, from music to sculpture, cooking, event production, sewing, interior decorating, and jewelry making. However, her sustaining focus remains primarily in painting, and finds acrylic paints to offer the most freedom, luminosity, and versatility in her intuitive art-making. Her style gracefully weaves together refined realism, iconic imagery and symbolism, and subtle energetic geometries. She’s inspired by the beauty of this incredible planet, the potency of these extraordinary times, the mysteries of the cosmos, the resiliency of the human spirit, and the intricate connections between all facets of life. Autumn Skye's meticulous and poignant paintings continue to gain expanding recognition, attracting audiences, collectors, and students from around the globe. She exhibits and teaches worldwide, and otherwise thrives and paints in the beautiful temperate-rainforest of coastal British Columbia, Canada. Considering herself immensely blessed to do what feeds her soul, she strives to support others through creative empowerment, the gift of beauty, and the perpetuation of inspiration.Autumn Skye website | facebook | instagramKate Shepherd: art | website | instagramMorning Moon Nature Jewelry | website |  instagramCreative Genius Podcast | website | instagramPlease share the show with a friend and if you are moved to make a financial contribution to the production of this podcast, THANK YOU here is the link for our Patreon

In this episode I speak with Tracy Verdugo, Visual Artist, teacher and Author of the wildly popular book, “Paint Mojo”. For more than 22 years, Tracy has worked with thousands of people around the world - helping them to find their creative freedom. She shares the insights she’s gained over these years including the one main thing she has found, that she thinks is the key to creating amazing art and how giving it to ourselves can carry over into other areas of our lives changing everything about how we live for the better.We talk about the power of learning how to break the rules to help us overcome fear & anxiety, to gain confidence in our creativity, and Tracy offers us some really practical ideas, insights and suggestions for harnessing and unleashing our creativity that I think you're going to find really useful AND she also tells us some beautiful stories (she has a true poet’s heart).This is the kind of episode that fills you up with the feeling that you can in fact do it, and makes you want to get out your tools and materials and get going right away. Tracy’s book “Paint Mojo” has over 25,000 copies in circulation - which is no surprise because when you hear her you immediately recognize her as one of those people that just makes you feel like anything's possible when it comes to your creativity. My favourite is when she tells us the story of her accidentally wandering into somebody's backyard and Guatemala and the ensuing conversation about creativity that changed her entire perspective on everything. Tracy Verdugo has taught over 100 workshops over the world and has a lot of insights to share that go a long way to helping us understand how to overcome the “I can’t” feelings many of us have when it comes to expressing our creative selves.  Things Tracy and I talk about-The number one thing she learned in over 22 years of teaching over 100 workshops and classes around the world, about what humans need the most when it comes to creativity-How giving this one thing to ourselves can carry over into our lives and change everything about how we live our lives for the better-How traveling to Guatemala and meeting indigenous people for whom creativity was woven into every facet of their lives, was a light bulb moment for her in how fractured and silo-ed we have become in the west when it comes to accessing and enjoying this part of ourselves. -The yearning we all have to connect with the world of our ancestors and how creativity is the bridge to that can deliver us there-She told the story about a life-changing afternoon on a trip to Oaxaca when she wandered onto a family courtyard and had a serendipitous moment with a local man who was sitting in his garden there. He told her the thing he sees people doing in the west (when it comes to creativity) that he felt is making our whole culture sick. -The three things we can stop doing to find our creative freedom -The process she underwent to become someone who could allow creativity to move through her and stop creating from her rational mind. -The one main thing she has found after decades of teaching and creating art that she thinks is the key to creating amazing art -Her secrets for conjuring flow states The most common limiting belief she thinks we are taught that squashes our creativityABOUT Tracy VerdugoTracy is an inspiration instigator, prolific painter, bestselling author and lover of the written word, smitten traveler and soaker up of all that is beauty-full. She teaches her Paint Mojo and other creative workshops all over this amazing planet and reminds her students of the wonder that already resides within them. Her works are vibrant and filled with joy, inspired both by global travels and the simple beauty of the focused moment.Since 2000 Tracy has held 18 successful solo exhibitions and her works are held in collections both in Australia and internationally. Mostly though, she is mama bear to two gorgeous, zest-filled daughters, Santana and Cece, and co-adventurer in life with her amor of 34 years, the talented and brilliant Marco.Kate Shepherd: art | website | instagramMorning Moon Nature Jewelry | website |  instagramCreative Genius Podcast | website | instagramTracy Verdugo website | facebook | instagramResources discussed in this episode:Paint Mojo (her book)Flora BowleyPlease share the show with a friend! If you are moved to make a financial contribution to the production of this podcast (THANK YOU, we can’t keep going without you) here is the  link for our Patreon

Dr Cheryl Arutt Clinical & Forensic Psychologist : The Brain Science of Creativity EPISODE SUMMARYHave you ever wondered any of these: What the science is behind creativity? What causes creativity in the brain? What part of the brain is used in creativity? Or maybe even how to activate creativity in the brain? In this episode Kate speaks with Dr. Cheryl Arutt a clinical and forensic psychologist based in Los Angeles, California working with actors, writers, directors and showrunners supporting their psychological well-being. A specialist in trauma recovery, creativity and post-traumatic growth, Dr. Cheryl is currently Access Hollywood’s go-to psychologist for trauma issues, a frequent psychological expert on many networks including CNN, HLN and DiscoveryID, and has been interviewed by the BBC and 20/20 Australia.  For more information about Dr. Cheryl please visit askdrcheryl.com, and for info about her online courses for creative artists please visit www.thecreativeresilience.comEPISODE NOTESHave you ever wondered any of these: What the science is behind creativity? What causes creativity in the brain? What part of the brain is used in creativity? Or maybe even how to activate creativity in the brain? In this episode Kate speaks with Dr. Cheryl Arutt a clinical and forensic psychologist based in Los Angeles, California working with actors, writers, directors and showrunners supporting their psychological well-being. A specialist in trauma recovery, creativity and post-traumatic growth, Dr. Cheryl is currently Access Hollywood’s go-to psychologist for trauma issues, a frequent psychological expert on many networks including CNN, HLN and DiscoveryID, and has been interviewed by the BBC and 20/20 Australia.  For more information about Dr. Cheryl please visit askdrcheryl.com, and for info about her online courses for creative artists please visit www.thecreativeresilience.comDr. Cheryl explains how creativity works and what it even is from a Brain Science Perspective. We talk about the link between education and creativity. I ask her if we are doing enough to foster creativity & creating thinking in the school system? And she gives us some actionable things we can do at home for ourselves and our children to rev our own creative engines. One of my favourite moments though, comes towards the end  when I ask her about the possibility of the opposite of inheriting generational trauma existing. We know we can inherit trauma but can we inherit magical wonderful things too? We shared a really tender moment - one where I felt like she was talking to ALL of us. It’s beautiful, uplifting and inspiring.  I think you’ll be really moved by it. What Dr. Cheryl Arutt & I talk about-What creativity IS from a brain science perspective. -What is really going on inside our psychology when people say “I’m not creative”-Why processing trauma including intergenerational trauma, and converting it to post traumatic growth is so important (and is absolutely possible)-The link between education and creativity. Are we fostering creativity and creating thinking enough in the school system? And if we are seeing that our children are not getting as much focus on creativity in school what can we do at home? -What is the one question you can ask yourself (or your kids) to kick start your creativity (what is another way to do that/look at that/solve that)-How the “we only use 10% of our brains” thing is a myth-How to use creativity to safely access our traumas -What is EMDR (eye movement and desensitization and reprocessing therapy how it was discovered and how creative people can use it to heal trauma and access even more of their innate creativity-Post traumatic growth - learning to integrate and recognize all the ways you grew as a person as a result of living through your trauma-What she thinks creativity is trying to do - from a brain science perspectiveAbout Dr. Cheryl AruttDr. Cheryl Arutt is an accomplished clinical and forensic psychologist based in Beverly Hills, CA whose amalgamation of rigorous training and experience allows her to engage with people from a place of deep insight and empathy. Through compassion, skill and sometimes even humor, she helps her patients uncover what is in the way of living a full-access life, empowering them to move forward.Following over 20 years as a working actor, Dr. Cheryl’s interest in human behavior shifted to psychology after volunteering on a crisis line. With scholarships from both SAG and AFTRA to study at University of California, Los Angeles, Dr. Cheryl graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her Doctor of Psychology degree from California School of Professional Psychology in Los Angeles, where she received the Outstanding Doctoral Project Award for her Clinical Dissertation: Healing Together: A program for couples coping with the aftermath of rape.Her postdoctoral fellowship at WILA culminated in a certificate of psychoanalytic psychotherapy, and she received further advanced training in Interpersonal Neurobiology with Dr. Daniel Siegel, with whom she gave a TEDx talk. A lifelong student of power dynamics and an ally for social justice, Dr. Cheryl taught courses to PhD and PsyD students at Allliant International University/CSPP, including: Intercultural Processes and Human Diversity, Sex Roles and Gender, Ethics and Clinical Interviewing.Dr. Cheryl Arutt - Clinical PsychologistAs a trauma specialist, Dr. Cheryl helps her patients understand how adaptations to the source of distress often outlive their usefulness and provides guidance and inspiration to navigate life from a place of wholeness. In continual pursuit of deepening her knowledge of trauma recovery and post-traumatic growth, Dr. Cheryl is devoted to continuing education in effective and evidence-based therapies, including EMDR therapy. A certified Rape and Domestic Violence counselor for decades, Dr. Cheryl also serves on the Board of the national victim’s organization, PAVE, dedicated to shattering the silence of sexual violence.  Dr. Cheryl understands and supports the unique needs and challenges of creative artists and performers. In collaboration with Dr. Cheryl, actors, writers, showrunners, musicians and other creative professionals learn to thrive and clear obstacles to their success and happiness, both personally and professionally. She is a firm believer that the best way to protect the art is to protect the artist.In addition to working with people in private practice, Dr. Cheryl enjoys speaking to professional organizations, institutions of higher learning, at events and on television about creative resilience, post-traumatic growth, recovery from trauma and why people do what they do.  Dr. Cheryl Arutt: website | facebook | instagram | twitterKate Shepherd: art | website | instagram | twitterMorning Moon Nature Jewelry | website |  instagramCreative Genius Podcast | website | instagram RESOURCES DISCUSSED IN THIS EPISODE:-DAN SIEGEL, MD-DAN SIEGEL’S “WINDOW OF TOLERANCE”-EMDR INSTITUTE-ACCESS HOLLYWOOD VIDEO ABOUT EMDR-BESSEL VAN DER KOLK, MD BOOK: THE BODY KEEPS THE SCORE

We can learn a lot by paying attention to what doesn't work. In this mini episode I share a little story about how I steered a collaboration with my 7 year old wrong and what it taught me.

Sam Parton (The Be Good Tanyas)  "The Littlest Birds Sing The Prettiest Songs"   Episode SummaryIn this episode Kate speaks with Sam Parton, founding member of the wildly popular Canadian Alt Folk band The Be Good Tanyas. Their debut album Blue Horse was named 2002’s top 50 releases by Q Magazine (UK) and the band would go on to release more albums cherished by fans all over the world. Their albums Chinatown and Hello Love were met with glowing reviews including four stars from Rolling Stone Magazine and the band sold out concert halls across North America and Europe. Sam tells us about how trauma from her early childhood ultimately set her on a journey that would see her not only find her musical voice and people, but create what I think is one of the greatest Canadian bands of all time The Be Good Tanyas. She tells us what she thinks creativity is and what it wants from us, how she found her bandmates, the joy and challenges of collaboration, and how lyrics come to her -  including the story of how one of my very favourite songs of all time by any band was written, The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs (hear an excerpt of this song in the episode) Things Sam and I talk about-Her ideas on how creativity and creative intelligence are often part of a lineage and the yearning that can create within us -How being a twin made her into a great collaborator-Finding her long lost father and how that separation fed her desire to become a musician-Growing up in the shadow of a sibling born with extraordinary musical talent, and in a home with tormented, abusive adults feeling that she had to do her music in secret and how the grief from those things ultimately drove her to find and express her own creative gifts-The magic that can happen when we know how to approach creativity from a place of truly not knowing, beginner's mind. -What is inspiration and why do we feel like we have to wait for it? What if it is waiting for us? -How she met Frazey Ford, co-founding member of the be Good Tanyas-The joys and challenges of creative collaboration-How the words and melody for The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs came to her and what the song means to herBuy her music on Bandcamp!Episode NotesIn this episode Kate speaks with Sam Parton, founding member of the wildly popular, Canadian Alt Folk band The Be Good Tanyas. Their debut album Blue Horse was named 2002’s top 50 releases by Q Magazine (UK) and the band would go on to release more albums cherished by fans all over the world. Their albums Chinatown and Hello Love were met with glowing reviews including four stars from Rolling Stone and the band sold out concert halls across North America and Europe. Sam tells us about how trauma from her early childhood ultimately set her on a journey that would see her not only find her musical voice and people, but create what I think is one of the greatest Canadian bands of all time The Be Good Tanyas. She tells us what she thinks creativity is and what it wants from us, how she found her bandmates, the joy and challenges of collaboration, and how lyrics come to her -  including the story of how one of my very favourite songs of all time by any band was written, The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs (hear an excerpt of this song in the episode) So many of us KNOW from a young age what we love to do, but so often it is overshadowed by our life circumstances, whether it’s childhood trauma, abuse, neglect, unsupportive parents or simply not having anyone in our lives to see us and cheer us on, or as in Sam’s case being so different from the people in her childhood home, that she grew up feeling like an alien in her own home. Sam's drive to find her father, to fill in the gaping hole his departure from her life left, would eventually take her on a winding adventure that would give rise to a deeply fulfilling musical career and the ability to fulfill the calling of her musical gifts. And thank goodness for all this because the music and lyrics that Sam has been able to allow to come through her have woven themselves into the tapestry of my own (and I am sure millions of others) lives. She had a strong drive to follow the lineage of creativity, to find out how the people who created music that spoke so strongly to her like Bob Dylan and Neil Young, were able to create those things.Sam was a founding member of the band The Be Good Tanyas whose debut album Blue Horse quickly earned them cult status as a beloved Alt Folk Band, it was named among 2002’s top 50 releases by Q Magazine (UK) and the band would go on to release more albums cherished by fans all over the world. Their albums Chinatown and Hello Love were met with glowing more reviews including four stars from Rolling Stone. The band toured sold out concert halls across North America and Europe. Their music was featured in tv shows like Breaking Bad and The L word. My excitement was because here I was sitting down in real life, with the person who had brought music and lyrics into the world that had been on the soundtrack to many of the important moments of my life for the better part of 20 years from weddings and births of my children to lazy sunday brunches and sunny sunday afternoons cleaning the house, in some way Sam had been with me through it all and here she was sitting down with me to tell me the stories of how it all came to be. One of my favourite moments in the episode is when Sam tells the story of how the lyrics and melody for  The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs came to her. This is one of my very favourite songs of all time (not just from the Be Good Tanyas repertoire) we got permission to share some of the song with you which you’ll hear when we get to that part of the conversation. If this podcast is meaningful for you, if you get inspiration or encouragement or simply raises your spirits to listen to it, please sign up to make a small $5 or $10 contribution each month. This has become a fulltime job, I am doing it all on my own. I am a single mom and entrepreneur. I love creating the show for you, but I will need your help to keep going. Find out more on Patreon.com/creativegeniuspodcast  Leave a review in apple podcasts  - they are very helpful for growing the show AND they are a wonderful way for me to know that what I am doing matters. Sign up for my newsletter on KateShepherdCreative.com I give away an original piece of art each month to a random someone who is signed up and I am about to do the draw for the next one And head over to The Creative Genius Facebook Page and join our private community there - we discuss our ah-ha moments from this podcast, share our creative pursuits, struggles, joys and support each other as we walk towards allowing the energy of creativity to take over the drivers seat of our lives. It was a chance encounter at the Vancouver Public library that brought us together way back in October when I was just starting the show. Like any adoring fan I may have gushed a bit and bravely asked her to join me in conversation on the show, hers was an immediate generous, warm and full-hearted YES. It took us a few months to line our schedules up and I am so pleased to be able to share this conversation and her music with you today. Here is my conversation with Sam Parton. In the weeks after this interview was recorded, Sam and I went on a walk through the sun dappled forest near my home. We talked more about life, creativity, and how much music industry has changed, with streaming services making it more difficult than ever before for musicians to make a living with their music. I wanted share some ways you can support Sam and her music. You can find those in the show notes on KateShepherdCreative.com To me Sam’s story is a beautiful love story, the love of a little girl for her natural born gift, the love of a daughter for her long lost father, and the love of an artist for creativity itself. Sam gave me so many things to think about, I really appreciated what she said about putting down the projections of how we see others as being so much more prolific or professional than which can help us to be brave enough to take the risk of looking like we don’t know what we are doing -  because from that place of lighthearted silliness magic usually happens. And as usual the word I pulled for today’s show was perfectly perfect. It was inspiration. I got the truthbumps when she started talking about inspiration. Friends, I think she might be right. What if it IS the other way around? What if inspiration is waiting for us? What would be available to you if you were to approach your creative practice as though inspiration was already right there waiting for you, and to allow yourself to approach creating from a place of truly not knowing anything and waiting to be shown?Special Thanks to Sam Parton and Birthday Cake Media for permission to use The Littlest Birds Sing The Prettiest Songs in this episodeKate Shepherd: art | website | instagramMorning Moon Nature Jewelry | website |  instagramCreative Genius Podcast | website | instagramSam Parton: website | instagram | bandcampResources discussed in this episode:Bob DylanNeil YoungDolly PartonJudy GarlandPlease share the show with a friend and if you are moved to make a financial contribution to the production of this podcast, THANK YOU here is the link for our Patreon

This episode is about creative blocks. This is a big topic, a lot of people really dread the idea of a creative block - when they happen the temptation can be to immediately try to fix it, or get past it  - to solve it, all to avoid what is actually a beautiful and inevitable part of the creative process. In this short, 15 minute mini episode, I'm going to give you three really tangible, actionable things that you can do when you're experiencing a creative block that will, in the end, make your creative practice that much richer.Visit KateShepherdCreative.com for a full transcript and to sign up for the extras I mention in this episode. 

In this episode Kate speaks with Kimberly Grigg, a wildly successful Interior Designer from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina who had figured out how to hack her creativity so that it was always ON. While this allowed her to build an empire for herself, it also literally almost killed her. She shares how that happened and what specific things she has done and continues to do to make sure that she remains healthy and able to express the gifts she was born to share with the world. If you are someone who struggles with stuff around control or if you have been feeling lately that something in your life is not quite right whether it is in your job or relationships or even with your creative practice  - I think you are especially going to get A LOT out of this episode.  I feel like there are so many of us who will benefit from what I think is somewhat of a cautionary tale from our guest Kimberly today. How significant the damage we can cause to ourselves and our lives when we stop listening to our inner voice. And how much more rich, enjoyable and purposeful our lives can become  when we do. If you could have been a fly on the wall during this interview you’d have seen me nodding vigorously throughout almost this whole conversation. When Kimberly described the gut wrenching fear and guilt she felt after she realized she had to shut down the part of her business that employed 20 people and generated all that income all because the joy was gone.. I felt that. I think we have all had to navigate getting out of least one situation that we created for ourselves through sometimes years of not listening to that quiet inner voice inside us. And even though it almost killed her, she found her way out of it by tuning in and dedicating herself to listening to it. And she was quick to admit that it is not always smooth sailing - sometimes she goes back to her old ways, but life is so much sweeter and happier and fuller now that she has gotten out of her own way and makes sure to always check in and ask herself, “Does this feel Joyful? If not then, why am I doing it? Things Kimberly and I talk about-How she learned to hack creativity so it was always on, and how it almost killed her-Being addicted to busy and how she made her way back from burnout-How to “burn down your life” when you have accidentally filled it with things you do not love-Learning to befriend creativity to have a sustainable relationship with it-Filling the cup - ways she does this that have improved her quality of life 1000 fold. -The simple routines that her doctor gave her to manage her stress and energy levels that she credits with saving her life-How bravery fits into creativity

In this episode I talk about some of the challenges I lived for most of my life, not knowing I had a condition called Aphantasia; which is an inability to conjure visual imagery, or a mind's eye that is blind. And how when I accepted this, I came to see how this condition is what is actually responsible for what I now see and know are my greatest strengths. Leaning into what makes us different is the path towards true fulfillment and expression of the gifts we came her to both receive and share. If you are tired of pretending you are "normal" or just like everyone else -  even if it is in one tiny corner of your life - that is great news! It means you have a hot clue to finding your superpowers.  This mini episode is the pep talk you need to bust out and be unapologetically YOU! FULL TRANSCRIPT Available at KateShepherdCreative.com

In this episode Kate speaks with New Zealand Visual Artist Phoebe Gander. Phoebe shares how difficult it was to live most of her life with undiagnosed ADHD, how for years she believed there was something deeply faulty about her and how that was the root cause of self-hatred and years of depression. When her own young son was diagnosed with ADHD, it led her to her own diagnoses which set her on a path of a deep healing and self acceptance which ultimately allowed her to step into the superpowers that ADHD had in store for her.  So many of us KNOW from a young age what we love and what makes us happy but in a misguided effort to be like everyone else we so often talk ourselves out of following those dreams. Phoebe’s story is a reminder to me of how important it is that we commit to seeing each other's differences as gifts, not things to be scared of. So much suffering and trauma can be avoided if we are encouraged to lean into what makes us different, rather than trying to make it go away. One of my favourite moments in the episode is when Phoebe talks about her painting “No light, no shadow” and how for her it is a very clear example for her of what she feels creativity is trying to do through her; which is to remind herself and others that without darkness there can be no light. When I think about little Phoebe and ALL the little people everywhere who are trying so desperately to achieve all the same things in all the same ways as their peers despite the fact that that is simply not how life works - my heart gets a lump in its throat. I wish we could just wave a magic wand right now and let every single person past present and future know this:  the thing that makes you different IS the thing that makes YOU so special. I am roaring encouragement at you to not waste another moment: LEAN into this thing. Things Phoebe and I talk about-How so many of us KNOW from a young age what we want to do, but in a misguided effort to be like everyone else we talk ourselves out of following our dreams.-What it was like to have undiagnosed ADHD for much of her life (no explanation for why she was so “different” -What the gifts and challenges of ADHD have been - learning how to balance those. -What creativity really is and what it is trying to do through her -Why she calls herself an emerging artist (even though she is very accomplished) -How the two years she studied art and theater in university were the “best two years of her life: -The pressure to come up with a “reasonable” job when we are younger. -How she hit rock bottom and what borough her back -Post-natal depression, post natal anxiety-Whether you can be a “real” artist even if you can’t draw (spoiler: the answer is yes) About Phoebe Gander:Phoebe Gander is a mixed media Artist, inspired by the beautiful ocean, skies and landscape where she lives with her family in Wainui Beach on the east coast of New Zealand. She predominantly uses acrylic paint and epoxy resin, as well as other fluid mediums such as acrylic ink and alcohol ink. She is self taught in these mediums however has a BA hons degree in printed surface design, which she gained studying at Falmouth College of Arts in the UK. She began creating art regularly again in 2018 and creates work using many layers, using paint and sometimes resin or other media to create depth and intrigue. ​Phoebe is fascinated by creating artworks that pull the viewer closer and drawn to creating abstract landscapes, full of textures and marks that tell a story. To her, there is something captivating about nature - it’s a never ending source of inspiration, ever changing with the seasons, the weather... in a time where everything is fleeting, where people want to consume things so quickly, she creates artworks for you to stand still and consider a moment caught in time. Living just across the road from the beach and with a backdrop of hills behind her home studio she feels a strong connection to the landscape that surrounds her.​Originally from the UK, Phoebe has lived in New Zealand with her husband for the past 15 years where they’ve since had three children.Kate Shepherd: art | website | instagramMorning Moon Nature Jewelry | website |  instagramCreative Genius Podcast | website | instagramPhoebe Gander: website | facebook | instagramResources discussed in this episode:Alcohol inksResin Additude.mag diagnostic tool for addDr, Richard Barkley adhd researchPower of Now Eckhart TolleIf you or someone you know is suffering with Post-Natal or Depression of any kind, please reach out to your local health-care provider Please share the show with a friend and if you are moved to make a financial contribution to the production of this podcast, THANK YOU here is the link for our Patreon

In this mini episode Kate talks about the importance of the words we use when we talk about ourselves and our artwork because our inner Creative Genius is listening. She shares a simple daily practice we can incorporate into our lives that will help us notice when we are being unkind to ourselves so that we can stop doing that and be kind to our Creative Genius - otherwise they are unlikely to come out to play and show us all the amazing things they have to share.  Full Show notes including transcript of todays show are available on  Kate ShepherdCreative.com