The 'Find Your Joy Taster Course' is a free eight-day online workshop aimed at helping participants, from beginners to experts, discover their unique ways of artistic expression. It emphasizes creative flow and collaboration rather than teaching specific painting techniques.
Rachel Davis encourages avoiding overthinking to help artists connect with their primal instincts of joy and love in their work. She believes that overthinking leads to decisions based on external expectations, trends, or what others might like, rather than what genuinely excites and inspires the artist.
Rachel distinguishes 'frantic excitement' as a state driven by FOMO (fear of missing out) and external pressures, while 'settled joy' is a more internal, calm, and body-centered feeling. She suggests that true joy and love in creativity come from a place of deep internal alignment, not external validation.
Rachel focuses on helping students explore their unique preferences and choices rather than mimicking her techniques. She encourages experimentation, noticing what sparks joy, and using tools like the jelly plate to facilitate self-expression and discovery.
Louise Fletcher argues that failure is crucial because it allows artists to learn and grow. She emphasizes that even experienced artists produce a lot of work they don’t like, and this process of trial and error is necessary to reach the 'good stuff.' She dispels the myth that 'real artists' don’t fail.
Rachel acknowledges that she sometimes doubts whether her varied artistic practice will be taken seriously. However, she embraces her 'jump-around brain' and follows what excites her, believing that forcing herself into one style would drain the joy from her work. She accepts her natural tendency to explore multiple mediums.
Rachel believes that identifying what you hate can be a powerful tool for discovering what you love. She suggests that strong feelings of dislike can act as a doorway to understanding your preferences and finding your unique artistic voice, as they highlight what truly resonates with you.
Louise Fletcher reassures aspiring artists that failure is a natural part of the creative process. She shares examples of famous artists like Van Gogh, who struggled initially but persisted through practice. She encourages artists to embrace the 'crap' they create as a necessary step toward improvement.
Rachel emphasizes that fun is a crucial indicator of being on the right creative path. She challenges the notion that art has to be difficult or serious to be valuable, suggesting that ease and enjoyment are signs of tapping into one’s natural mode of expression.
Louise Fletcher encourages students to embrace their uniqueness and not worry about fitting in. She celebrates when students create something entirely original, even if it doesn’t resemble anything they’ve seen before. She believes that the desire to fit in can stifle creativity, and standing out is a sign of artistic authenticity.
As Louise prepares to teach her annual online course, she is joined by Californian artist (and former student) Rachel Davis, to discuss the ideas behind the course. The conversation centers on the importance of finding our own creative flow, and also the ways in which we sometimes block ourselves from accessing it. Our conversation touches on common fears and limiting beliefs and also the tricks we play on ourselves to overcome these.
We hope this conversation unlocks something for you, and we also hope you'll join the free Find Your Joy taster course for 8 days of unfettered creative flow! Click HERE) to sign up.
Mentioned
Louise Find Your Joy) free course