You’ve seen this work play out in my book, Art Is About Being Whole, and my program the Art Connection Circle, but now, I am diving even deeper in the possibilities of this spiritual connection I have with art.

Ever since being introduced to the work of Vanessa Zoltan (check out the podcast interview I did with Vanessa at this link) author of Praying with Jane Eye and host of Harry Potter and the Sacred Text podcast, I’ve been on the look out for a secular text that I could use as a sacred text. Her work resonates so deeply with my own work with art, but I haven’t found the right text for me.

Until now!

Introducing… Art Church!

I recently purchased The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An Intimate Self-Portrait, and the minute I pulled it out of the box, it was just oozing with energy. It felt so precious and sacred to see her thoughts and sketches and feelings spelled out in her own hand. I knew it was the right book.

And instead of keeping this work to myself, I am inviting you into with a new monthly free program, Art Church. 

Art Church is a secular yet spiritual program that delves into the profound depths of Frida Kahlo’s art, treating her artworks and diaries as sacred texts.

In our free monthly, live sessions and in our discussions in the accompanying Facebook Group, we will draw inspiration from Frida’s life and art for our own self-discovery and growth. This group is a sanctuary for individuals to connect deeply with themselves, each other, and the insights woven within Kahlo’s vibrant body of work.

Details:

Date: 4th Thursday of each month, starting March 28
Time: 7-8pm ET (convert to your time zone)
Register Here:

Facebook Group (not required!):  https://www.facebook.com/groups/artchurch

The sessions will be streamed into the Facebook Group so if you can’t make it live, you will have access the recordings that way.

I am so excited to begin this work with you. See you soon!

The post Praying with Frida in Art Church appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

What is Art Is About Being Whole?

As a member of this community, you already know that art has been my driving force for my whole life, so I couldn’t just write your average memoir.

Instead of just telling the story of life events that got me to where I am, I use my connections to and interpretations of art as a way to drive the narrative. This innovative approach to talking about art, events, and emotions combines interpretations of diverse works of art with the story of my journey from a place of anxiety and shame to a place of peace and wholeness. 

Each chapter features a work of art, and I weave together my story with the artwork to create something like you’ve never experienced before. For example, I interpret The Two Fridas by Frida Kahlo to unpack my shame and learn compassion, ponder on Monet’s Water Lily Pond to explore perspective, and use the artwork from the movie Jaws to describe my impending burn-out. 

The book also chronicles my return to writing poetry and making art after twenty years of working in the art field but never actually making my own art. 

I truly believe this book has the capacity to impact so many lives in beautiful and yet-to-be-seen ways. Art is a mirror of our humanity, and I hope that this book provides that same comfort for you.

Get your copy of this beautiful book at this link.

Listen to a Chapter from Art Is About Being Whole

Praise for Art Is About Being Whole

The post Art Is About Being Whole: A Memoir, my new book, is officially live! appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

In a book
or on Google
or in a course
or from the mouth of an expert or coach
or on crowdsourcing platform like Facebook.

One of the biggest lessons I personally have learned over the last few years is that I already have the answers that I crave inside of me.

My job is to know myself and to listen and stay true to the small voice inside that knows.

And sometimes that knowing is that yes there is a skill I need to learn or information I need to obtain from an outside source, but when we continually outsource our thinking to someone else and put our own internal knowing aside, we end up in situations that aren’t right for us. We make decisions that don’t feel right and that impacts our happiness and our wellbeing.

Art allows us to practice being in that place of uncertainty, practice listening to our inner voices, and then learn to trust what comes up.

It’s powerful and necessary process, and one I wish our education systems championed more than memorization and tests. But it’s one of my favorite benefits of looking at and discussing art.

I’d love to invite you to join the Art Connection Circle this summer so you can experience this process for yourself—spending time listening and connecting with your own inner voice. Get more details here.

🎙️🎙️🎙️ Also, on the podcast this week, Amanda Koonlaba of Party in the Art Room and I talked about how art helps us deal with uncertainty in our discussion of One Woman Show by Celeste Rapone. Listen to the Art and Self podcast here on my website or on your favorite podcast player.

The post Find the answers in you with the Art Connection Circle appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

NO. MATTER. WHAT

Then, in August, I added making art to my regular creative practice.

Here are some things I have learned.

1. Regular creative practice teaches my brain: I DO THIS NOW. Now, when I wake up, my brain kicks in and starts to write, whether or not it was the plan for the day.

2. My subconscious is always on the lookout for new input for the creative problems I am solving, and it sees connections constantly. Louis Pasteur said…  CHANCE FAVORS THE PREPARED MIND. I have absolutely found this to be true.

3. At the end of a daily creative practice, I may not have “made progress” towards the things I have created, but THE PROCESS OF ENGAGING WITH MY CREATIVITY IS PROGRESS even if no words were written or no images were committed to the page.

4. Daily creative practice chips away at my PERFECTIONISM. The goal to make something perfect stands in the way of moving forward. PERFECTIONISM PUTS MY CREATIVITY IN CHAINS. I am learning to allow myself to create GARBAGE. I can recycle it into something shiny later. Or not.

5. I have learned I am an ARTIST, and I am a WRITER. Not just someone who writes or someone who creates things. It is my identity and cannot be taken away from me. There is so much POWER and HEALING in that truth. I knew I was an ARTIST & WRITER when I was young, BUT I FORGOT.

Engaging in daily creative practice has CHANGED EVERYTHING.

The post 5 Things I Have Learned in the Last Year About My DAILY CREATIVE PRACTICE appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

I have made a big shift…

From Business Owner to Artist.

Copywriter to Writer.

Client to Coach.

For those of you followed me to get resources for art teachers may be confused by this switch, so I thought I’d explain a few things for you, and tell you how you can work with me moving forward!

So here I am. In one of my three favorite sweatshirts that are worn at home everyday over whatever I am wearing. With my unruly, graying hair. Without makeup or filters.

I’m not trying to be perfect for you, even if I tried in the past. I don’t care if you see me as unprofessional or overly emotional or an over-sharer or a little bit too much. I’m going to be 100% of myself with you.

​I’m Cindy Ingram.

I’m a creator. I’m a connector, a seer of patterns and meaning. I’m deeply emotional. I have anxiety and ADHD. To be honest, I’ve always felt a bit like an alien. 

I take charge and I have always stormed my way through life. The librarian at one of my teaching jobs once called me a “take-charge gal.” I’m pretty sure she found me terribly annoying.

I get an idea and I run with it.

I created Art Class Curator like that. I had the idea, and I charged forward. I had a website built in a matter of days. I did this out of a deep desire to help others connect with art in meaningful ways. To stop lecturing about artists and art history and actually start engaging and connecting. And, it has done that. The stories you all have told me about how your teaching has changed and about the depth of your students’ art connections are part of my legacy, and I cannot be more proud of this work.

The only problem came when my work took me farther and farther from the work of connecting with people, connecting with myself, and connecting with art. It became too much about strategy and management and hiring and delegation and convincing and scaling. It was more about systems and sustainability and branding and less about charging forward with energetic abandon.

(And I loooove to charge forward with energetic abandon! There’s nothing better than taking an idea and making something brand new come to life.)

The creator inside me got buried and stifled. This part of me started to scream louder and louder to be heard. It screamed through avoidance, writer’s block, perfectionism; it screamed through pain, headaches, itching; it screamed through anxiety, insomnia, depression, burn out.

I had to start listening to that voice inside me even if it meant changing everything about my work and my business. Even if it meant letting go of dreams that once drove me.

Even if it meant less money or success or accolades, because what good is any of that to me if I feel like what makes me who I am and what makes me feel most fulfilled in life is being stuffed into a suffocating box.

When I started listening, I realized that my connection with art and my overall message for my entrepreneurship was not about art education for just students and teachers, but about art CONNECTION for anyone and everyone. Art is a place to get in touch with your humanity.

I realized that my lifelong affinity for self development and my connection to art were actually one and the same. I have always used art as a tool for my own self development and my own wellbeing. The thing to help me care for my nervous system, the thing to meditate on, the thing to show me what I value, the thing that gives me a safe space to feel my feelings.

I realized that my connection to art and self has been the story all along, and I had started to lose sight of that.

So I started slowly aligning my work to fit this new paradigm—introducing the Art Connection Circle, shifting my book to be a memoir rather than an instructional book, getting an education and certification in life coaching (AND LEARNING I FREAKING LOVE COACHING), making art again, claiming my identity as an artist and as a writer. Owning my alien-ness. Breaking out of the box I had tried to fit myself in. 

And side note: All of this happened alongside the extenuation of the pandemic which we all thought would be way shorter than it ended up being. I’m seeing now how the field of education is in a state of emergency. Teachers are leaving the classroom in droves, and I can see clearly that the best way to support teachers right now is not through more lesson plans. It’s through helping them care for their energy, their own growth, their own wellbeing and peace, their connection with their purpose.

So my content in my emails, on my social media, in my podcast. It will be about all of this. About art, self, and the ways they intersect.

While the Curated Connections Library and the Art Class Curator blog aren’t going anywhere, I have to follow my inner guidance that leads me into a deeper connection with you as a person, not just you as a teacher, so don’t be surprised if you start getting emails and posts from me about feeling your feelings, following your passions, or whatever I feel called to share.

Here’s a few ways you can work with me if you are interested in connecting further:

• Your Artist Identity: Interactive Online Workshop for Soulful Creatives – Workshop tomorrow, March 14 at 5pm Central! You can register here artandself.com/identity
• Creativity Cocoon – Join me for artmaking in community a few times per week as well as monthly art connection workshops. – artandself.com/cocoon
• Do the Damn Thing: Creative Action Incubator – A 6-month coaching and mastermind program dedicated to helping you run towards the thing you want with energetic yet compassionate abandon. (starts in June) artandself.com/do-the-thing
• One-on-One Coaching – Interested to see what coaching is all about? Book a call with me to chat about it. artandself.com/discovery

Love to you and thanks for allowing me this space to open my heart.

The post Let me reintroduce myself… appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

During the workshop, I will lead you through some interactive and reflective activities that will help you identify your core values as an artist and how these values be the foundation can inform their creative choices and decision-making processes. And of course, you know me, this will include look at and talking about art!

In this workshop, you will get to connect and engage in deep conversation with like-minded individuals around art and the importance of creative practice for the self.

Whether you are a visual artist, writer, musician, or any other type of creative, this workshop is designed to help you gain a deeper understanding of yourself and your creative practice.

I look forward to seeing you there!

When: Tuesday, March 14, 2023, 5-6:30pm Central (change to your timezone)
Location: Zoom, The session will be recorded if you cannot make it live.
Cost: $33

Register using the button below. This workshop is free for members of the Creativity Cocoon!

The post Your Artist Identity: Interactive Online Workshop for Soulful Creatives appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

Electricity.

Something was definitely trying to come out, and I was not letting it. I knew what it was and why it was there and what caused it, but I hadn’t been dealing with it. Because I had work to do and people to take care of.
I used to be so good at holding in my feelings. 

Sadness, anger, grief, shame, resentment, envy…

Push that shit way down, Elsa-style.

❄️🎶 “conceal, don’t feel, put on a show” 🎶❄️

Even things like wonder and excitement didn’t feel safe to let people see, so I stuffed that down too.

But my skin doesn’t let me do it anymore. At the slightest hint of big emotions that my protective instincts say to repress, my skin sends out its electric porcupine spikes and forces me to feel what I am avoiding. 

In the moment, it’s fucking annoying. Hems of even my softest clothes (and I only wear soft clothes) scratch and pull uncomfortably at my skin. Soft breezes hurt. Cold is intolerable, but so is humidity. Gentle arm touches from others meant to be connection or comfort zap and then burn for minutes after the hand recedes.

I both hate it, and I am begrudgingly thankful for it now that I can recognize why it is happening.
It reminds me of all I have learned over the last few years through lots and lots of coaching and reading and working on myself that feeling my feelings is the only way to get through them. They want to be acknowledged and felt. And then released. 

The only way out is through.

So after a couple days of painful skin (it still takes me some time to realize what’s happening as my skin gets angrier and angrier), I finally allowed the flood of emotions to come out. I journaled. I listened to music. I talked to my husband, a few friends, my writing group, my therapist. I went to a sound healing. 

I cried all the tears. 

And now? my skin is finding its way to neutral as my emotions regulate. After wearing the same dress for three days in a row because it was all I could tolerate, I changed into something else. 

Emotions, when you don’t acknowledge or feel them, don’t go away. They have important learning for you. They allow the energy flowing through you to not get jammed up causing chronic pain or illness. 

“Feeling your feelings” may seem like a no brainer but it’s hard to do when you live in a society so ingrained in toxic positivity, 

in “don’t worry, be happy,”

in “it could be worse,”

in “look on the bright side,”

in “everything happens for a reason,”

in “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

When you live in a world where strong emotions make everyone else uncomfortable, and it’s our job as dutiful people pleasers to try to control everyone else’s experiences and emotions and opinions of us.

It’s been my whole life’s work to learn this for myself. To learn how to feel my big feelings unapologetically. And now to help others learn the same. I’d love to help you connect with your own feelings. 

Send me a message or book a call with the link in my bio to start the conversation. <3

The post How to Feel Your Feelings appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

But through life, societal conditioning, all the things, this beautiful, innocent part of me felt far too vulnerable. So for much of my life I worked hard to build a fortress around her, surrounded her with a moat, clothed her in armor. I buried her as deep as possible in my psyche—hid her from view to keep myself (and her) safe from judgment and criticism so much so that for a while, I forgot she was even there.

It’s taken years of work to slowly excavate this little girl and feel again the warm glow of her light. First to just be aware of her existence and then to start to release the heavy fortifications weighing her down. Removing layer after layer of things like perfectionism, fear of judgment, anxiety, worry, feelings of insignificance, shame, etc.

One by one as I released these protective coatings around her, I started to be able to work with her. To see her and feel the warmth of that ball of light which I now trust will never go out. It is the essence of who I am. I’ve had to learn it is safe to feel its warmth for myself and to let people see that light in me.

Do you need help finding the spark within yourself and releasing it from its armor? I’d love to hear about it. Book a discovery call, and let’s have a conversation.

The post Finding Your Spark appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

I can deeply feel what I believe and what I know to be true in my body.

My body knows the complexity of the issue, the pros and cons, the impact, but a “feeling of knowing” in my chest is not something I can necessarily bring out in an intelligent way in a conversation about the issues.

My body knows the heart or the essence of the issue, but sometimes I can’t get that knowing to come out of my mouth.

That’s when my friend had a mic drop moment. She asked…

“When has facts and figures ever changed anyone’s mind about anything? It’s the feelings behind it that always drive change.”

🤯🤯🤯

Of course facts and figures aren’t going to make the change.

It’s our humanity that makes the difference.

It’s our connection. Our compassion. Our love.

It’s our desire to express our humanity and our desire to see and be seen, to know and be known.

We need art for that.

The post We need art for that. appeared first on Cindy Ingram | Artist. Coach. Creative Soul Guide..

My ADHD brain was lit up in all the right ways.

I caught myself in the car one evening heading to get dinner for the family with just a giant smile plastered on my face—thinking how embarrassing it would be if someone I knew saw me driving looking so dopey.

(And then questioning why should I be embarrassed for being so happy?)

This week? Not so much.

The switch flipped from excited and delighted by everything, to suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the constant activity of my neurodivergent brain. I’m having a hard time following a thought from start to finish. That invisible-to-others hyperactivity in my brain can be completely exhausting.

I’m frustrated by my executive dysfunction which makes hard things that “shouldn’t” be hard. Everything I try to do seems to take longer than usual, with a lot more struggle. I can’t will myself to do what needs to be done around my house. My feet are stuck in the piles of clean laundry that I can’t seem to get put away.

Then, I get trapped in not only dealing with the misery that ADHD can bring sometimes but in the self judgment of that misery.

“Why can’t I just get it together?” the old neural pathways—pre-diagnosis—ask repeatedly.

But then I compare this with art, which you know I love to do, and my system relaxes a bit.

What if the Jaws theme song started and stayed at the intense moment with the DUN DUN DUN and the horns blasting?

What if the Jaws poster didn’t have the peaceful swimmer at the top to add contrast to the giant shark with its riotous teeth?

Art needs contrast to be interesting. The big moments are made big because of the comparison with the small. The high points are higher when they are alongside the low. Tension needs a relief to fully be appreciated.

How can I allow the low points to be part of my creative process?

How can I honor and validate all parts of my process—the sky high moments where I feel like I am fully alive and the low moments where I need to rest with my blanket and dog in my lap and a video game controller in my hand?

How can I opt out of the idea that my value is determined by standards set by people whose brains don’t work like mine and by capitalism’s pressure of constant productivity?

How can I be there for myself, my emotions, the restless and frustrated parts of me? Reminding them that this feeling won’t last forever, but today it is okay to soothe the discomfort, to slow down, to rest my tired system.

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