Rediscovering Your Passion and Getting Back to Your Roots as an Artist with Flora Bowley

Welcome back to The Abundant Artist, the show that dispels the myth of “the starving artist” and shares how you can live an abundant life as an artist and make a living from your talent one interview at a time.

 

Returning to the podcast today is Flora Bowley! Flora is a painter, pioneer, permission-giver, and author of four books: The Art of Aliveness, Brave Intuitive Painting, Creative Revolution, and Fresh Paint. She believes that creativity has the power to awaken, empower, heal, and transform; and that you have everything you need right now to reignite your creative fire.

 

Blending over twenty-five years of professional painting experience with her background as a yoga instructor, healer, and lifelong truth seeker, Flora shares her advice for creating art intuitively, letting go, and rediscovering your love of art (without getting caught up in the technicalities and perfectionism). She speaks about what we can do to get unstuck, how she guides artists through artistic exploration in her retreats, her wisdom around staying connected to your creativity, and more.

 

If you’ve been feeling the pressure around creating art and are struggling to let loose, have fun, and reconnect with why you began creating art – this episode is for you! As a retreat leader and guide for other artists, Flora has incredible insight into what it takes to reignite your love for creating and connecting to your artistic expression.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:30] Cory welcomes Flora back to the podcast!

[:52] Flora shares what she has been up to since her last appearance on the podcast.

[2:55] About Flora’s new retreat center.

[5:05] What kind of retreats has Flora historically led? How have the retreats that she runs now shifted? Why does she love doing retreats?

[12:40] Flora shares what she believes the purpose of art is, and how she guides artists in creating raw, beautiful art from their souls.

[14:37] Bringing the art of creativity to non-artists. Flora’s advice on reconnecting to the love of simply creating without getting caught up in the technicalities and technique.

[19:37] What inspired Flora to buy her own retreat center? What inspires her to do this work?

[26:22] The silver lining of the pandemic with regards to creating, change, and community.

[28:27] About the two books that Flora published during the pandemic.

[30:26] Flora shares what it was like to transition from writing about painting to writing about ideas for her newest book.

[34:23] About Flora’s painting book that she released during COVID, Fresh Paint.

[37:03] The artist paradigm.

[41:01] Cory’s book recommendations.

[42:04] What art may come out of the great resignation? Why are artists and non-artists craving simplicity?

[45:19] What mindfulness looks like to Flora and how she engages in it.

[47:50] How does Flora exercise/move outside of creating?

[50:18] Where to learn more about Flora.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:
Flora Bowley’s Website

Flora Bowley’s Books

“Brave, Intuitive Painting Careers with Flora Bowley” – Episode 5

“What It’s Like to Sell 100,000 Paintings with Jose Trujillo” – Episode 43

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less, by Greg McKeown

Effortless: Make it Easier to Do What Matters Most, by Greg McKeown

 

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