Canadian emerging Artist, Teresa Coulter lives in Calgary Alberta Canada. She is known for her Abstract Expressionism. Her portrait series called “ Sock Drawer Stories” forged a new pathway to address the social stigmas associated with Mental Health in the workplace. What started as a small artistic venture to heal herself, as well as Paramedic colleagues, has since grown into a narrative on a national stage. Teresa has been awarded several awards such as: The ATB financial Healing Through the Arts Award in 2017, Hometown Hero Award , and a Public Service Award through TEMA.
Teresa’s art raised awareness of Mental Health well beyond her Art studio, and first-responder network. She is honored to have participated in and collaborated with: Calgary Police Services, Legacy Place Society, The Other Side of the Hero documentary; the #nowimstronger 60 day campaign with Canadian Mental Health; White Coat, Black Art with Dr. Brian Goldman; and Uptalk podcast with Sean Conohan . Articles of her work have published and can been seen in: Global News, Challenger Magazine, Link magazine, and Live up Magazine.
Since 2000 Teresa Coulter has been a Practicing Primary Care Paramedic and continues to work at building resilience in the First Responder community.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/teresacoulter
-How she got into emergency services but always had a desire towards creativity.
-How she became a nude model because she wanted to see herself through somebody else’s eyes.
-The vulnerability that holds us back from asking for help.
-How she uses her art to help her interpret the world and to interpret PTSD.
-The way in which she came up with the title for her Sock Drawer Stories series.
-Her experience of opening up and cleaning her “sock drawer.”
-How she appreciates when people have a reaction to her art, whether it be positive or negative.
-The ways in which PTSD causes you to lack the words to describe what you are going through (and the way that art can help you to express yourself).
-The value of long-form conversations, and how social media has taken that from us.
-How creativity allows us to be present in the moment.
-The idea of your mind being a garden.
-The power of the story that we tell ourselves and the boxes we put ourselves in.
-How Bob Ross changed the course of his life through art.
-How people can have more comfortable and safe conversations about struggles with mental illness.
-How to handle a situation in which someone is suicidal.
“I became a nude model and would sit for these incredible artists because I wanted to see myself through somebody else’s eyes.”
“A photograph captures one second, but when you are sitting for an artist, there are multiple seconds that are passing and being captured into one final product.”
“I don’t paint for people to love everything that I do. I actually appreciate if somebody is strongly disgusted by my art.”
“Art is this incredible thing that you can use for change. We need it in our lives.”
“People want to see your growth. There’s something beautiful in the process of growing. Why wait until you think that you’re good enough because that will never be achieved.”
“We have the ability to change the course of our lives whenever we want. It’s just about connecting to that internal compass and honoring it, feeling it within the depths of ourselves.”
Mental Health First Aid Courses
Website / Facebook / Instagram
Vanessa Vakharia : The Math Guru / Goodnight, Sunrise
Alisa Kennedy Jones is an American memoirist, blogger, novelist, and awkward public speaker. A regular contributor to NPR, her wildly popular blog Gotham Girl has amassed nearly 50K avid followers worldwide. She also writes for television and theater and lives with the absurdly titled "ecstatic epilepsy" which she's less than ecstatic about.
In her new book, Gotham Girl Interrupted: My Misadventures in Motherhood, Love and Epilepsy, she shares a collection of comedic essays about life with epilepsy as a single mother in Manhattan.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/gothamgirl
-The story of her first seizure and being diagnosed with epilepsy.
-Learning in television and film that “nothing is precious.”
-The lesson that can be learned from improv acting: “Yes, and…”
-When it is time to move past the denial stage.
-How our brain’s function is to tell a story.
-The way in which it felt like she had a blank slate after every seizure.
-How she wanted to make her narrative different than the typical ones that involved suffering and alienation.
-The differences between writing a book and writing for television.
-How she had to push to express how she was feeling “right to her edge” in her writing.
-Dealing with the ultimate imposter syndrome of not recognizing yourself in the mirror.
-The importance making room for neurodiversity in our world, and why that was a major reason for her writing Gotham Girl Interrupted.
-How she wrote the entire first draft stream-of-consciousness.
-The experience of meeting the people who have read her book.
-How neuroplasticity helped her to find her words again.
-How boredom can actually be useful.
“You can be doing things in the way that you think that you are most creative and then suddenly the world rushes in to tell you that you have some more thinking to do.”
“What was happening around me wasn’t that I was dying. For me, it was like being trapped in a Van Gogh painting.”
“Denial works until your head is really hurting.”
“It was the ultimate reboot, in a way. It was like waking up with a new brain.”
“I wanted to get at something more than just complaining about this thing that had happened. I wanted more invention. I wanted more imagination. I wanted more.”
“I think that our world is better for a space that allows for neurodiversity. Everyone is very differently wired. I want us to make room for all different kinds of brains.”
“Don’t be afraid to write or speak to the edge of yourself, of your fears, of everything.”
Gotham Girl Interrupted: My Misadventures in Motherhood, Love and Epilepsy by Alisa Kennedy Jones
Teresa Coulter : Website / Instagram
-Her history as an ultra-marathoner.
-The similarities between ultra-running and creativity.
-“Binging” in the studio.
-How she first got interested in making jewelry.
-Dealing with her own feeling the being a jeweler is less legitimate than other forms of art.
-How calling herself a “maker” allows her the permission to try out other forms of art.
-The importance of remembering that art is meant to make others feel happy.
-How writing her artist statement gave her a backbone and motivation.
-The story of getting through a major injury.
-Her vow to find her true self after realizing that she didn’t know who she was.
-The difference between her killer instincts in racing versus her shyness to “win” at art.
-The need for creative individuals to find their tribe.
-The various ways that she is attempting to get in the back door of the industry.
“I cannot stop being creative. It’s like this fountain that’s just overflowing. And the cool thing about it is that I feel like it’s never going to run dry.”
“I do not have to apologize for how I choose to thrive.”
“I’m thinking of all these backdoors and creative ways to get into the industry that other artists aren’t thinking about.”
“You cannot flourish if you are living with shame.”
Alisa Kennedy Jones : Website / Twitter / Blog
Jason Polins graduated from Boston University’s Visual Arts Program then attended Florence Academy of Art in Florence, Italy. After graduating, he returned to Boston area to pursue direct studies with notable painters such as Nelson Shanks, Thomas Dunlay and Gary Hoffmann. All of whom Jason remain closely connected to as mentors and friends.
Moved by the beauty of nature and our modern world. His genre of expertise include portraiture, figure, still life and landscape/cityscape. Jason works in graphite, charcoal and oil paint.
Outside of Polins Atelier, he also teaches art classes in oil painting, drawing at Northeastern University and several local art centers.
Full shownotes: http://yourcreativepush.com/jasonpollins
-Studying in Florence using the sight-size method.
-The “reset” that he got through working with Nelson Shanks.
-The innate search for truth that art allows us to investigate.
-His advice for people to stop stewing in their own angst and let go in order to get to their art.
-His mantra of “Make a mark to adjust a mark.”
-Just how much of an artist’s time is spent practicing.
-The importance of separating yourself from your preconceptions of what you are painting (and how to do it).
-How his mind works with straight lines and angles versus curves.
-His attempt to keep his brain more engaged than the moment that just passed.
-Looking at the world scientifically, through a series of theories and proofs.
-Gathering, organizing and presenting.
-Being mentally present in your decision-making.
-The various ways that he makes money.
-His friendship with Alexander Soukas.
-The importance of not just seeking out mentors and teachers, but also gaining as much wisdom from them as possible.
“Visual art is a conversation that I don’t think that I’ll ever figure wholly but always endeavor to understand better.”
“It’s not about your skillset. It’s about how you use it.”
“The idea of, ‘Make a mark to adjust a mark,’ is just a fundamental starting point to clarify that you have to do in order to do better.”
“People don’t practice enough. We get pushed ahead to create masterpieces.”
“What’s the measure of success? I don’t like it to be money. I don’t even like it to be that I finished something. I’d like it to be that I showed up and put in time. If I can do that I think that I’m moving forward somehow.”
“It’s not ‘in it to win it’ with art. Forget that. It’s just being in it.”
“It’s really important to be able to be impressed by a student that you might have and to also impress upon them. Something excellent comes out of that.”
“It’s too big for us to connect individually. Life is short and art is long. We don’t get to see the whole picture.”
Alexander Soukas on Your Creative Push
Website / Polins Atelier / Instagram
Sada Crawford : Instagram