| | ARTELLAGRAM 4-10-10:
"In the Studio"
An Interview with Artist Wendy Fedan (This interview is continued from the April 10 2010 Artellagram...)
 Artella: How has your background affected your life and work today?
Wendy: I am working now on a series of Creative Retreats for Women to focus on philosophies I’ve learned from both ARTbundance™ and Julia Cameron’s The Artist’s Way. The purpose of these retreats is to reach out to others who might feel “trapped” or “stuck” in their lives/jobs. Creativity offers a way out of feeling stuck. It is also a spiritual experience, relieving stress and providing inspiration – even healing. In addition to the retreats I’ve finally followed my dream to begin a series of low-cost creative and spiritual workshops throughout the year, starting a Meetup group to launch this. This isn’t a full time job for me yet, though. I continue to do freelance art (Yay!) to pay the bills and feed my family.
Artella: What led you to become a Certified ARTbundance™ Coach?
Wendy: I wanted to broaden my knowledge of how to help others through creative and spiritual projects and workshops. I have a strength when it comes to organizing events and workshops, but I wanted to gain more confidence when it came to actually coaching others. It is financially a bad time to go back to school, so when ARTbundance™ popped up, I jumped at it. The creative/spiritual aspect of ARTbundance™ melded perfectly with my treasured Artist’s Way philosophies.
Sometimes just writing down the idea is enough. If I can get it out of my head and onto paper, I can stop thinking about it. I do refer back to my lists and descriptions of ideas and sometimes even end up completing them but often I just write them down and move on to the next thing. I always seem to find fresh inspiration just around the corner!
Artella: How has your ARTbundance™ training affected your work and/or life?
Wendy: The ARTbundance™Coach training ended up being a personal counseling session that I really needed. The ARTsignments™ gave me a chance to stop for a moment and explore/discover my self, my dreams and my life through creative expression. With two little ones at home, I have very little time to get out paints and materials to do anything fine-artsy, so I tried doing my ARTsignments™ using markers. I found this quite fun, returning to a playful state. I feel comfortable working with markers, and by my graduation I had found confidence enough to accept markers as an acceptable art medium, and have discovered and embraced my new whimsical style. I’ve created two black-and white illustrated e-books now using this fun, playful technique (visit my website’s SHOP page: http://www.wix.com/wfedan/createaway).
Artella: What does “prosperity” mean to you? How is prosperity related to creativity and spirituality?
Wendy: We begin life with a narrow view of prosperity: material possessions or wealth. I’ve come to realize prosperity is a frame of mind, really. I feel quite prosperous with my two beautiful children, a loving husband, good friends, and finally living a life where I feel fulfillment. I believe that if I ever go back to corporate land, at least I know how to protect my creative self. I know how to keep my creative child nurtured – and with God’s blessing I will find a way to bring it into the workplace somehow.
Artella: You’ve shared that one of your passions is running retreats. Why do you think retreats are important?
Wendy: We all need a break from “real life.” I like to use my retreats as a way for women to treat themselves for a change -- an extended “Artist’s Date.”
Artella: When you are creating a retreat, what are your goals for your participants?
Wendy: The basic goal is to connect with your “artist child.” I always want to offer a variety of workshops, so people can have a well-rounded experience at the retreat. Ideally I like to offer six workshops, with a choice of three, to allow women the freedom of designing their own personal retreat experience. I offer three types of workshops: creative-based, spiritual-based, and creative/spiritual based. Craft, art, and writing are typically the creative methods I keep with, keeping all techniques simple and fun. My retreats are attended by people who just want to try being creative for a weekend, and also by serious artists who feel a need to “let go” and play.
Artella: You recently have been exploring the topic of “Creative Ministry”. What does that mean?
Wendy: I had a spiritual moment right after I was laid off, which expressed to me that “Ministry” was something I needed to get into. I entertained several different ideas, including going back to school for Christian Ministry, Art Therapy, Counseling, etc. The idea finally came to me one night that I am already involved in a type of Ministry… “Creative Ministry.” I define it as an artist reaching out to others using his/her unique creative process, and encouraging others to experience and explore the creative process themselves. I realized this is a term that relates to many, and has been a type of movement that has progressed within the past couple decades – beginning perhaps with SARK, and peaking with The Artist’s Way creative movement. Now there is ARTbundance™!
Artella: ARTbundance™ Coaching is based on nine ARTbundance™ Principles. Do you have a favorite Principle, or one that you really enjoy activating in other people? Which one, and why?
Wendy: Intuition is my favorite principle, because it is my core principle. My intuition affects the choices I make when planning my retreats (leaders to use, and locations to explore). Therefore intuition also directly affects the actions I take, and the choice on whether to take action. Intuition is the most spiritually pure principle, and I guess that’s why I’m so attracted to it. I’ve learned that God speaks to me through my intuition – that’s why I trust it so much.
Artella: What does your future hold? What projects are you working on now?
Wendy: I am working on writing again – something I’ve put to the side for a while. I plan to write a series of articles, and perhaps compile a book about Creative Ministry. I have a collection of children’s books in different stages that I want to finish up and move on to self publish, as well as a novel I’ve been writing for over a decade about my childhood move from Ontario, Canada to North Carolina, USA.
I plan to continue my workshops and retreats, and hope to branch out into more retreat locations.
If any of this ends up being my full time job, I’ll be thrilled, but in the meantime I am content to continue working for clients like Hasbro and American Greetings on a freelance basis. Even though planning is a strength of mine, I have learned it is pointless to plan my life. God continues to surprise me. I’m looking forward to seeing what He has in store for me next!
Visit here to learn more about Wendy's ARTbundanceĀ Coaching and creative retreats.
 If you would like to receive notification and an application for the next ARTbundance™ Coach Certification Program, simply fill out the form on this page.
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