Category: Inspiration

Non-negotiables: Why You Must Say No

If you’re in it for the long haul, if you want to do more than survive, it’s imperative to learn when to say no.

The Gift of Creative Community

Guest blogger, Melissa Bergstrom, gives some helpful tips to consciously develop a supportive and challenging creative community. (Holiday Trees by Annie Spratt, cc) It’s mid December already (despite the lack of snow in the Northeast) and the holidays are suddenly upon us. To me, holidays mean twinkle lights, hot chocolate, and cozying up with my husband …

Failure: You Can Count On It

You’re going to have one of those days, when everything goes wrong… You can count on it. But I have the panacea. No, seriously, I do.

You Are Your Business… And More.

But here’s a truth that set me free, and I offer it to you: There is only one you. You are all of your identities.

Enough Stats!

After reviewing yet another study showing the effectiveness of the arts, shared across social media platforms in a desperate attempt to say “We matter!”… I shout, “ENOUGH!”

The Anatomy of Rebelling

We yearn for the adrenaline that comes with high risk and passion.  An electrical current that zaps an audience when you blatantly rebel.   But, ironically enough, memorable rebellion has a path: Fully embodying the expected standard without judgment or mockery. Going off the rails, either intentionally or accidentally. Questioning whether to go back to …

What Fuels Success Is…

Your success rate is based on need. So, this is a plea to dream, to care, to need!

Home: Where You Grow & Let Go

Love to all those who daily embrace creating and letting go.

Tiny Experiences, Big Impact

Today, in one of our Creativity Labs, a short inspiration led to a tiny experiment and became a big success! How tiny can you make this moment?

Rainbow Feathers – Developing an Idea

[fblike] It started as a handprint. But with a flip of his wrist he moved on to the ‘riskier’ idea. “What are you doing, Griffin?” I ask. “I need rainbow feathers.” Of course you do. Me too. And for the next few minutes that’s what we did, tried to make rainbow feathers where there were …

Plus Points to Failing

[fblike] Whenever you get concerned or frightened of failure, listen to Paul Simon’s Graceland. Listen and know that this Grammy Award winning album would never have happened if Paul Simon had not previously failed gloriously. In Jeremy Marre’s Classic Albums: Paul Simon – Graceland documentary, Simon talks candidly about the tailspin he was in, personally …

An Artist’s Impulse – The Gates

Christo’s The Gates. True answers are within. Provocations come from interaction. The process & the product are interdependent.

Tapping into Your Childlike Instincts

[fblike] “I began to think of children not as immature adults, but of adults as atrophied children.” K. Johnstone “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”  Pablo Picasso How do we tap back into our naturally creative selves?  We were born with the survival instincts to explore.  We …

Artist Statement

I am a revolutionary who believes in one’s potential not one’s past. I am digging deep, following arts’ roots to the source of humanity… Read more…

Master Class video – 2011 Actor Devised Theatre

[fblike] Last summer Episcopal School brought Creatively Independent in for a Master Class week of Physical Theatre.  It turned into a joyous adventure of actor devised work exploring the themes inside childhood games. This Master Class series is open to all Jacksonville students and will occur again June 25-29, 2012.  9-noon. *Open enrollment, limited space, …

Teaching as an Art Form and a LAB

The classroom, rehearsal hall or lab is where one must try anything and everything for the sake of the exercise or tool to be explored… Read more…

Summer Explorations in Dance & Theatre – MFA explorations

An educational romp through Berkshires’ art in the summer… … Read more…

A Living Study – MFA essay

This is just another clear example of how the seemingly individual threads of my life – work, motherhood, marriage, art – are woven into an intricate and ever-changing pattern of me. Which makes me question are any of us truly individuals? Even inside ourselves, there are many selves. Are we all tiny communities built out of tinier communities, all trying to focus on a common goal?

What am I watching: the performance or the performer?

A critical essay on a strong individual’s exploration inside the dance world. Read more…

Bearing Witness – MFA work

To observe without judgment, to help by not helping at all
Staying, listening, recording… Read more…