November 1, 2023 • 42 mins
Creativity is often a deeply personal and transformative process, but many of us find ourselves held back by fear and self-doubt. In this week's episode, we dive into this critical intersection of creativity and fear with our special guest, Kimberly Mason.
A busy wife, mother, and pathologist by profession, Kimberly shares her personal journey of longing for artistic expression and the roadblocks she's faced along the way.
One of the biggest barriers to creative expression is fear. Fear of vulnerability, fear of judgment, and fear of disappointment often stop us from pursuing our creative dreams. Our conversation with Kimberly uncovers the importance of creating a safe space for creativity and the value of taking small, consistent steps towards our creative goals.
Tune in to find out if the art "challenge" we propose to Kimberly helps get her creative juices flowing. If you're feeling stuck, this same challenge might be just the thing to get your own creative momentum going.
If you'd prefer to watch this podcast, you can find us over on our YouTube page (The Mama Judy & Jill Podcast).
We'd LOVE to hear from you! Click here to send us your thoughts and ideas for a future episode.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Oh good, you made it.
We are so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Mama Judy andJill podcast, an
intergenerational chat aboutlife, art and the creative
process.
I'm your host, jill, andjoining me is my wonderful
co-host and bonus mom, mama Judy.
Let's get started.
Well, hi, welcome back.
We're so glad to see you.
(00:21):
Mama Judy and I this week arejoined by a wonderful guest.
Her name is Kimberly Mason andshe's going to tell you a little
bit about herself today.
But how this interview came upis Kimberly and I bumped into
each other at a concert downhere in Asheville, north
Carolina, and we had a littleconversation about being
artistic and being creative andsome things around that.
(00:42):
So that's what we're going tobe discussing today.
But first of all, kimberly,welcome.
And why don't you just tell ouraudience a little bit about
yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Okay, well, I am a mom and a wife and a pathologist
, which is, for those of you whodon't know, is a tissue doctor,
a laboratory doctor, and youmay be familiar with the show
CSI and be thinking I'm aforensic pathologist and I do
death investigation.
That is not what I do.
I look at pieces of live people, as opposed to the alternative
(01:12):
in CSI the whole dead person.
So that's what I do for myprofessional life and that it's
spent a lot of time doing momfamily stuff too.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Wonderful.
Well, thanks for being here,hey, Mama Judy hey.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Jill, Hi Kimberly, Hi Judy Great to meet you.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, you can call her Mama Judy, mama Judy, okay,
good.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Absolutely All right.
Well, we are going to getstarted with a sentence.
You actually we went back andforth with emails a little bit
and Kimberly, the way that shetold me something about before
we got started on the podcast, Ithought was very interesting,
which we thought Mama Judy and Ithought could be a good jumping
off point.
You said I'm not really anactively creative person in the
(02:00):
way I think I'd like to be.
Okay, I just love that and I'm,of course, looking at the way I
think I'd like to be, which isvery intriguing to me and I
think we would love for ouraudience.
We have a lot of creativepeople that are listening, but
there's still people out therethat are listening that they are
not sure.
(02:21):
They may have reservationsabout jumping into being
creative for whatever differentreasons.
So today we're going to learn alittle bit about you and maybe
figure out what's going on andsee if there's something you'd
like to expand on creatively,and we just thought this would
be a fun chat, yeah good.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, as far as like how I'd like to be, is that what
you're asking me to expand upona little bit?
Yeah, how I think I'd like to berather.
Well, you know, I love, I loveseeing what people create and
learning about their process andwhat they're expressing and
that sort of thing, and I feellike they're like I would like
to generate more of that myself,but I don't know that I've
(03:02):
either.
I'm not sure what stumps me ifI don't, if I believe that I
don't have it in me, or it'sjust not going to be good enough
if it is there, or if it's notworth the effort, because I, you
know, I've always kind ofenjoyed artistic endeavors, but
I've always let other thingscome and come ahead of those.
So I was a science math girl whokept putting the art classes
(03:24):
off and you know, I just stuckwith science math.
That served me well and I justkind of didn't really make much
time for the art part.
Now and then I'll I'll put alittle bit of energy or effort
or time into it and it's kind offun.
But I think I'm a little afraidto put too much into it because
I'm afraid of beingdisappointed.
Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Possibly.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So, but does that, does that resonate with with you
, Jill, or Mama Judy?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Absolutely You're disappointing yourself.
Absolutely.
You know it really.
I think it's a common thingKimberly all of us.
Before I say this, let me justsay that some of the most
artistic people I have run intoare what surprised me, in that
(04:17):
they're left brain sciencepeople, but they also have this
wonderful artistic side, so allyou need to do is develop that
side.
But from what you said, I thinkone of the most common things
for all of us and this goes forexperienced artists we're very,
(04:41):
very vulnerable when we put ourstuff out there.
Oh yes, and I think whathappens is perhaps somewhere
along the line.
Maybe when we were young kids,we got hurt when we expressed
our vulnerability.
So we have a tendency to lockit inside, and that alone, I
(05:04):
think, can keep a person fromgoing forward if we don't feel
safe.
And so what I?
What has helped me in the past?
When I get to feeling like that, or especially when I was
younger, I would only show mystuff to people that I trusted,
(05:28):
and by that I mean people that Ifeel comfortable.
If they gave me a critique thatwasn't as flattering as I
wanted it to be, I would not getput off by that.
But I think that vulnerabilityexposing our underbelly, so to
speak, because when you create,no matter what it is, it's
(05:52):
really coming from the heart,from that unspoken, unseen part
of ourself, and it's tough toput it out there for the world.
And I'm going to use a word fromyour profession it's hard to
put anything out there and letthe world dissect it, which is
(06:12):
what happens when we putsomething out there for people
to look at.
They dissect it and that can bea very, very scary place to go.
And so for anybody, includingin my past and people listening,
that's something you want totake in very tiny steps, and
(06:38):
maybe the first step is just theself analysis.
If, when you're by yourself,you ask yourself what's holding
you back.
If you get an emotional chargefrom something like somebody
might not like what I do, thenyou can just bet that's where
(06:59):
it's coming from.
And then, once you identify it,it's a lot.
It's like bringing theboogeyman out of the closet when
you were a kid.
Once you bring something tolight, then you can work with it
.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I have a question.
So, when you've dabbled or donesome creative expression in the
past, what was it like?
Are you drawn to a certainmedium or what do you like to do
?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, I've had the most success with photography
and I think it's because I cansort of do the composition
instantaneously and capture itwithout the all of the hard
parts of collecting thematerials and planning it out.
And because I'm not a greatplanner or organizer, the
frontal lobe stuff is kind ofnot great.
(07:48):
It's not great.
You know, like I love order butI'm not good at creating order,
you know that sort of thing.
But so with photography I canjust kind of compose, I can see
it and take the picture andcapture it.
So I've had the most successwith that, probably, but
different things.
I love to make art with thekids and so I've had a lot of
(08:09):
fun just doing like I actuallygot a few things.
So I made these little thingswith my daughter.
It's cardboard that we putchalk on and made these little
monsters and then put a magneton the back.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
How you know, so you're listening to audio.
Only Go over to the Facebookpage, no, the YouTube page, and
I'll tell them where they canlook and see this sweet little.
It's cute, right.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I mean we used to recycle materials and she sells
them at this little festival wego to called Leaf.
Oh, okay, so I've had you knowso kind of the I think the low
stakes, low pressure kind ofthings like playing, doing
crafting with the kids withrecycled materials.
You know there's no financialoutlay or expectation and I
(09:02):
think that that's where I that'sanother place that I've had
pretty good success.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I was gonna say you just reminded me I did the same,
because I have only steppedinto my creative expression in a
more confident way over thelast like year and a half or so,
with a lot of Mama Judy'sguidance.
But when Billy was younger wewould go to town with the
construction paper doingHalloween stuff in the window
and I had so much fun and Ialmost felt like, well, this is
just for little kids stuff.
(09:27):
So I was probably feeling likeI'm well, it's more cutting out
for him this image.
But I mean, I had so much funand I didn't feel like I was
gonna be judged by it.
It was just fun and, seeing itthrough his eyes, I think that's
probably a common thing forMama's.
If we don't consider ourselvescreatives, we get into that
expression of being creative,which is still being very
(09:48):
creative, but it's a little bitmore protected.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yes, more protected, I think that's true.
More accessible that way, andwe wouldn't judge our children's
work, so we don't turn thatsame eye on ourselves.
I think too.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yes absolutely, and you have really hit upon some
key words Kimberly Expectations,judgment protection that's what
it's all about.
So your steps and I am gonnacall it your artistic steps of
working with your kids is awonderful foundation because the
(10:26):
more you do with them and yousee their success, it'll feed
into the way you feel about yoursuccess and that's when you
choose to develop it.
Obviously, right now, with afull-time job, being a mother,
being a wife, perhaps thereisn't enough time to
(10:50):
consistently do what you want todo, but every step you take
like that is fantastic and Ilove it.
And I absolutely love the factthat your daughter is selling
them, because I follow an artistin New Mexico and I would say
this woman is probably in her60s who makes animals that she
(11:16):
sells that your daughter's workreminds me of, so that is not
just child's art.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
That is art.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
That is what people would call a primitive art
Americana.
So that whole process isabsolutely wonderful.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Oh, good, well, thanks.
Well, it's gratifying for me.
I think it's really fun.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And that is the word you never wanna lose track of,
no matter how hard things get inyour developing your own art in
the future, Always remember funhas to be the number one thing.
It doesn't mean you won't workhard at it, but if it's not fun,
(12:01):
step back and take a break.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yes, gratifying.
Well, kimberly, I'm curiouswith your photography, then.
Do you so?
Do you take pictures?
Would you have like a good, youknow, like a DSLR?
Do you use your iPhone or both,and do you?
Carry it with you, or is itkind of tucked away?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I have a DSL, a single lens reflex SLR right,
yeah, so it's digital, so Iguess that makes it a DSLR.
I had a film camera that Ireally loved and I actually took
some darkroom classes years agowhen we lived in Memphis and
that was a lot of fun.
And when we bought our house inAsheville there's a basement
with a bathroom and I thoughtfuture darkroom.
But you know that organizationcreating order, part of my brain
(12:46):
, that is not so great.
The darkroom has not everhappened, but maybe one day if
those materials are stillavailable.
I don't even know if you canget darkroom materials anymore
with all the digital, but I havehad fun with my digital camera.
And now with editing tools andall of that.
That can be a lot of fun.
And the cameras on the phoneare really good to if you're not
(13:09):
gonna enlarge it to makeresolution isn't as good on
those, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And there are some wonderful products not what's
the, not Photoshop, and I meanprofessional type products out
there that you don't have to dothe darkroom in order to do the
things on your iPhone that youwould normally do with in the
(13:40):
darkroom.
There's some great products outthere.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
There are.
I've played with them a littlebit and just a little over my
head.
Little too technical for me.
I haven't become adept at usingthose.
But I can use the Apple toolspretty well on the iPhone and on
the computer.
So I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
But it's fun.
Well, at least you have thosetechniques to continue to play
around with, and as you get morefamiliar with those, then your
interest in doing it willprobably increase, I'm guessing
yeah maybe so.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Okay, so I have a question then.
Just because we had thisconversation, we kind of talked
about maybe some underlyingfears or things that come up for
all of us, and At this point,are you in any way looking?
Is that something that youreally want to make a bigger
part of your life?
Is it something that's kind ofbeen nudging you inside?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, definitely, definitely yeah, there's a
desire there, but I'm a personwho kind of like, I do need a
little nudge, I need a littledirection, I need a little plan.
I think that's why, every nowand then, I'll sign up for a
class and whatever.
I did do a little sketchingclass and that was fun, but that
ended and the sketching ended,and I took a little pottery
(15:06):
class and that ended, and Iprobably won't do that again.
I don't think that's my medium,but so yeah, but I think it
would be great if I did a littlesomething every day, even if
it's just a little tiny bite.
But I don't know, for whateverreason, I think there's some
perfectionism in there.
For sure, something kind of isin my way, like maybe I need a
(15:29):
prescription or something.
Some of my plants might help memake them up with a plan.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I just want to mention one thing.
That is Inktober, so it'sdifferent than with photography,
because my son Billy that he'sa real good sketch or drawer,
but he does it some, but inOctober he commits to doing it
for the 31 days and you post iton Instagram so it holds, he
holds accountable, but somethinglike that could be interesting.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And it could be.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, and maybe if it were around your photography?
There's probably challengeslike that where post a picture
day, whatever it is, and even ifit's just something simple or I
hadn't thought about that,about playing the social media
kind of approach.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I've not thought about that.
I'm not much of a fittingmyself out there person with
these things, so that soundsscary to me, but maybe, well,
that would be something worthconsidering.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
One good place to start, because what you're doing
when you do that is that's yourfirst foray out into the big
wide world with your art.
And there are a lot of things,like Jill said, like on Facebook
, for example, people willchallenge other people.
Okay, I've been nominated byXYZ to put a picture a day that
(16:54):
I draw out there, and that's anice environment because both
it's safe because people are outthere that are not necessarily
out there to critique your work,but it gets you into the habit
of going.
You know, I can do this, I canput something out there.
(17:15):
And one of the biggest thingsis, if you do, just be okay with
whatever comments or the amountof likes.
And the reason I say this is Ihave suggested in the past to
people to try something out onFacebook, but then they said
(17:39):
they would sit around looking atFacebook waiting for people to
like their picture.
Well, that hasn't gone a word, Iknow.
So if you chose to do somethinglike that, kimberly, really
it's for you, it's not foranybody else.
It's just something for you tosay okay, I can do this, I can
(18:01):
take this step, I will take thisstep, and that's all that.
It's there for, it's not foranybody else.
It's not to collect those oldso-and-so likes me, it's just
you taking that step into abrand new world.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
And Kimberly.
That's how I started doing mystitching stuff.
I only put, I started aseparate Instagram account just
for my art stuff and I thoughtthis if I tell myself I'm gonna
post pretty frequently somethingthat I'm stitching, I will, I
will hold myself accountable.
So I started doing that, but itwas more for me and I am so
grateful now that I did that.
(18:41):
Because, number one, there'sthis cool like artie community
that I'm now part of that Inever would have known about.
But, more importantly, it's funto look back.
You know if you could look backat your photographs or I'm
looking back at my stitchingstuff and see how I've grown and
also yeah, you have thatarchive and also seeing where I
knew.
when I see something, I knew Iwas struggling with
(19:02):
perfectionism there.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Or.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I was so scared and embarrassed to post that, but I
told myself I have to because Isaid I'm going to and it felt
like one I posted.
I literally felt like lookslike a four year old who created
this and it was kind ofembarrassing, but I did it
anyway.
And so now and it was kind of Ifelt like I needed that to push
myself to be creative.
Cause, if I were just to say tomama Judy, yeah, yeah, I'll do
(19:25):
some stuff or whatever, itwasn't gonna hold me enough
accountable.
So that is why I created myInstagram art account and now
I'm so grateful I did.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Kimberly, I just wanna say one thing.
You talked about trying pottery.
You tried sketching.
That's great, because whatyou're doing without any
expectations there, you'reexploring to find the medium
(19:56):
that grabs your heart.
Over the years I've done beadedjewelry, bead embroidery,
stained glass, felting, painting, mixed media, you name it.
I've probably tried it one timeand each one of those, for a
very short period of time,grabbed me, but then they went
(20:19):
away and I realized, like yousaid, well, that stopped when
the class was done.
So when you do that, you'rejust exploring and then just
tell yourself, well, that onereally didn't grab me, and
that's okay Because you'velearned to be creative, because
you've learned through everysingle one of those classes that
(20:42):
you've taken.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Good yeah, I bet that's really helpful to hear,
because sometimes I think maybeit's my fault, like I wasn't
good at it, nope, and I've justI've kind of failed myself.
You know, especially when I seea lot of class doing really
well, that whole comparison isthe thief of joy thing.
I've experienced that a lot.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yep, we all do.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Mm-hmm.
So that's lovely to hear andyou know, kind of I see that in
my work too.
I mean, if we have a difficultcase, it's good to be able to
eliminate a possible diagnosis.
You know, as we narrow down thepossibilities and we can find
the right one by narrowing thepossibilities.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
So that's exactly what you're doing and taking.
Yeah, that's perfect.
And maybe then, kimberly, byrelating it back to what you do
and that you're comfortable withat work, it will feel OK from
this point on to take a classnow and then and not feel that
(21:50):
that, because it didn't grab you, it was your fault, because now
you know you're justeliminating all these
possibilities out there.
You know, some people are verylucky in that something grabs
them from the beginning and theythat's it, they hang on.
And there are a lot of us outthere that have to go searching
(22:13):
and exploring and experimentingand that's all part of your
artistic process.
So is your children's work.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, well, I love hearing that, because when you
say it I think well, of course.
So I sort of know thisintellectually, but like I don't
know emotionally, I don't.
I mean, you know, sometimesthere are different parts of
your brain that are in conflict,and you know yeah it's good to
to hear it from you.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Well, and you know that what you just described is
exactly what happens witheverything with the human being.
I don't care what it is.
We can know it intellectually,but we don't really know it
until we know it emotionally.
That's the most important,because the brain is good, as
(23:06):
you know, figuring out, solvingproblems, but the emotional part
is hooked to the heart and thesoul and that's when you really
can go oh, wow, I get it.
And so that's all you're doing.
You're giving that child withinyou, just like you're giving
(23:26):
your children the option to goout and play and find something
they enjoy by taking all thesecourses.
You're giving that child withinyou, which probably has gotten
buried beneath the pathologist,to go out and have fun.
Go out with your kids with abox of chalk and and take care
(23:54):
of all the sidewalks around townwith chalk painting and go with
him and have fun, becausethat's how you're going to find
what your child wants, yourinner child wants.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I love that Well.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I have another suggestion, because we did a
podcast on this where Mama Judyand I talked about play dates
with other people.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
I was just listening to that one this morning.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, okay, so this is a sign I feel like you need
to have a play date with someone.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yes, and you can do two.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And also if it's a somewhat consistent thing, then
you can show up and even if likeif you were to come over, we
should have a little play date,you come over and even if it's
you bringing your phone andyou're going to do some editing
on some photos while I'm sittingthere stitching and we can just
visit.
That would be fun.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
I would love it.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Yeah, because I do think it helps to have something
to look forward to the nexttime to hold us accountable and
that might be the case for you,because I've taken other courses
too or classes and then, oncethe attention's done and the
homework's done, I'm like well,what do I do now?
Like you said earlier, you kindof want to step by step plan or
at least somebody kind of goingalongside and bouncing ideas
(25:12):
off or something.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Well, I mean, I've experienced before that having a
community around you justincreases your success of
whatever it is you're trying todo.
Yes, so yeah, I could see how,and you too mentioned that
finding a community on Instagramor some social media really
helped you along the process.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So, it did.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah, I think that could do a lot for me.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Well, good, and that's the other thing that, as
you were talking, kimberly, thatI wanted to remind you because
we all know it again.
But you might have a goal outthere, what eventually you'd
like to be able to do.
But you're right, it can seemvery, very overwhelming, and
(26:01):
just take it one tiny littlestep at a time and eventually
you'll be there when you'reready to be there.
But it's not an all or nothingtype of thing which oftentimes
we do.
Oh well, I can't paint likeMonet, so I guess I won't start.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Definitely guilty of that All are.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Yeah, okay, just that one step at a time, because if
you think about it, how sillyare we as human beings to think
that we can go from point zeroto 100% without ever putting in
the time to learn how to getfrom point zero to 100.
(26:48):
In a way, we're kind of being alittle egoistic in that respect
.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I can relate to that too.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
But it's scary, sometimes overwhelming too, to
look and go oh my gosh, I don'tknow how to get there.
And so whatever class you take,whatever photography technique
you work on, whatever play date,every one of those is a
building block to the futureartists that you will become.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
So validating to hear you say that, because I think I
have actually said that tomyself before, but I'm skeptical
somehow.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, that's a very common thing too.
We're skeptical because wedon't think that we have the
talent enough to do somethinglike that.
We dismiss ourselves too easily.
We give that power of being agreat artist over to other
(27:52):
people without giving ourselvesthe chance to see whether or not
we can really do what we thinkwe would like to do, and again,
that's a very humancharacteristic.
The only thing that standsbetween you or me and being a
(28:14):
great artist is ourselves, and Iwish I'd quit getting in my way
, that's a significant obstacle,though that's right.
Sometimes I have to slap her andget her out of the way.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Well, a friend told me recently about a painter
who's paralyzed from the neckdown.
He paints with his mouth thesebeautiful paintings.
I'm like, oh, and I have twohands and I won't get out there
into it.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
We just have to get out of our way.
Let me just tell you guys bothwhat my activity as far as my
art was today.
I took a piece of paper andpasted other pieces of paper on
it.
That's all I did all morning tomake pages for future journals.
(29:06):
But that step is an artisticstep in what I want to create.
So artistic steps are sometimesvery mundane and very simple,
but they're all part of theprocess, right?
Okay there, okay, good 10minutes.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yes.
What do you think about us?
Well, us suggesting a challengefor you today?
Sure, I'm up for it.
Of course, you have to tell usalso what you want to do, but
what sounds good.
And then we could even saylet's just say, for the next two
weeks, 14 days, let's just talkthis out.
(29:49):
We haven't talked about thisyet, but could you commit to do
one thing every day?
What you do is you email us thepicture, or, if you decide
you're going to create an artaccount or just put it on your
own, just post it there if youwant to do that.
But we don't want to force youinto doing a social media
account if you don't want to.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah, I'm up for it.
Okay, should I tell you what itwill be?
Or can it be a different thingevery day?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Whatever, yeah, what do you think?
Tell us what sounds good to youand feels good to you.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Oh gosh, I'm one of these people who see the appeal
in everything like I would liketo have some of that and some of
that, and so you know, no, whatshould I do?
I?
Speaker 1 (30:33):
have an idea.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
This is why direction is helpful for me.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
I have an idea and then maybe, if Mama Judy has a
different idea, you pick whatyou want.
But one thing I could think ofis we get off this call and you
sit down and you just think of14 words.
It could be orange leaf couch,you could look around, your
window, light whatever.
Write 14 words down and startfrom the top, and the first word
on the list is tomorrow.
(30:56):
And if the word was shade orlamp or something like that, you
take what feels good to you, ifyou're going to do photography,
if you decide to sketch orwhatever you do, but it has
something to do with that word.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I love that idea.
That's a great idea.
It is a great idea.
I just I need something tonarrow it down, so I have a very
specific focus.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Otherwise I'll just kind of get overwhelmed.
So I love that.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Okay, so when we jump off, if you have time now, just
jot your words down, lookaround, think about it and maybe
just the word comes to you thatyou love.
It doesn't have to be in youreyesight, so do I do?
14 days, yeah, yeah, 14 days,sure, 14 days, and then we could
jump back on Zoom and you couldjust give us your little update
.
What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Yeah, how do you felt about it and I know this is
asking a lot too, so you don'thave to do this, but it would be
interesting if you ever feltlike to jot down if you were
feeling emotions or somethinglike either.
Sure, I just felt pure joy thisday.
Some days I felt fear.
It would be interesting to hear, because I know so many of us
relate We've been there.
(32:02):
Yeah, how does that sound?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Absolutely, I think that will be very interesting.
It'll be interesting for me, sohopefully for others too.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Okay, it will trust me, kimberly.
It will be for others also Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Maybe some other people would like to join us in
this project.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Yes, I'm thinking the same.
I'm going to join it.
I'm going to join the challenge.
I don't know what I'm going todo, but it's probably going to
have to do something withstitching or paper collage.
But every day I'm going to dothe same thing.
When I get off, I'm going towrite 14 words down and then
what we'll do is we'll just comeback together for five, 10
minute video to tag on to theend of this in a few weeks.
(32:43):
So we'll just do that beforethis episode airs, so that we
can have that all together.
Well, this has been fun.
Any final and parting words ofwisdom?
Mama Judy.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
No, you're on the right track and, kimberly, I
suspect in your heart, you knoweverything you need to do, and
just one step at a time.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I love that.
One step at a time, that isgreat advice.
I love it.
Thank you for feel honored tobe the recipient of all this
positive attention andencouragement.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Well, thank you for joining us.
Jill and I love to sit and talkwith each other, but our goal
is to talk with as many peopleas we can, people that go
through the same humanexperience around art that we've
gone through, and there is alot of just simple human
(33:40):
commonality around beingartistic and artists, the
journey, everything.
So thank you so much for beingpart of it.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Well, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah, this was fun, all right.
Well, thank you, and we'll beback again in the weeks to come
to have a little recap to seehow this all went for all three
of us.
One thing I don't know if we'vemade it clear is, I think, the
fact that just doing somethingevery day whether it's 14 days,
seven days, 30 days, 60 dayshelps you build your confidence,
get into that zone, feel thegood feels that it can be to
(34:16):
create something, and that willhelp you get that momentum going
.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Absolutely All right, it's worth while undertaking
for sure so thank you.
All right, thank you, ladies.
Love you, mama, judy.
Bye, kimmy, thanks for beingwith us today, bye.
Okay, so we have gathered backtogether with Kimberly and what
we've done is Kimberly and Iboth decided to do 14 days of
something every day, andKimberly and I texted back and
(34:44):
forth a few times or throughout,the little bit of a challenge
for each other.
And I asked you, kimberly, well, first of all, welcome back,
thanks for joining us, thank you, and I had texted you the other
day and I said about how long.
So we each did somethingartistic for a little bit each
day for 14 days straight, justto have that consistency and to
(35:06):
get that momentum going.
And I asked you how long wereyou spending on each time?
And you came back and said nomore than like 10 minutes.
I think you said I would saylike five to 15 minutes.
Okay and that was the same withme.
So, first of all, give us, givethe audience, a little bit of a
peek into the types of art thatyou ended up doing.
Okay, yeah well.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I explored a few different media.
I guess I got some Fimo clayout and made some small food
items.
I made a banana and a carrotand that was really fun because
I put little brown streaks onthe banana and the little
sticker on the banana.
It was so fun doing the details.
And then I baked that in theoven and it was just adorable.
(35:50):
And I actually gave that bananato my friend who ran the
Chicago Marathon.
She carried it with her as agood luck.
Talisman, how about that?
Oh that's cute, this is so cute,yeah, but anyway, so I did that
.
I did a lot of.
I leaned pretty hard on justfelt tip pens and watercolors
because they're just so easy,and I went out of town for part
of that time and I just threwthem in the suitcase because
(36:13):
they didn't take up much room.
I just sat on the hotel roombed and did my little watercolor
and my drawing and mywatercolor and watercolor is
just such a quick, easy way toadd a little satisfying amount
of color.
I found yeah, so I guess reallythat's.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
And when I did a little collage, I made some tiny
collages, yeah excellent and ifyou're listening, so the day
that this goes live, I'm gonnago ahead and share on Instagram
both all the images of whatKimberly did as well as the
things that I did.
And just to let you knowlistening, I did a little tiny
like one, maybe two inch by twoinch paper collage type journal,
(36:52):
and so that was fun for me.
So I, too, only spent five, 10,maybe 15 minutes each day.
So what did you find Kimberly?
Well, two questions.
Did you enjoy it?
Did it inspire some newsomething in you?
And also, will this, will yougo forward and incorporate some
sort of artistic, creative typestuff on your daily or weekly
(37:13):
basis?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I definitely enjoyed it.
I kind of felt like it was.
I usually did it in the morning, not always, and, as you know,
there were a couple of days inthere that I just didn't get to
it, and I did too the next day.
So I was not strict in myregimen, but I found it best
when I did it in the morning andit was sort of like I don't
(37:34):
know, it's kind of grounding ina way.
I felt like it gave me a littlelift to start the day and I
kind of felt like I was startingwith a little fuller tank.
Then my other wise, have youknow, mood wise or whatever,
energy wise.
So, yes, I want to keep doingit.
Have I?
I haven't yet, but I'm going to.
(37:55):
I have plans to make a littlesomething.
I'll be.
I have an hour to kill while mydaughter's in her dance class
later today, and so I'm going todo a little art during that
time.
So, I'm already starting to kindof plan ahead like, oh, that's,
that might be a good time.
You know, if I don't get to itin the morning, then you know I
find it a time later in the day.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Because I see, really get something out of it.
And I didn't enjoy them allequally.
I enjoyed some things more thanothers, but I had moments of
kind of frustration.
I think there were a couple oftimes I started over or I, you
know, I just discarded the thething that I still didn't ever
spend a lot of time, but I foundthat, you know, I did enjoy
(38:39):
some things, maybe more thanothers.
I loved making the littlefruits with the FEMA clay.
That was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
And you love your description.
Oh, you said that by doing itin the morning, you felt more
full, more energetic.
That is such a great statement.
Oh, because I think art does dothat.
It makes us feel lighter.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
And I, like you also said, grounded that to me also.
I feel grounded as well, andyou said that you did it mostly
in the morning and so she wastexting me and so sometimes I
may have already kind of gotgoing in my day, forgotten.
I'm like, oh, kimberly justtexted me, I got to go do my
thing.
But I think one thing I willalways do is set a timer on my
(39:26):
phone just every morning, evenif it's at like 6 30 AM, art,
you know something as a reminderBecause, like you said, you've
kind of fallen off because wesaid we were the 14 days and
kind of fall off, and me tooI've still done a little
something every day, but notlike this, and so sometimes even
a reminder will be helpful.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's where the community comes
in.
Yeah, excellent.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
The checking in.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Yeah, Not in a shaming or guilting way, but
just in a like I'm doing minenow.
You want to join me, or thatsort of thing.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yes, yeah, I love that.
Ok, great, yeah, any otherquestions or thoughts?
Speaker 3 (40:05):
No, I think everything you've said is
exactly what we were hoping for.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Oh, yeah, Good Well it was a nice discovery for me
to make.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Oh, one of the fun things.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
How nice, how good it made me feel.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yeah, you know, and what you've shared with us in
this whole thing, I think willbe helpful to other people.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
I hope.
I would love that.
That would make me feel great.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
And if we get any positive?
Well, if we get any feedback,we'll let you know.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Yeah, absolutely, I hope you will.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
OK, well, good, I'm going to be checking in with you
and we'll probably get betterin person.
I'll send you what.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
I do today.
Ok good and I loved your banana.
I was so impressed I really wasBecause I've never thought.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
I'm glad you loved it .
I loved it too.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yeah, yeah, it was fun.
It was fun to see too, and shedid like you did, a rose one
time.
You did this rose drawing,which I'm like everyone in
giving that rose drawing toanyone, you can send it to me.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
It's gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
That is gorgeous, but when I saw it I was surprised,
because when I was drawing it Ithought this is not coming
together.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Oh, this is terrible.
And then I put the color on it.
I was like, oh, it's not so badactually.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
I didn't think.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
I'd be kind of happy with it.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
I loved it Right there.
Kimberly, you even just gave anexample of what we talked about
in one episode, where sometimessomething doesn't look good and
then something happens eithertime, or you add another layer
and all of a sudden you like it.
So it's great yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Oh, I'll tell you one more thing.
My niece visited during thisperiod, my 28-year-old niece and
she too has felt intimidated.
She's had interest in doing artbut felt intimidated.
So we just did a little projecttogether and she had the same
process where she was like Idon't think this is good, I
don't like this, and I made acouple of suggestions and she
(42:06):
did that and another thing ortwo, and then she was really
happy with it.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
She had a lot of fun too.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
That's special Good.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I already got another convert.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
How about that?
Good, Good, good good.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Well, thank you for being our kind of guinea pig in
a way.
And I was so pleasantlysurprised to see the creativity
that came out of you throughthis thing.
I mean, it was really fun tosee and I loved seeing you
trying different things and nowyou can determine what you like
best.
If you would have just donesketches every time, you
wouldn't have known if you liketo do that type of clay stuff.
(42:40):
So yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yeah absolutely All right.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Well, thank you and we'll see you soon and happy
creating.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
OK, same to you, same to both of you.
Thank you so much.
This was really fun for me.
Good, I can't believe.
Bye, guys.
Oh good, you made it.
We are so glad you're here.
Welcome to the Mama Judy andJill podcast, an
intergenerational chat aboutlife, art and the creative
process.
I'm your host, jill, andjoining me is my wonderful
co-host and bonus mom, mama Judy.
Let's get started.
Well, hi, welcome back.
We're so glad to see you.
(00:21):
Mama Judy and I this week arejoined by a wonderful guest.
Her name is Kimberly Mason andshe's going to tell you a little
bit about herself today.
But how this interview came upis Kimberly and I bumped into
each other at a concert downhere in Asheville, north
Carolina, and we had a littleconversation about being
artistic and being creative andsome things around that.
(00:42):
So that's what we're going tobe discussing today.
But first of all, kimberly,welcome.
And why don't you just tell ouraudience a little bit about
yourself?
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Okay, well, I am a mom and a wife and a pathologist
, which is, for those of you whodon't know, is a tissue doctor,
a laboratory doctor, and youmay be familiar with the show
CSI and be thinking I'm aforensic pathologist and I do
death investigation.
That is not what I do.
I look at pieces of live people, as opposed to the alternative
(01:12):
in CSI the whole dead person.
So that's what I do for myprofessional life and that it's
spent a lot of time doing momfamily stuff too.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
Wonderful.
Well, thanks for being here,hey, Mama Judy hey.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Jill, Hi Kimberly, Hi Judy Great to meet you.
Speaker 2 (01:33):
Okay, you can call her Mama Judy, mama Judy, okay,
good.
Speaker 1 (01:38):
Absolutely All right.
Well, we are going to getstarted with a sentence.
You actually we went back andforth with emails a little bit
and Kimberly, the way that shetold me something about before
we got started on the podcast, Ithought was very interesting,
which we thought Mama Judy and Ithought could be a good jumping
off point.
You said I'm not really anactively creative person in the
(02:00):
way I think I'd like to be.
Okay, I just love that and I'm,of course, looking at the way I
think I'd like to be, which isvery intriguing to me and I
think we would love for ouraudience.
We have a lot of creativepeople that are listening, but
there's still people out therethat are listening that they are
not sure.
(02:21):
They may have reservationsabout jumping into being
creative for whatever differentreasons.
So today we're going to learn alittle bit about you and maybe
figure out what's going on andsee if there's something you'd
like to expand on creatively,and we just thought this would
be a fun chat, yeah good.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
Well, as far as like how I'd like to be, is that what
you're asking me to expand upona little bit?
Yeah, how I think I'd like to berather.
Well, you know, I love, I loveseeing what people create and
learning about their process andwhat they're expressing and
that sort of thing, and I feellike they're like I would like
to generate more of that myself,but I don't know that I've
(03:02):
either.
I'm not sure what stumps me ifI don't, if I believe that I
don't have it in me, or it'sjust not going to be good enough
if it is there, or if it's notworth the effort, because I, you
know, I've always kind ofenjoyed artistic endeavors, but
I've always let other thingscome and come ahead of those.
So I was a science math girl whokept putting the art classes
(03:24):
off and you know, I just stuckwith science math.
That served me well and I justkind of didn't really make much
time for the art part.
Now and then I'll I'll put alittle bit of energy or effort
or time into it and it's kind offun.
But I think I'm a little afraidto put too much into it because
I'm afraid of beingdisappointed.
Maybe I don't know.
Speaker 3 (03:47):
Possibly.
Speaker 2 (03:48):
So, but does that, does that resonate with with you
, Jill, or Mama Judy?
Speaker 3 (03:54):
Absolutely You're disappointing yourself.
Absolutely.
You know it really.
I think it's a common thingKimberly all of us.
Before I say this, let me justsay that some of the most
artistic people I have run intoare what surprised me, in that
(04:17):
they're left brain sciencepeople, but they also have this
wonderful artistic side, so allyou need to do is develop that
side.
But from what you said, I thinkone of the most common things
for all of us and this goes forexperienced artists we're very,
(04:41):
very vulnerable when we put ourstuff out there.
Oh yes, and I think whathappens is perhaps somewhere
along the line.
Maybe when we were young kids,we got hurt when we expressed
our vulnerability.
So we have a tendency to lockit inside, and that alone, I
(05:04):
think, can keep a person fromgoing forward if we don't feel
safe.
And so what I?
What has helped me in the past?
When I get to feeling like that, or especially when I was
younger, I would only show mystuff to people that I trusted,
(05:28):
and by that I mean people that Ifeel comfortable.
If they gave me a critique thatwasn't as flattering as I
wanted it to be, I would not getput off by that.
But I think that vulnerabilityexposing our underbelly, so to
speak, because when you create,no matter what it is, it's
(05:52):
really coming from the heart,from that unspoken, unseen part
of ourself, and it's tough toput it out there for the world.
And I'm going to use a word fromyour profession it's hard to
put anything out there and letthe world dissect it, which is
(06:12):
what happens when we putsomething out there for people
to look at.
They dissect it and that can bea very, very scary place to go.
And so for anybody, includingin my past and people listening,
that's something you want totake in very tiny steps, and
(06:38):
maybe the first step is just theself analysis.
If, when you're by yourself,you ask yourself what's holding
you back.
If you get an emotional chargefrom something like somebody
might not like what I do, thenyou can just bet that's where
(06:59):
it's coming from.
And then, once you identify it,it's a lot.
It's like bringing theboogeyman out of the closet when
you were a kid.
Once you bring something tolight, then you can work with it
.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
I have a question.
So, when you've dabbled or donesome creative expression in the
past, what was it like?
Are you drawn to a certainmedium or what do you like to do
?
Speaker 2 (07:26):
Well, I've had the most success with photography
and I think it's because I cansort of do the composition
instantaneously and capture itwithout the all of the hard
parts of collecting thematerials and planning it out.
And because I'm not a greatplanner or organizer, the
frontal lobe stuff is kind ofnot great.
(07:48):
It's not great.
You know, like I love order butI'm not good at creating order,
you know that sort of thing.
But so with photography I canjust kind of compose, I can see
it and take the picture andcapture it.
So I've had the most successwith that, probably, but
different things.
I love to make art with thekids and so I've had a lot of
(08:09):
fun just doing like I actuallygot a few things.
So I made these little thingswith my daughter.
It's cardboard that we putchalk on and made these little
monsters and then put a magneton the back.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
How you know, so you're listening to audio.
Only Go over to the Facebookpage, no, the YouTube page, and
I'll tell them where they canlook and see this sweet little.
It's cute, right.
Speaker 2 (08:37):
I mean we used to recycle materials and she sells
them at this little festival wego to called Leaf.
Oh, okay, so I've had you knowso kind of the I think the low
stakes, low pressure kind ofthings like playing, doing
crafting with the kids withrecycled materials.
You know there's no financialoutlay or expectation and I
(09:02):
think that that's where I that'sanother place that I've had
pretty good success.
Speaker 1 (09:07):
I was gonna say you just reminded me I did the same,
because I have only steppedinto my creative expression in a
more confident way over thelast like year and a half or so,
with a lot of Mama Judy'sguidance.
But when Billy was younger wewould go to town with the
construction paper doingHalloween stuff in the window
and I had so much fun and Ialmost felt like, well, this is
just for little kids stuff.
(09:27):
So I was probably feeling likeI'm well, it's more cutting out
for him this image.
But I mean, I had so much funand I didn't feel like I was
gonna be judged by it.
It was just fun and, seeing itthrough his eyes, I think that's
probably a common thing forMama's.
If we don't consider ourselvescreatives, we get into that
expression of being creative,which is still being very
(09:48):
creative, but it's a little bitmore protected.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Yes, more protected, I think that's true.
More accessible that way, andwe wouldn't judge our children's
work, so we don't turn thatsame eye on ourselves.
I think too.
Speaker 3 (10:02):
Yes absolutely, and you have really hit upon some
key words Kimberly Expectations,judgment protection that's what
it's all about.
So your steps and I am gonnacall it your artistic steps of
working with your kids is awonderful foundation because the
(10:26):
more you do with them and yousee their success, it'll feed
into the way you feel about yoursuccess and that's when you
choose to develop it.
Obviously, right now, with afull-time job, being a mother,
being a wife, perhaps thereisn't enough time to
(10:50):
consistently do what you want todo, but every step you take
like that is fantastic and Ilove it.
And I absolutely love the factthat your daughter is selling
them, because I follow an artistin New Mexico and I would say
this woman is probably in her60s who makes animals that she
(11:16):
sells that your daughter's workreminds me of, so that is not
just child's art.
Speaker 2 (11:24):
That is art.
Speaker 3 (11:25):
That is what people would call a primitive art
Americana.
So that whole process isabsolutely wonderful.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
Oh, good, well, thanks.
Well, it's gratifying for me.
I think it's really fun.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And that is the word you never wanna lose track of,
no matter how hard things get inyour developing your own art in
the future, Always remember funhas to be the number one thing.
It doesn't mean you won't workhard at it, but if it's not fun,
(12:01):
step back and take a break.
Speaker 1 (12:05):
Yes, gratifying.
Well, kimberly, I'm curiouswith your photography, then.
Do you so?
Do you take pictures?
Would you have like a good, youknow, like a DSLR?
Do you use your iPhone or both,and do you?
Carry it with you, or is itkind of tucked away?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
I have a DSL, a single lens reflex SLR right,
yeah, so it's digital, so Iguess that makes it a DSLR.
I had a film camera that Ireally loved and I actually took
some darkroom classes years agowhen we lived in Memphis and
that was a lot of fun.
And when we bought our house inAsheville there's a basement
with a bathroom and I thoughtfuture darkroom.
But you know that organizationcreating order, part of my brain
(12:46):
, that is not so great.
The darkroom has not everhappened, but maybe one day if
those materials are stillavailable.
I don't even know if you canget darkroom materials anymore
with all the digital, but I havehad fun with my digital camera.
And now with editing tools andall of that.
That can be a lot of fun.
And the cameras on the phoneare really good to if you're not
(13:09):
gonna enlarge it to makeresolution isn't as good on
those, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:16):
And there are some wonderful products not what's
the, not Photoshop, and I meanprofessional type products out
there that you don't have to dothe darkroom in order to do the
things on your iPhone that youwould normally do with in the
(13:40):
darkroom.
There's some great products outthere.
Speaker 2 (13:44):
There are.
I've played with them a littlebit and just a little over my
head.
Little too technical for me.
I haven't become adept at usingthose.
But I can use the Apple toolspretty well on the iPhone and on
the computer.
So I don't know.
Speaker 3 (14:00):
But it's fun.
Well, at least you have thosetechniques to continue to play
around with, and as you get morefamiliar with those, then your
interest in doing it willprobably increase, I'm guessing
yeah maybe so.
Speaker 1 (14:21):
Okay, so I have a question then.
Just because we had thisconversation, we kind of talked
about maybe some underlyingfears or things that come up for
all of us, and At this point,are you in any way looking?
Is that something that youreally want to make a bigger
part of your life?
Is it something that's kind ofbeen nudging you inside?
Speaker 2 (14:43):
Yeah, definitely, definitely yeah, there's a
desire there, but I'm a personwho kind of like, I do need a
little nudge, I need a littledirection, I need a little plan.
I think that's why, every nowand then, I'll sign up for a
class and whatever.
I did do a little sketchingclass and that was fun, but that
ended and the sketching ended,and I took a little pottery
(15:06):
class and that ended, and Iprobably won't do that again.
I don't think that's my medium,but so yeah, but I think it
would be great if I did a littlesomething every day, even if
it's just a little tiny bite.
But I don't know, for whateverreason, I think there's some
perfectionism in there.
For sure, something kind of isin my way, like maybe I need a
(15:29):
prescription or something.
Some of my plants might help memake them up with a plan.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
I just want to mention one thing.
That is Inktober, so it'sdifferent than with photography,
because my son Billy that he'sa real good sketch or drawer,
but he does it some, but inOctober he commits to doing it
for the 31 days and you post iton Instagram so it holds, he
holds accountable, but somethinglike that could be interesting.
Speaker 3 (15:56):
And it could be.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Yeah, and maybe if it were around your photography?
There's probably challengeslike that where post a picture
day, whatever it is, and even ifit's just something simple or I
hadn't thought about that,about playing the social media
kind of approach.
Speaker 2 (16:16):
I've not thought about that.
I'm not much of a fittingmyself out there person with
these things, so that soundsscary to me, but maybe, well,
that would be something worthconsidering.
Speaker 3 (16:29):
One good place to start, because what you're doing
when you do that is that's yourfirst foray out into the big
wide world with your art.
And there are a lot of things,like Jill said, like on Facebook
, for example, people willchallenge other people.
Okay, I've been nominated byXYZ to put a picture a day that
(16:54):
I draw out there, and that's anice environment because both
it's safe because people are outthere that are not necessarily
out there to critique your work,but it gets you into the habit
of going.
You know, I can do this, I canput something out there.
(17:15):
And one of the biggest thingsis, if you do, just be okay with
whatever comments or the amountof likes.
And the reason I say this is Ihave suggested in the past to
people to try something out onFacebook, but then they said
(17:39):
they would sit around looking atFacebook waiting for people to
like their picture.
Well, that hasn't gone a word, Iknow.
So if you chose to do somethinglike that, kimberly, really
it's for you, it's not foranybody else.
It's just something for you tosay okay, I can do this, I can
(18:01):
take this step, I will take thisstep, and that's all that.
It's there for, it's not foranybody else.
It's not to collect those oldso-and-so likes me, it's just
you taking that step into abrand new world.
Speaker 1 (18:21):
And Kimberly.
That's how I started doing mystitching stuff.
I only put, I started aseparate Instagram account just
for my art stuff and I thoughtthis if I tell myself I'm gonna
post pretty frequently somethingthat I'm stitching, I will, I
will hold myself accountable.
So I started doing that, but itwas more for me and I am so
grateful now that I did that.
(18:41):
Because, number one, there'sthis cool like artie community
that I'm now part of that Inever would have known about.
But, more importantly, it's funto look back.
You know if you could look backat your photographs or I'm
looking back at my stitchingstuff and see how I've grown and
also yeah, you have thatarchive and also seeing where I
knew.
when I see something, I knew Iwas struggling with
(19:02):
perfectionism there.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Or.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
I was so scared and embarrassed to post that, but I
told myself I have to because Isaid I'm going to and it felt
like one I posted.
I literally felt like lookslike a four year old who created
this and it was kind ofembarrassing, but I did it
anyway.
And so now and it was kind of Ifelt like I needed that to push
myself to be creative.
Cause, if I were just to say tomama Judy, yeah, yeah, I'll do
(19:25):
some stuff or whatever, itwasn't gonna hold me enough
accountable.
So that is why I created myInstagram art account and now
I'm so grateful I did.
Speaker 3 (19:35):
Kimberly, I just wanna say one thing.
You talked about trying pottery.
You tried sketching.
That's great, because whatyou're doing without any
expectations there, you'reexploring to find the medium
(19:56):
that grabs your heart.
Over the years I've done beadedjewelry, bead embroidery,
stained glass, felting, painting, mixed media, you name it.
I've probably tried it one timeand each one of those, for a
very short period of time,grabbed me, but then they went
(20:19):
away and I realized, like yousaid, well, that stopped when
the class was done.
So when you do that, you'rejust exploring and then just
tell yourself, well, that onereally didn't grab me, and
that's okay Because you'velearned to be creative, because
you've learned through everysingle one of those classes that
(20:42):
you've taken.
Speaker 2 (20:45):
Good yeah, I bet that's really helpful to hear,
because sometimes I think maybeit's my fault, like I wasn't
good at it, nope, and I've justI've kind of failed myself.
You know, especially when I seea lot of class doing really
well, that whole comparison isthe thief of joy thing.
I've experienced that a lot.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Yep, we all do.
Speaker 2 (21:09):
Mm-hmm.
So that's lovely to hear andyou know, kind of I see that in
my work too.
I mean, if we have a difficultcase, it's good to be able to
eliminate a possible diagnosis.
You know, as we narrow down thepossibilities and we can find
the right one by narrowing thepossibilities.
Speaker 3 (21:27):
So that's exactly what you're doing and taking.
Yeah, that's perfect.
And maybe then, kimberly, byrelating it back to what you do
and that you're comfortable withat work, it will feel OK from
this point on to take a classnow and then and not feel that
(21:50):
that, because it didn't grab you, it was your fault, because now
you know you're justeliminating all these
possibilities out there.
You know, some people are verylucky in that something grabs
them from the beginning and theythat's it, they hang on.
And there are a lot of us outthere that have to go searching
(22:13):
and exploring and experimentingand that's all part of your
artistic process.
So is your children's work.
Speaker 2 (22:24):
Yeah, well, I love hearing that, because when you
say it I think well, of course.
So I sort of know thisintellectually, but like I don't
know emotionally, I don't.
I mean, you know, sometimesthere are different parts of
your brain that are in conflict,and you know yeah it's good to
to hear it from you.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
Well, and you know that what you just described is
exactly what happens witheverything with the human being.
I don't care what it is.
We can know it intellectually,but we don't really know it
until we know it emotionally.
That's the most important,because the brain is good, as
(23:06):
you know, figuring out, solvingproblems, but the emotional part
is hooked to the heart and thesoul and that's when you really
can go oh, wow, I get it.
And so that's all you're doing.
You're giving that child withinyou, just like you're giving
(23:26):
your children the option to goout and play and find something
they enjoy by taking all thesecourses.
You're giving that child withinyou, which probably has gotten
buried beneath the pathologist,to go out and have fun.
Go out with your kids with abox of chalk and and take care
(23:54):
of all the sidewalks around townwith chalk painting and go with
him and have fun, becausethat's how you're going to find
what your child wants, yourinner child wants.
Speaker 2 (24:09):
I love that Well.
Speaker 1 (24:12):
I have another suggestion, because we did a
podcast on this where Mama Judyand I talked about play dates
with other people.
Speaker 2 (24:20):
I was just listening to that one this morning.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
Yeah, okay, so this is a sign I feel like you need
to have a play date with someone.
Speaker 2 (24:28):
Yes, and you can do two.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
And also if it's a somewhat consistent thing, then
you can show up and even if likeif you were to come over, we
should have a little play date,you come over and even if it's
you bringing your phone andyou're going to do some editing
on some photos while I'm sittingthere stitching and we can just
visit.
That would be fun.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
I would love it.
Speaker 1 (24:50):
Yeah, because I do think it helps to have something
to look forward to the nexttime to hold us accountable and
that might be the case for you,because I've taken other courses
too or classes and then, oncethe attention's done and the
homework's done, I'm like well,what do I do now?
Like you said earlier, you kindof want to step by step plan or
at least somebody kind of goingalongside and bouncing ideas
(25:12):
off or something.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Well, I mean, I've experienced before that having a
community around you justincreases your success of
whatever it is you're trying todo.
Yes, so yeah, I could see how,and you too mentioned that
finding a community on Instagramor some social media really
helped you along the process.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
So, it did.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Yeah, I think that could do a lot for me.
Speaker 3 (25:41):
Well, good, and that's the other thing that, as
you were talking, kimberly, thatI wanted to remind you because
we all know it again.
But you might have a goal outthere, what eventually you'd
like to be able to do.
But you're right, it can seemvery, very overwhelming, and
(26:01):
just take it one tiny littlestep at a time and eventually
you'll be there when you'reready to be there.
But it's not an all or nothingtype of thing which oftentimes
we do.
Oh well, I can't paint likeMonet, so I guess I won't start.
Speaker 2 (26:21):
Definitely guilty of that All are.
Speaker 3 (26:25):
Yeah, okay, just that one step at a time, because if
you think about it, how sillyare we as human beings to think
that we can go from point zeroto 100% without ever putting in
the time to learn how to getfrom point zero to 100.
(26:48):
In a way, we're kind of being alittle egoistic in that respect
.
Speaker 2 (26:55):
I can relate to that too.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
But it's scary, sometimes overwhelming too, to
look and go oh my gosh, I don'tknow how to get there.
And so whatever class you take,whatever photography technique
you work on, whatever play date,every one of those is a
building block to the futureartists that you will become.
Speaker 2 (27:21):
So validating to hear you say that, because I think I
have actually said that tomyself before, but I'm skeptical
somehow.
Speaker 3 (27:30):
Yeah, that's a very common thing too.
We're skeptical because wedon't think that we have the
talent enough to do somethinglike that.
We dismiss ourselves too easily.
We give that power of being agreat artist over to other
(27:52):
people without giving ourselvesthe chance to see whether or not
we can really do what we thinkwe would like to do, and again,
that's a very humancharacteristic.
The only thing that standsbetween you or me and being a
(28:14):
great artist is ourselves, and Iwish I'd quit getting in my way
, that's a significant obstacle,though that's right.
Sometimes I have to slap her andget her out of the way.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Well, a friend told me recently about a painter
who's paralyzed from the neckdown.
He paints with his mouth thesebeautiful paintings.
I'm like, oh, and I have twohands and I won't get out there
into it.
Speaker 3 (28:44):
We just have to get out of our way.
Let me just tell you guys bothwhat my activity as far as my
art was today.
I took a piece of paper andpasted other pieces of paper on
it.
That's all I did all morning tomake pages for future journals.
(29:06):
But that step is an artisticstep in what I want to create.
So artistic steps are sometimesvery mundane and very simple,
but they're all part of theprocess, right?
Okay there, okay, good 10minutes.
Speaker 1 (29:29):
Yes.
What do you think about us?
Well, us suggesting a challengefor you today?
Sure, I'm up for it.
Of course, you have to tell usalso what you want to do, but
what sounds good.
And then we could even saylet's just say, for the next two
weeks, 14 days, let's just talkthis out.
(29:49):
We haven't talked about thisyet, but could you commit to do
one thing every day?
What you do is you email us thepicture, or, if you decide
you're going to create an artaccount or just put it on your
own, just post it there if youwant to do that.
But we don't want to force youinto doing a social media
account if you don't want to.
What do you think?
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Yeah, I'm up for it.
Okay, should I tell you what itwill be?
Or can it be a different thingevery day?
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (30:16):
Whatever, yeah, what do you think?
Tell us what sounds good to youand feels good to you.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
Oh gosh, I'm one of these people who see the appeal
in everything like I would liketo have some of that and some of
that, and so you know, no, whatshould I do?
I?
Speaker 1 (30:33):
have an idea.
Speaker 2 (30:34):
This is why direction is helpful for me.
Speaker 1 (30:36):
I have an idea and then maybe, if Mama Judy has a
different idea, you pick whatyou want.
But one thing I could think ofis we get off this call and you
sit down and you just think of14 words.
It could be orange leaf couch,you could look around, your
window, light whatever.
Write 14 words down and startfrom the top, and the first word
on the list is tomorrow.
(30:56):
And if the word was shade orlamp or something like that, you
take what feels good to you, ifyou're going to do photography,
if you decide to sketch orwhatever you do, but it has
something to do with that word.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
I love that idea.
That's a great idea.
It is a great idea.
I just I need something tonarrow it down, so I have a very
specific focus.
Speaker 1 (31:18):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (31:19):
Otherwise I'll just kind of get overwhelmed.
So I love that.
Speaker 1 (31:23):
Okay, so when we jump off, if you have time now, just
jot your words down, lookaround, think about it and maybe
just the word comes to you thatyou love.
It doesn't have to be in youreyesight, so do I do?
14 days, yeah, yeah, 14 days,sure, 14 days, and then we could
jump back on Zoom and you couldjust give us your little update
.
What do you think about that?
Speaker 2 (31:41):
Sure.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Yeah, how do you felt about it and I know this is
asking a lot too, so you don'thave to do this, but it would be
interesting if you ever feltlike to jot down if you were
feeling emotions or somethinglike either.
Sure, I just felt pure joy thisday.
Some days I felt fear.
It would be interesting to hear, because I know so many of us
relate We've been there.
(32:02):
Yeah, how does that sound?
Speaker 2 (32:04):
Absolutely, I think that will be very interesting.
It'll be interesting for me, sohopefully for others too.
Speaker 3 (32:11):
Okay, it will trust me, kimberly.
It will be for others also Okay.
Speaker 2 (32:17):
Maybe some other people would like to join us in
this project.
Speaker 1 (32:21):
Yes, I'm thinking the same.
I'm going to join it.
I'm going to join the challenge.
I don't know what I'm going todo, but it's probably going to
have to do something withstitching or paper collage.
But every day I'm going to dothe same thing.
When I get off, I'm going towrite 14 words down and then
what we'll do is we'll just comeback together for five, 10
minute video to tag on to theend of this in a few weeks.
(32:43):
So we'll just do that beforethis episode airs, so that we
can have that all together.
Well, this has been fun.
Any final and parting words ofwisdom?
Mama Judy.
Speaker 3 (32:53):
No, you're on the right track and, kimberly, I
suspect in your heart, you knoweverything you need to do, and
just one step at a time.
Speaker 2 (33:05):
I love that.
One step at a time, that isgreat advice.
I love it.
Thank you for feel honored tobe the recipient of all this
positive attention andencouragement.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (33:17):
Well, thank you for joining us.
Jill and I love to sit and talkwith each other, but our goal
is to talk with as many peopleas we can, people that go
through the same humanexperience around art that we've
gone through, and there is alot of just simple human
(33:40):
commonality around beingartistic and artists, the
journey, everything.
So thank you so much for beingpart of it.
Speaker 2 (33:52):
Well, you're welcome.
Speaker 1 (33:53):
Yeah, this was fun, all right.
Well, thank you, and we'll beback again in the weeks to come
to have a little recap to seehow this all went for all three
of us.
One thing I don't know if we'vemade it clear is, I think, the
fact that just doing somethingevery day whether it's 14 days,
seven days, 30 days, 60 dayshelps you build your confidence,
get into that zone, feel thegood feels that it can be to
(34:16):
create something, and that willhelp you get that momentum going
.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Absolutely All right, it's worth while undertaking
for sure so thank you.
All right, thank you, ladies.
Love you, mama, judy.
Bye, kimmy, thanks for beingwith us today, bye.
Okay, so we have gathered backtogether with Kimberly and what
we've done is Kimberly and Iboth decided to do 14 days of
something every day, andKimberly and I texted back and
(34:44):
forth a few times or throughout,the little bit of a challenge
for each other.
And I asked you, kimberly, well, first of all, welcome back,
thanks for joining us, thank you, and I had texted you the other
day and I said about how long.
So we each did somethingartistic for a little bit each
day for 14 days straight, justto have that consistency and to
(35:06):
get that momentum going.
And I asked you how long wereyou spending on each time?
And you came back and said nomore than like 10 minutes.
I think you said I would saylike five to 15 minutes.
Okay and that was the same withme.
So, first of all, give us, givethe audience, a little bit of a
peek into the types of art thatyou ended up doing.
Okay, yeah well.
Speaker 2 (35:27):
I explored a few different media.
I guess I got some Fimo clayout and made some small food
items.
I made a banana and a carrotand that was really fun because
I put little brown streaks onthe banana and the little
sticker on the banana.
It was so fun doing the details.
And then I baked that in theoven and it was just adorable.
(35:50):
And I actually gave that bananato my friend who ran the
Chicago Marathon.
She carried it with her as agood luck.
Talisman, how about that?
Oh that's cute, this is so cute,yeah, but anyway, so I did that
.
I did a lot of.
I leaned pretty hard on justfelt tip pens and watercolors
because they're just so easy,and I went out of town for part
of that time and I just threwthem in the suitcase because
(36:13):
they didn't take up much room.
I just sat on the hotel roombed and did my little watercolor
and my drawing and mywatercolor and watercolor is
just such a quick, easy way toadd a little satisfying amount
of color.
I found yeah, so I guess reallythat's.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
And when I did a little collage, I made some tiny
collages, yeah excellent and ifyou're listening, so the day
that this goes live, I'm gonnago ahead and share on Instagram
both all the images of whatKimberly did as well as the
things that I did.
And just to let you knowlistening, I did a little tiny
like one, maybe two inch by twoinch paper collage type journal,
(36:52):
and so that was fun for me.
So I, too, only spent five, 10,maybe 15 minutes each day.
So what did you find Kimberly?
Well, two questions.
Did you enjoy it?
Did it inspire some newsomething in you?
And also, will this, will yougo forward and incorporate some
sort of artistic, creative typestuff on your daily or weekly
(37:13):
basis?
Speaker 2 (37:14):
I definitely enjoyed it.
I kind of felt like it was.
I usually did it in the morning, not always, and, as you know,
there were a couple of days inthere that I just didn't get to
it, and I did too the next day.
So I was not strict in myregimen, but I found it best
when I did it in the morning andit was sort of like I don't
(37:34):
know, it's kind of grounding ina way.
I felt like it gave me a littlelift to start the day and I
kind of felt like I was startingwith a little fuller tank.
Then my other wise, have youknow, mood wise or whatever,
energy wise.
So, yes, I want to keep doingit.
Have I?
I haven't yet, but I'm going to.
(37:55):
I have plans to make a littlesomething.
I'll be.
I have an hour to kill while mydaughter's in her dance class
later today, and so I'm going todo a little art during that
time.
So, I'm already starting to kindof plan ahead like, oh, that's,
that might be a good time.
You know, if I don't get to itin the morning, then you know I
find it a time later in the day.
Speaker 3 (38:17):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
Because I see, really get something out of it.
And I didn't enjoy them allequally.
I enjoyed some things more thanothers, but I had moments of
kind of frustration.
I think there were a couple oftimes I started over or I, you
know, I just discarded the thething that I still didn't ever
spend a lot of time, but I foundthat, you know, I did enjoy
(38:39):
some things, maybe more thanothers.
I loved making the littlefruits with the FEMA clay.
That was a lot of fun.
Speaker 3 (38:44):
And you love your description.
Oh, you said that by doing itin the morning, you felt more
full, more energetic.
That is such a great statement.
Oh, because I think art does dothat.
It makes us feel lighter.
Speaker 1 (39:05):
And I, like you also said, grounded that to me also.
I feel grounded as well, andyou said that you did it mostly
in the morning and so she wastexting me and so sometimes I
may have already kind of gotgoing in my day, forgotten.
I'm like, oh, kimberly justtexted me, I got to go do my
thing.
But I think one thing I willalways do is set a timer on my
(39:26):
phone just every morning, evenif it's at like 6 30 AM, art,
you know something as a reminderBecause, like you said, you've
kind of fallen off because wesaid we were the 14 days and
kind of fall off, and me tooI've still done a little
something every day, but notlike this, and so sometimes even
a reminder will be helpful.
Speaker 2 (39:44):
Yeah, yeah, I think that's where the community comes
in.
Yeah, excellent.
Speaker 3 (39:49):
The checking in.
Speaker 2 (39:50):
Yeah, Not in a shaming or guilting way, but
just in a like I'm doing minenow.
You want to join me, or thatsort of thing.
Speaker 1 (39:59):
Yes, yeah, I love that.
Ok, great, yeah, any otherquestions or thoughts?
Speaker 3 (40:05):
No, I think everything you've said is
exactly what we were hoping for.
Speaker 2 (40:10):
Oh, yeah, Good Well it was a nice discovery for me
to make.
Speaker 3 (40:14):
Oh, one of the fun things.
Speaker 2 (40:15):
How nice, how good it made me feel.
Speaker 3 (40:17):
Yeah, you know, and what you've shared with us in
this whole thing, I think willbe helpful to other people.
Speaker 2 (40:25):
I hope.
I would love that.
That would make me feel great.
Speaker 3 (40:28):
And if we get any positive?
Well, if we get any feedback,we'll let you know.
Speaker 2 (40:34):
Yeah, absolutely, I hope you will.
Speaker 1 (40:36):
OK, well, good, I'm going to be checking in with you
and we'll probably get betterin person.
I'll send you what.
Speaker 3 (40:43):
I do today.
Ok good and I loved your banana.
I was so impressed I really wasBecause I've never thought.
Speaker 2 (40:52):
I'm glad you loved it .
I loved it too.
Speaker 1 (40:54):
Yeah, yeah, it was fun.
It was fun to see too, and shedid like you did, a rose one
time.
You did this rose drawing,which I'm like everyone in
giving that rose drawing toanyone, you can send it to me.
Speaker 2 (41:06):
It's gorgeous.
Speaker 1 (41:06):
That is gorgeous, but when I saw it I was surprised,
because when I was drawing it Ithought this is not coming
together.
Speaker 2 (41:13):
Oh, this is terrible.
And then I put the color on it.
I was like, oh, it's not so badactually.
Speaker 1 (41:18):
I didn't think.
Speaker 2 (41:19):
I'd be kind of happy with it.
Speaker 1 (41:20):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:21):
I loved it Right there.
Kimberly, you even just gave anexample of what we talked about
in one episode, where sometimessomething doesn't look good and
then something happens eithertime, or you add another layer
and all of a sudden you like it.
So it's great yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:43):
Oh, I'll tell you one more thing.
My niece visited during thisperiod, my 28-year-old niece and
she too has felt intimidated.
She's had interest in doing artbut felt intimidated.
So we just did a little projecttogether and she had the same
process where she was like Idon't think this is good, I
don't like this, and I made acouple of suggestions and she
(42:06):
did that and another thing ortwo, and then she was really
happy with it.
Speaker 3 (42:10):
She had a lot of fun too.
Speaker 2 (42:12):
Yeah, so.
Speaker 3 (42:12):
That's special Good.
Speaker 2 (42:15):
I already got another convert.
Speaker 3 (42:16):
How about that?
Good, Good, good good.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Well, thank you for being our kind of guinea pig in
a way.
And I was so pleasantlysurprised to see the creativity
that came out of you throughthis thing.
I mean, it was really fun tosee and I loved seeing you
trying different things and nowyou can determine what you like
best.
If you would have just donesketches every time, you
wouldn't have known if you liketo do that type of clay stuff.
(42:40):
So yeah, that's true.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
Yeah absolutely All right.
Speaker 1 (42:43):
Well, thank you and we'll see you soon and happy
creating.
Speaker 2 (42:48):
OK, same to you, same to both of you.
Thank you so much.
This was really fun for me.
Good, I can't believe.
Bye, guys.
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