Sarah shares lessons she has learned from starting out painting in her garage to the highly acclaimed artist she has become. She looks at creativity as a muscle that you need to exercise in order to sustain your art over years.
Find her:
https://whitmireart.com
Neptune's Ring: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NeptunesRing?ref=shop_sugg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SarahWhitmire
youTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SarahWhitmire/videos
Instagram: whitmireart
mentioned:
The Diary of Frida Kahlo
Impact Theory University
Please comment with questions.
Please Subscribe!!!
I'm your host, Tony Angelini. Thanks for listening. Find out more at www.creativemindset.org
Sarah shares lessons she has learned from starting out painting in her garage to the highly acclaimed artist she has become. She looks at creativity as a muscle that you need to exercise in order to sustain your art over years.
Find her:
https://whitmireart.com
Neptune's Ring: https://www.etsy.com/shop/NeptunesRing?ref=shop_sugg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SarahWhitmire
youTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/SarahWhitmire/videos
Instagram: whitmireart
mentioned:
The Diary of Frida Kahlo
Impact Theory University
Please comment with questions.
Please Subscribe!!!
I'm your host, Tony Angelini. Thanks for listening. Find out more at www.creativemindset.org
Thinking about creativity as a muscle that you're building, rather than just something that's like, spark of genius or whatnot is really was helpful to me. So if you think of creativity, like a muscle, you have to continuously show up for an exercise. You know. I think that's, that's pretty helpful. I wish somebody had told me that a while back.
Tony Angelini:Sarah, welcome. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me and to the people who are listening.
Sarah Whitmire:I am very happy to be here, Tony, thank you for inviting me.
Tony Angelini:So you call yourself a visionary shamanic painter. So what does that mean?
Sarah Whitmire:It's a great question. Well, I can explain it in this way. I'm an intuitive painter. So I never know what I'm going to paint. When I begin, you know, a lot of artists will plan out, they'll use source photos, they will pre draw things on their canvases. I am very in the moment when I paint. So I'm connected to a vision that's happening. In the moment, I'm connected to what I would call demonic forces, or animist forces, which is the sort of the belief system that everything is alive. So I paint on big panels of sanded birch. And I deliberately use wood so that I can connect with the energy of the trees and the wood. And the water in which I'm painting, I use my hands a lot in the paint, especially in the early stages of my work. If you watch a painting sort of evolve, over the next couple hours, you'll see I start in a very primal way, much like the cave painters and the early times used to use their hands or handprints of symbols and signs I was here, I was conscious, I make marks like that really primal. And then it usually progresses on to where I use more refined tools like paint brushes, and pencils, and a variety of mixed media things really. So shamanic and visionary referred to the sort of style of not knowing what's going to happen and being totally there and the experience of it. And there's a sort of meditative state that I get in, where I have to completely release my inner critic and my ego about the piece, I have to give myself permission for it to be a terrible piece. You know, it's okay, whatever it is, whatever comes out, that's what it's gonna be. And so there's a huge amount of surrendering when I go in, and paint and when I pay, and I always, I love to paint live. For people. That's, that's part of the process. That's part of the experience of it.
Tony Angelini:That's amazing. Wow, you answered about three of my questions. Which is great. But since you mentioned the live, I do want to mention your Facebook Live. You do that on a regular basis, right? Is that weekly or bi weekly?
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, I am live every single Friday night from nine to 12. Eastern in my private Patreon Facebook group. It's like 24 bucks a year. And a lot of creatives come there to have dedicated space for their creativity every Friday night. They, you know, I've got traditional painters, people who write people who just want to play music, anything, really. And there's this dedicated community for that. And it's really, really fun and satisfying. And I paint these big pieces there every Friday.
Tony Angelini:Oh, that's cool.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah,
Tony Angelini:Just because I'm a neophyte to what you're talking about. You're all doing this. You're all connected together and doing it at the same time, or you all have different times for creating your art?
Sarah Whitmire:Well, the we do a live stream on the Facebook group. So I am showing everybody myself working on one of these big six foot by four foot paintings, and everyone else is in a chat room. We don't necessarily see what everyone else is creating, but they can see me. And so some people will put me up on their TV, and then they'll, you know, they'll chat in the chat room with the other people that are also watching and sharing in the art and working on creative projects together.
Tony Angelini:Oh, that sounds so much fun. And I like I like to go back because some some of them are on your Facebook page, right or on your Neptune's ring.
Sarah Whitmire:No.So I saw also I run a metaphysical shop and that's what you're referring to Neptune Ring. So, I actually have two Etsy shops I have Whitmire art, which is my art Etsy shop, and I have Neptune's ring which is my metaphysical store. And in there I sell crystals handmade medicine bags, my husband and I also make mallos medicine bags, wands and other metaphysical tools. And so I sell those on Etsy on Neptune's Ring.
Tony Angelini:Cool. So it's all it's all handmade stuff.
Sarah Whitmire:Aside from the crystals, yeah, yeah.
Tony Angelini:Cool. But getting back to your Facebook page, I have seen these Facebook Lives.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah
Tony Angelini:if somebody doesn't know anything about you? Where can they go in and see these Facebook Lives. In retrospect,
Sarah Whitmire:well, you can't see me live unless you're a patron. But you can get a recording of what we did in the live on YouTube. So we record them live in our group every Friday night. And then sometime during that week, they go up on YouTube. So we also releasing a weekly YouTube create with me video that was recorded live with the patrons, that's part of my thank you to them for supporting the art work.
Tony Angelini:Well, I want to say that from what I've seen, it's these sessions are, are friendly. And I want to say chill, but it's more than that. It's meaningful. It's like, there's something meditative about watching you.
Sarah Whitmire:Thank you.
Tony Angelini:And you mentioned getting into a state. That might be my words. But you mentioned getting into a meditative state to kind of get out of the mindset of editing yourself negative self talk, openness. How do you do that? Is that part of the process of the of the painting? Or do you do that before you pick up any paint?
Sarah Whitmire:That's a really great, great question. And I have a really fun story to tell you. So I've been an artist, you know, pretty much my whole life. But there certainly has been ebb and flow in my artistic career times where I gave up and you know, try to do something else for a while. Eventually, I learned sort of the hard way that creativity is a muscle, much like going to the gym and working out. I, there was a time where I was in a real rut, and I couldn't paint I couldn't, couldn't just couldn't pull it together. And I would come out here my studios in my garage, and I come out here to my garage, and I sit under my easel. And I would write notes to the muse. And I would take my big piece of wood and I would write Muse I showed up. And I would sit there and I would wait for something to come. But it didn't. And then the next day I would go Okay, I'm going to go out to the studio, I started setting an alarm for myself and the timer. I'm going to spend this much time out in my studio every day, and keep waiting for that block to to unclog that muse to show up. And so when I would show up again, and I would take that Canvas, I wrote muse, I invite you in, I would make a hash mark on it. And then I came back the next day another hash mark on I showed up another hash mark on eventually I had hash marks all over the canvas where I'd come and sit out there and waited and like we're like two hours in Okay, I showed up today, nothing would happen and go back to the next day. And then I started making hash marks on the floor. And there it because I ran out of room on the canvas. It was a pretty frustrating time for me artistically. But it taught me to show up for art. And one of those days I showed up for the muse, something happened. And I just started painting, I just saw color. I don't even really remember I saw color, I saw something. And I just picked up my brush and picked up my hands, I started getting into the paint, and a painting came out. And that was it. And that was my lesson and I've never had a block again, I just show up. I say I allow you to be a really ugly piece if that's what it's going to be I'm just totally unattached from what this is. It doesn't even belong to me. It's coming through me. And I show up for art. And so I wanted to share that with my community and showing up for art every Friday. if I can do it, you can do it. And that's part of building your creative muscles showing up. Doesn't matter how you feel. You know, a lot of people think you got to wait until you have that inspiration. But that hasn't been my experience. You just have to keep showing up and eventually it'll show up for you and really, in a powerful way.
Tony Angelini:Wow, that's inspiring. So what you're saying, if I can have a takeaway from that. So what you're saying is that in order to be creative, in order to manifest that creativity, you have to show up and do something.
Sarah Whitmire:Well not even do something, but show up and really be open to something coming through you. And if it doesn't, that's okay. But show up again the next day, and show up again, the next day, it's about the showing up and being available for that creative spark.
Tony Angelini:So you go to your garage, and you focus on just showing up, when the painting actually happened, did you feel like you were creating something or that something was being created through you, or both, or neither,
Sarah Whitmire:I felt that something bigger than myself had finally shown up, for me. It's something bigger than me happening through me, you know, like, I really do feel an attachment to these paintings, I feel like, you know, the paintings have medicine in them for me, but also for the people who watch them being created, they have a real story arc that they go through from those real primitive, first marks through, you know, the refining, and then covering of a lot of them, like, I don't just go from point A to point D, you know, whatever, I make a lot of interesting terms along the way. And I believe the paintings belong to the people and to anybody that feels something when they see them or our hangs the print up on the wall. It's, it's reminding them of their own inner creativity, their own inner spark their own inner greatness. So the paintings don't belong to me.
Tony Angelini:How did you come to understand the importance of the just showing up? Muse? Here? I am? hashmark? That's a great question. I honestly don't really know what it was, um, you know. I've been through some pretty hard stuff in my life. And, you know, I've always been kind of practical. So I like to, you know, read a lot, and, you know, obviously be part of ITU and bettering myself, and, and so I just thought, Well, you know, if I want to be an artist, I have to make art. And I realized that I'm having trouble making art right now. But I'm going to show up anyway. And and I think it just, I got so frustrated and fed up with this sort of wishy washy life that I was living, you know, and I was fueled by a lot of pain and stuff that I just decided, like, if I'm going to do this, I'm going to start doing this. Let's just keep showing up and see if we can make our way through it or not, you know, and I'm not really sure what that thing was, that made me start showing up other than the frustration. But sometimes you have to go to that dark place. Sometimes you have to have that sort of dark night of the soul before you can start climbing back up. And I think that's, that was sort of it for me a little bit. Yes. And I want to point out that solutions, healing, productivity, creativity, making your life better, doesn't necessarily follow the dark night of the soul automatically. You have to do what you have to take action. Right,
Sarah Whitmire:right at that frustration level, where you're just like, you know, we're gonna either get it together or we're gonna choose a different path, you know,
Tony Angelini:and you I have a feeling there were some sacrifices that you made, because you're a pretty busy person. You and your husband. operate the shop.
Sarah Whitmire:We work hard. Yeah.
Tony Angelini:And you have children.
Sarah Whitmire:I have a son, his name's Guardian.
Tony Angelini:Oh, I love that.
Sarah Whitmire:He's a cool, dude.
Tony Angelini:Yeah, man. And, I mean, I heard the weather's nice down in Florida these days. How's it been?
Sarah Whitmire:It's been pretty rainy. It's been monsoon in here, actually. But yeah, it's generally nice. I'm in northern Florida. So we still get some cool days in the winter. I'm, I'm looking forward to those actually. It's a nice time to be here in the fall. Huh? Yeah, the summer is pretty hot.
Tony Angelini:Well, yeah. So when I lived in Brandon, which is I lived in Tampa for 10 years, and I just couldn't stand it was 90 degrees from April to November, and it had an effect on me and my productivity and my whole outlook. Does the weather affect your work at all?
Sarah Whitmire:That's a cool question. I like that a lot. Um, yeah, it does actually. I never really thought about it, but it definitely does. Um, you know, the seasons definately affects me. I sort of live in a in a spiritual system where I follow the Wheel of the Year and the seasons in my own predict my own profession and productivity and things like that. So like in the winter, I try to rest more. And in the summer I try to push more and things like that. But I think in general, in the fall, I like to take my work outside as much as possible. So that really changes things. my very favorite place to paint is outside in the fall at like a festival or something like that when it's just me and the easel and there's people walking around. And I love being outside that time of year. And here in the summer. It's really hot and muggy, it rains every single day. So it's not really it doesn't really work well to take my pieces out in the rain. Although I have painted in the rain, it's really hard because the paint drips everywhere. And it's a totally different experience. But generally I try not to paint in the rain.
Tony Angelini:That's cool.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah,
Tony Angelini:that's really cool. Yeah. You mentioned festivals, is this a necessary part of an artist's life? Or is this something you love doing? Or maybe both?
Sarah Whitmire:Well, um, it was something that it was something that I was trying out for a while. Because I do love painting live. And I wanted to try out all different kinds of live painting situations, you know, anywhere from I've painted that, like tented art festivals, you know, where people are there to buy art, to more like music festivals, where people are there to listen to music and have a good time. And I want to do some more painting with different types of events. Like, I think weddings would be fun or some kind of like party situation. I haven't done that yet. But I'm open to it. And I also I mentioned to you before I was looking forward to painting with the local Symphony Orchestra. That was going to be a thing we already had on the books, but then COVID hit and so everything got weird. So obviously, I've been taking a step back from painting at festivals and things like that right now. It is something that I would like to get back into. But I don't know if I'm going to get back into it as much as I was. Before I was painting live. Every Friday on Facebook, I was painting live almost every Friday in our local city and different clubs and things. And I had a young son at the time, and we were arranging babysitting, and I was getting like two and three in the morning. And then having you know, like a kid it was really hard. So in some ways, COVID was a little bit of a blessing because we moved everything online. And instead of being out at clubs and festivals and things, I was just at home and then I can you know more easily take care of my son and I'm like, in my garage in the home and when he steps away if he needs me, like this Friday, I was live painting, and he had a fever of 101 and I knew that I would he was right there you know, so it wasn't like leaving him with a sitter and hoping everything is is okay. So family wise it's been really nice to be here close to home. So it has its it has its you know, it's really fun to paint live for people. But it's hard to it's a lot of hard work. I have some funny, funny stories of painting.
Tony Angelini:Oh, yeah?
Sarah Whitmire:Well, you meet a lot. You meet a lot of interesting people at the nightclubs and all different types of personalities. And, you know, I did some live collaborative like there was one night, me and my friend Her name is Carrie Martinez incredible visionary artists. Also, you should go check her out Carrie Martinez. We were painting together on one of these six foot pieces at a local nightclub called visionary. And she actually owned the club with her husband, who's also an incredible visionary artists and people somebody had gotten sick. And Kerry broke her toe. Right before we started like a six hour live pain. She didn't even tell me that she had broke her toeShe painted for like six hours on a broken toe. At the end of the night. She's like, Oh, I need to sit down and like Carrie What happened? She's like, Oh, I broke my toe just before we went live. And it was.
Tony Angelini:Wow.Talk about flow.
Sarah Whitmire:It was pretty funny. Yeah, it was a it was a fun night. You know this. There's just lots of stories and characters and interesting people. There was one night where somebody tried to paint on the canvas with me just a random person. And I had a friend with me who like dumped in front of the brush just as they were getting ready to just help themselves.
Tony Angelini:Say that again?
Sarah Whitmire:So, I had taken a break from my painting to, you know, use the restroom or something. And somebody, some drunk person came up and had helped themselves to the art supplies. And we're coming up to put paint on my canvas to just add to it.
Tony Angelini:Oh, man,
Sarah Whitmire:My assistant, Kelly was with me. And she like, no, like, jumped in front of the person who was getting ready to apply the pay. And like took one for the team is like NO! It's not a public piece.
Tony Angelini:Well, what is it about live by live? Of course, you mean in front of people?
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah. Yeah.
Tony Angelini:As opposed to in your garage without anybody around? Right. And there's advantages and but how do you do that? And and can you obtain what they call flow?
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, I yeah.
Tony Angelini:in front the people and or is it? Does it help you? Oh, what's it like?
Sarah Whitmire:The thing is, you have to be prepared for funny stuff at any moment, because you can't edit it out. You know, we were in I was in the studio once with my friend Sherry, who comes and does frame drumming with me. And we had like, done a beautiful little ceremony before we were live, we lit a candle. And we were in the middle of the live painting, and she's strumming and we see this huge flame, like on a on a it was a wooden table to like ingulfing, in the middle of the Live Paint. And so I always have a spray bottle out here, because I'm using mix video, I grabbed my spray, but I'm like, one moment and I go over and I extinguish the flames. And then we just go back to painting, and it's just that's part of the show. In the moment, things are gonna happen, and you flow with it. And there's been times where the Canvas has fallen down on my head and like funny things happen, and you just have to go with it. It's just part of it. It's part of the live performance, you know. So you try to be prepared, but
Tony Angelini:I'll tell you coming, I'm starting to see a parallel here. Let me see if I can put this question into words. So coming from the theater, you know, actors have their lines, you don't know what you're going to do. But actors have their lines in their blocking. But outside of that anything can happen, including when you include the audience, you have an element that you have to react to, and there's energy exchanged. And so they really have to be in the moment. So there's not a whole lot of sitting back and thinking,
Sarah Whitmire:right,
Tony Angelini:there's a lot of kinesthetic, authentic, reacting, authentic is the key. What you're telling me is that you can still experience this feeling of creation, and this feeling of being a part of something bigger than you in front of an audience where fires happen, and people come up and want to paint on your, on your, on your painting, sorry. But people you know, on people want come up and want to paint on your car. It doesn't. Yeah, and it doesn't seem to interrupt your process. So I wonder if there's a comparison well, to that and your, your process,
Sarah Whitmire:there's definitely, you know, especially especially for live like outside my comfortable studio, you know, events, there's a priming that happens, you know, there's a stepping into who I am when I show up, there's a professionalism that I you know, that I cloak that I wear when I go out. And I'm very focused and very focused on why I'm there. I'm there for the art and the people. And those are my primary focuses. And so if you know your why then everything else is kind of easy. And I do very much have the show must go on mentality. I usually have earbuds in. So a lot, a lot of people that I know that live pain, they go and they socialize, I don't socialize so much I show up to paint. I'm there to perform and to share the work. And so I get in my own little zone, and I don't, I don't socialize a lot when I'm painting I'm hooked into that flow of creativity that I've shown up for over and over again that it shows up for me now easily.
Tony Angelini:We could talk about technique and all kinds of stuff, but I'm really interested in what's happening in your head while you paint and what's in your earbuds when you're..I'm trying not to laugh at that.
Sarah Whitmire:That's it's, it's an it's an empty now. It really is. You can't You can't have too much going on, too. To really flow you have to be it's very, it's a meditative state. It's a trance state. It's a channeling state. It's a, you know, it's it is an emptying out to because you can't be full and allow it to come in. I think that's why meditation. I mean, I'm, I'm a big, I'm for it. You know, if people have trouble accessing that creativity I think it's pretty powerful. And there's not a right way to meditate, you got to figure out which way works for you. But there's a quiet and a quietness to it.
Tony Angelini:Well, let's say there's something on your mind.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah.
Tony Angelini:Just before you paint,
Sarah Whitmire:yeah,
Tony Angelini:whether it's live or not. And I mean, in front of people are not something that's bothering you.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah.
Tony Angelini:When you have to show up? How do you clear your mind? Do you? push it away? deny it? Do you just acknowledge it and let it be there and let it drift off? Or how do you have a technique or a thing thatdo every time?
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, I have a lot of techniques. If I was going to kind of sum it up, you know, like, so, this last Friday, I was really worried about Guardian, I was painting on Friday night, Saturday night, we were doing the big live sale on Facebook with Neptune's ring, Guardian had a fever of 101. And I was worried about him, I hate me having to work when he's sick, you know, because I just want to like, level him up and be mom, but I wear a lot of different hats. And one of my values is balance in my life. You know, my family does come first and my work second, but sometimes, like, you have to figure out where you need to go. At a certain point, you know, like, so my, my community knows that I'm gonna show up Friday, I don't have an option of saying, oh, sorry, my kids sick, it's just not who I am. Unless he was really sick. That's different. But, um, so I'm worried. And but there's a there's almost like I draw a line in the sand. So when I step into my studio, mom stays in the in the house. And me, the vessel of creativity, who's sharing the Muse with the people that are here to watch it and experience it is here for them. So I have to leave that part of myself behind the door. And when I'm done painting, I'll go pick her back up, and then go check on guardian and give him love and kisses and make sure he's feeling okay. But I have to sort of step into a different part of myself. And I think we we all have many parts, you know. So that's a big part of what I do when I need to show up. And I say, I can worry about that later. But right now I have to have focus on on what I'm doing right now.
Tony Angelini:You know, I've got to tell you, this part will be I won't include this either. But so part of my way of helping people relax and open up and kind of be familiar with me is if I share, you know, I have to share some of me with the person. It's interesting that, and I'm talking to the ICU student and you it's interesting that when in the final product, I don't want to make it about me at all. I just want to be
Sarah Whitmire:a vessel.
Tony Angelini:Yeah, exactly.
Sarah Whitmire:I'm taking your words again.
Tony Angelini:Thank you for that. And so every time I use the word I, I know, that's probably gonna get cut.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, I understand that. I really do. I mean, that's why I do it. I, you know, I've been through so much of my own journey in art, that sharing it with other people and allowing them to tap into their own creativity is my why, you know, I really do believe that art saves. I really do. And even before I painted these big paintings, you know, I, I was in art journaling, and I was doing a lot of like, internal work with that. And art journaling is something else I talk a lot about, because I feel like for me in my own healing journey in my own life, it's helped a lot. It's helped a lot. You know, I think most people understand what writing can do and journaling with words, but not everybody thinks that way. Not everybody thinks in words. I'm one of those people. Like just having this conversation with you can be challenging for me because words aren't my jam. I'm way better expressing myself with images. So, art journaling, for me was a way to put my feelings down in imagery and also a few words and cover up things with pain. collage over different things. And, and then it really did save me. And so now I like to, I like to talk about art journaling and about creativity. And it's nice to be able to talk about how I was able to form that connection with the muse. Because I do, I don't think there's anything special about me, I think that everybody can do it. And you don't have to be a traditional artist. That's the thing, like a lot of people think like, oh, but I don't paint. But we are all creative. We are all creators, we're creating something. And it's the same energy flow that you can tap into to create what it is you want. You're you're taking an idea, and your brain you're pulling it through and making it into a physical form that's creating your Creator, your creative.
Tony Angelini:So what is art journaling?
Sarah Whitmire:Art journaling is taking any kind of notebook or sketchbook and experimenting with paints, experimenting with minds and words and color. And using it as a diary, there's no rules really, you can use it as a diary, you can write thoughts you can collage you can paint, you can, you can cut things up, you can make doorways, you can make pockets, you can just like it's in it, what I like about art journaling is it's a really safe place to explore art. Because people when they paint course, these are for the people, you know, you don't paint a six foot by four foot painting, and not want people to see it. But when you make an art journal, when you journal, it's this small container that's just for you. It's nobody else has to see it, it's safe. And so a lot of people starting out in their, in their art journeys, you know, like, they'll try to look at a blank canvas, and there's the sphere there. But art journaling is a great starting place for people who might feel timid in their, in their work where they can, you know, practice, like take your supplies out, try out these cool pens doodle like you did when you were a kid, you know, make some marks. Take your journal with you everywhere you go. And, you know, sketch things that you see or write feelings, and there's no rules to it. It's just a mix of paint and paper and words and anything you want or need it to be.
Tony Angelini:You know what that reminds me of? That sounds wonderful. I used to buy a new notebook because I write my journal. And I'm a writer, and I used to buy a new like moleskin notebook. And I had such a reverence for the clean pages and the possibilities that it took a lot for me to write in it.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah,
Tony Angelini:and kind of defile it. But then I was in a bookstore and I saw a journal. And it was entitled wreck this journal.
Sarah Whitmire:I know that one.
Tony Angelini:Oh, you know it.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, I have one.
Tony Angelini:Oh, cool. And the idea is for anybody who doesn't know is okay. You can have your good moleskin journal and keep it pristine if you want but this journal, feel free to destroy it with with your musing, cut it like you described a minute ago. Now that is freeing.
Sarah Whitmire:Yes.
Tony Angelini:When you know when you lose respect for what it is, and allow it to become what it will become.
Sarah Whitmire:Yes. Well see that that journal gave you permission that gave you permission sometimes the fancier the journal, the harder because you there's like, Oh, you know, my words aren't good enough for the beauty of this, this book, you know, and if I'm going to write it, it better be like perfect in some way. So it's interesting, I think most people have a beautiful journal that they're afraid to write in because what they would put in it wouldn't be as beautiful as the journal itself. And I would challenge that I would, I would say allow yourself to make a horrible mess of that beautiful journal like I do allow myself to make an ugly painting and it's okay. And you'll probably be surprised it will be more beautiful than then you imagined. There's an immense freeness of working in journals and you can always cover it up you know, moleskin also like you can collage and those journals I have a whole collection of of journals, some of them have been published in like Somerset studio and stuff like that of some of the art journals that I've made. And you can make art journals out of anything to you don't even need an expensive journal. If you have one. You should use it but if you don't have one, you can make journals out of paper bags. I did a series of art journaling videos on YouTube where I was showing you because it was like during the pandemic and nobody could find our supplies, we didn't know what was open. And so I'm like here, I'm going to show you how to make a journal out of a paper bag. And, you know, trash that. I think I even use dirt for like ink. So I show just different ways, different ideas, different things, you can really use the things around you to make our cardboard works great if you don't have the canvas.
Tony Angelini:Or your YouTube channel is amazing. Where can people find it again?
Sarah Whitmire:It's Sarah wittmeyer. on YouTube. Yeah,
Tony Angelini:I have getting back I have a journal that my daughter gave me for my birthday this year. And it's, you know, it's leather bound. And it's all great paper. And it's you can't refill it. No, I'm having a little hard time. I'm like, I have to save that for something special, right?
Sarah Whitmire:Because what you would write in it wouldn't be special.
Tony Angelini:Right? Right, exactly. But I never read the journal,
Sarah Whitmire:you're worthy of the nice journal.
Tony Angelini:Exactly what would make this meaningful? And guess what I want to say is that I've never regretted wrecking a journal. I'm going to switch gears a bit.
Sarah Whitmire:Okay,
Tony Angelini:I want to talk about your community, your support system, for lack of a better word. Now, full disclosure, Sara and I are both members of Impact Theory University. And Sara and I are actually a part of an accountability group in Impact Theory University, just for creatives. And that's how we know each other. So tell me how important this sense of support is for you this sense of community, you said like in your live feed, you have other artists that come and watch you and they might write or they might compose, talk a little bit about the people that you expose yourself with, as far as artistic community.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, community is super important. community has really saved my ass during the pandemic. And I think a lot of people in our groups, you know, it's things are changing, you know, and in some ways, the internet is really reflecting our need for coming together with like minds, and like spirits and creative tribes. And I think, you know, one of the best things about the internet is the way that we're able to connect with people from all all around the world, and have that sense of kinship with people who you know, are, are from everywhere. I am super thankful for my online communities. I I'm not sure I can adequately express. But I know that I've had letters and notes and things from people thanking me for, you know, showing up Friday nights, because even if they don't show up to create, they show up for the people that are there in the groups to say hello to check in to, you know, something, something in your life hard right now, tell us about it, we're here for you, we love you, you know, I've even done one of the things I did in my own group for sort of building my community because you have to put energy into your community, you can't just like build a community and expect people to like get along you like as a as a facilitator of a community, you have to put energy into it, you have to feed the group so that people feel comfortable sharing and comfortable with their own vulnerability and things like that. And like you said earlier, that often involves you being vulnerable with them first, so that they feel like it's a safe place. But we also did some art swapping, which was really fun and built the community like there's a thing called ATC, which is artists trading cards. It's kind of like sports cards, but it's for artists and they have certain rules, they have to be a certain size. And it's a way to make tiny little pieces of art that you can trade with people. And so we I talked a little bit about what ATCs were Artist trading cards, and a little bit about the size rules and we all collage and made little artists trading cards and and then we swapped them in the group. And so people were receiving little mini pieces of art from other people in the group. And it was just a really beautiful way to bring the community together. Of course people you know, we're all artists too. So people would send like extra Cool Bits of paper and things that they found is like a beautiful care package and this was during the pandemic too. So it was a really nice thing to do for people to receive art in the mail and cool little things to To journal with and to make our list and, and that kind of thing really builds community and lifts people and it becomes a family Really? Yeah. And
Tony Angelini:how does it affect your work?
Sarah Whitmire:Well, it gives me a really big why to show up, you know, because I genuinely care about my community. I love them. They're my brothers and sisters and I want them to succeed. You know, we all sort of cheerlead everybody and boosts everyone you know, whatever level you're at, if you're creating, you're making something, you know, we applaud that and we support that and we, you know, are just happy for you and your success.
Tony Angelini:I understand the importance of communicating with people with like minded people. But these days, there seems to be a concerned about something called echo chambers. What's the difference? How do you maintain your acquaintances in a positive way with like minded people without falling into the trap of just being intolerant of people who don't think like you?
Sarah Whitmire:Right? Well, I think you have to have some people in your life that keep you what I want to call like brutally honest, you know, like, you have to, I think it's important to have a couple friends that are always going to be brutally honest with you about things. And it's good to have a variety of people with different belief systems in your circle, it keeps you grounded, it keeps you from having that echo thing you know, like not all of my friends believe exactly how I believe about everything you know, like I have different friends that believe different political issues and you know, different ways of working with spirit and art and you know, so I think you have to do a lot of work to ground yourself too you know, you have to take in information and read from different places and different sources and and try to find I always like to say like, the truth is somewhere in the middle, I really, I feel like it's, it's brought the truth is in the middle somewhere. So you have to surround yourself with different people too also is important.
Tony Angelini:How do you find time to read?
Sarah Whitmire:Well, I read for fun. And so it doubles as as self care. And I like to read it at night.
Tony Angelini:What do you read?
Sarah Whitmire:I'm reading some reading some magical literature and reading the Clavis Goetica, which is about cathartic sorcery. And I'm also reading what am I reading? Oh, I just got Frida Kahlo. My good friend, Nicole just sent me Frida Carlo's diary. I had no idea. Apparently, Mexico had her diary kind of under locking key for a while, and then they published it recently. And it's, you know, of course, her diary was all written in Spanish, but there's translations in the back of the book, and it's got her personal like, journal pages where she's painted and drawn and written things about Diego and her life and her story, and it's beautiful. So I've been digging into that. Also, it's incredible. I had no idea existed, but so you make time for things like that.
Tony Angelini:Yeah, you do. And speaking of time, so have you gone in your work? Have you gone the gallery route as well?
Sarah Whitmire:A little bit,
Tony Angelini:you know what I'm saying?
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, not so much. I, I,
Tony Angelini:you're quite prolific. And every time I talk with you, you're more well known. Talk to me about the galleries. Are they useful?
Sarah Whitmire:Well, I don't do a lot of gallery stuff. I've done some local gallery stuff. It's tricky because, you know, the galleries have their own audience and the galleries usually take a big percentage of your work. And it can be okay. It's not my favorite way of showing art. I always feel like my arts for the people. Everybody, you know, it's partly why I love murals. And I've got muralist friends who you know, they make art for the people, you put art on a mural, it's for everybody. And I'm kind of I'm, I sort of dig that kind of art, a little bit more than some of the gallery stuff. It's not that I don't do it, it's just that it's not, it's not my go to. I would much rather be you know, out in the trenches at the festivals and like, just with the people on YouTube or anybody who you know, would enjoy creating with me or seeing the art being made. So
Tony Angelini:who has inspired you?
Sarah Whitmire:That's a great question. I have quite a few people that have inspired me, my very, very first inspiration. I grew up in In Illinois, I was a Midwestern girl small town. I was adopted and doesn't really matter, but kind of gives you an idea of where I come from.
Tony Angelini:That's interesting,
Sarah Whitmire:My adopted parents were nice people. And my mom would take me to the Art Institute of Chicago, at least once a year, not twice a year, it was a couple hours away. So it was a good drive for us. And I remember I was probably about six years old when she took me and we saw a Monet exhibit. And it's the first exhibit that I have a recollection of ever, really feeling. So Monet painted these, like eight foot paintings of his water lily garden. A lot of people know his work, but they don't really know that he's got these massive paintings that span like sort of a half circle thing. So when you stand in them, you literally feel like you're swimming in the water. They're huge. It's like, it's like a giant mural of water. And they had it there, the Art Institute, and my mom took me and I remember as a little girl, you know, standing, looking at the water and the lilies and having this spark, this inspiration, this thing inside me awaken, like, Oh, you know, I think that most people have had some kind of experience in front of a piece of art. You know, it's a feeling it's hard to describe. But that was the first time I felt that way. And so after the museum, I was really interested in Monet, and my mom was more than happy to buy me a book about it. And she read to me his story, and I fell in love with him. He's had this kind of like grandpa like, personality, big straw, floppy hats, and his like pipe and painting out in his garden that he had planted himself. I love that so much. And then in his older years, he actually started to go blind. And you can see in his work from his early paintings to his later paintings, the frustration that he had with his work as he started to go blind, and he had a couple eye surgeries, and they, they were unsuccessful, and like his colors got darker and more frustrated. And it really touched me it really spoke to me even like as a young girl, the story of his life and the struggle that he went through. really impacted me hugely. And so Monet definitely was my first experience withhaving another being sort of light me up and sent me on my path. And I have other I've mixed I have other, you know, people like I'm really inspired by David Bowie, elton john, Lady Gaga, not artists, but they are their own rise, of course, Frida Kahlo, um, modern day people that inspire me, Michael Demain is amazing. I've taken a couple classes with him. I am a self taught artist. And I've done some traveling, visiting other artists and retreats and things, learning different stuff. Following things that inspired me, but I'm inspired by fashion and color and music and books. great writers. poets. inspire me. Yeah, theater. Yeah. Oh, yeah. I, I remember going I went to the trip to London with a class in high school. And we went to her majesty's Theatre in London and saw Phantom of the Opera. And that was man incredible. I had such an experience there. So definitely in theater as well. Yeah.
Tony Angelini:Yeah, man, Martha Graham. She said it's, it's important for an artist to explore other mediums and see what other artists have other mediums are doing and you take that in and it becomes a part of you seems to me if you're painting like you do anything that's a part of you is fair game and just becomes more meaningful. Would you say?
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah, for sure.
Tony Angelini:Even that Big Mac you ate yesterday.
Sarah Whitmire:I don't eat Big Macs but...
Tony Angelini:Well, gee, I could talk with you all day about this, but I know you're fairly busy person. Yeah, this has been a lot of fun. So if you had any advice to somebody who just is just frustrating wants to paint and time goes by, and they still haven't done it. But they really, what would you say to that person?
Sarah Whitmire:I would say, find your why. And you have to schedule time for it. So even if you can't like my story, even if you can't show up and have something come through, you know, show up anyway, and continue to show up and have a reason why you're showing up. You know, you have to, that's something you have to figure out like, why am I showing up? Is this some gifts I have to give to the world that only I can give? Or am I doing it for my family? Or am I doing it for you know, whatever it is, you have to find your why. And then you have to consistently show up for it and thinking about creativity as a muscle that you're building, rather than just something that's like, a spark of genius or whatnot is really was helpful to me. So if you think of creativity, like a muscle, you have to continuously show up for an exercise, you know, then I think that's pretty helpful. I wish somebody had told me that a while back.
Tony Angelini:It is. It is a muscle, isn't it? You have to do your reps.
Sarah Whitmire:Yeah.
Tony Angelini:I love that. I'm going to explore that. Thanks.
Sarah Whitmire:You're welcome.