TRIBE Tuesday continues with another amazing story from a student who attended my Bali retreat in Ubud earlier this year.
So happy to present this week’s TRIBE feature: Dominque Hurley.
Dominque shares her story…
I was in my local art store picking up a huge Golden order when my eyes were drawn to Flora’s book.
I can’t describe my surprise and excitement as I glanced over the table of contents – this was the book I had imagined writing …. one day. I knew we were tapped into the same Creative Source, so I signed-up for the January 2013 Bloom True E-Course. It’s as if my Guides kicked into high gear after that because I was called to ride the brave intuitive wave that went far beyond my exhilarating Bloom True studio time and touched every aspect of my life.
After getting a personal Facebook account to join the Bloom True group, I also joined the Energism Art group on the very day they advertised the launch The Vienna Academy of Visionary Art website. Energy started coursing up and down my spine, and I soon received several confirming signs that I was meant to study there in the Fall.
After over 20 years of creating and selling artwork, I was finally going to get over my psychological baggage around drawing, something that came up yet again near the end of Flora’s amazing E-Course.
I spent the next six months fundraising (teaching English, crowdfunding, auctioning off all my artwork online, selling off most of my belongings, etc.).
By the end, my plans to go to Austria for one trimester expanded to my spending 2 full trimesters there, 1 month in Bali (a week at an ashram, Flora’s workshop in Ubud + the extension week, and a visionary art workshop), 1 week as artist in residence at the Academy of Art, Creativity & Consciousness across from an ashram near Assisi, Italy, and 2 more months studying part-time back in Vienna. I loved being a 47 year-old student!
When I returned to St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador, Canada after such a fulfilling and guided year, I kept getting the message to just paint and not worry about planning the year ahead. This was very uncharacteristic.
I have a very strong left brain, feel much more secure when things are hyper-organized, and am used to pushing the business side of things from the get-go. It didn’t take long to understand the bigger picture as the layers of my life came together.
I got a call out of the blue offering me a contract to teach painting workshops in French schools and community centers across the province in October. Amazing!
I used everything I learned from my years in the studio, my background in recreation & teaching, Flora’s outstanding example, and the Mischtechnik I learned in Vienna to develop a 3-hour workshop that would open children and adults up to the world of intuitive painting.
In Flora’s spirit of sharing, my 300th blog post described the whole process in both French and English so that participants and people all over the world could try out this magical world of creative expression by themselves or in groups. Very fulfilling!
The picture kept forming. In September, a downtown spa welcomed my filling the space with 30 of my paintings for a period of several months. Group exhibition opportunities started rolling in in October. I was asked to teach ESL courses at the university and “Developing Your Intuition” and “Simplifying Your Life” workshops at a weekend Body, Mind & Spirit retreat in November.
It’s a good thing I listened and didn’t try to force a plan before its time.
My calendar is completely blank for 2015 though – slightly nerve-wracking.
Fortunately, I have come to accept that my life is meant to evolve in the same way our paintings do in Flora’s courses – layers of warm, cool, contrast, imagery, risk-taking, turning things around and upside down, letting go, etc.
It isn’t always easy or comfortable, but I have absolutely no regrets. I’m constantly stretching those comfort zones and taking giant leaps of faith in and out of the studio with great results. It’s all part of my life’s purpose to explore and express my love of beauty and the beauty of love.
For more about Dominique, please visit www.DominiqueHurley.com. To submit your own TRIBE story, click here!
Stay tuned for more TRIBE Tuesday coming soon.
xo flora