TRIBE Tuesday: Trudy Rice

Trudy Rice was a participant in my October E-Course, and along with many of the other Bloomers in that particular course, she is taking advantage of the 6 months of class access by going through the entire course again…so cool…and smart… if I do say so myself 😉

Here is Trudy’s story…

I came across Flora’s book by chance in a very unlikely small bookstore in country Victoria, Australia.

I read it with gusto in one evening – devouring every word and then finding the web address, went online to find a huge world of information and her E-Course which I signed up for immediately!

With my preferred medium being printmaking I was a little apprehensive starting the course, getting out my old paints and buying new shiny white canvases, however I knew it was just what I needed to help kick start extending myself and therefore my arts practice.

My first canvas was a mess… just getting a handle on painting again was challenging. Then there was finding my imagery.

I didn’t want to copy, I wanted to push my bounds, but I always seem to come back to my most favoured imagery of nature.

The most fun part was putting on my music and downloading some new tracks – I hadn’t done that in a long time. Closing my eyes felt so freeing and got me out of my head and into a more intuitive space.

I’ve come from a very religious up bringing and as an adult turned my back on anything that was remotely religious. I believe this also closed me off from listening to my own intuition.

So finding my internal conversation again has been like coming home.

When I was 16 years old my wish was to be an artist, and open a gallery.

I loved pottery, painting and drawing and after breaking my arm in a horse riding accident, I went back to school to find the teacher had thrown all my work out. This lead me on a path of more musical creativity and I’ve only come back to my beloved visual art in the last 10 years.

I am now in the very fortunate position of having a beautiful husband and children who support all that I’d like to do creatively.

My second painting still didn’t quite hit the mark for me. Still finding the imagery was hard, but I love a challenge and decided to keep pushing my bounds, be more brave and make marks I wouldn’t normally make. Printmaking is very different to painting.

I felt by mid-way through this second painting I was listening more to my intuition, going with the flow and this seemed to translate into my daily life.

I’m quite a shy person really – generally keeping my opinions to myself and I don’t like conflict. However, I spoke up about an issue at work recently which then resolved itself much quicker – without the added angst.

It felt good to be brave.

I loved connecting with other Bloomers on Facebook and Instagram.

Our Bloom True group is taking advantage of the online information being available for 6 months after the course, and we are starting from the beginning to do the whole thing all over again! I’m excited to see where this second time round will take us.The group has been so supportive.  Often I would find the answer to my own question without even asking as others would be finding the same challenges.

I have run an artists’ critique group in my local area for the past 3 years – it has been a great way to keep grounded and connected with like minded folk.  With great trepidation I took my paintings to one of our sessions – the group LOVED them.  They all commented on how the last painting is more “me” and I believe it definitely has more of MY mark making.

Thank you Flora for helping me to explore parts of myself I’d forgotten existed.

This in turn will, I believe, translate into greater depth in my art practice.  I must get back your wonderful book, I’ve loaned it to a friend!  It definitely deserves and second and third read!

I have been working on some prints for an exhibition to be held in late January and feel they are more developed than my last series.  I also have a Solo Exhibition mid-2015 and look forward to a brand new body of work – I’m excited to see how far I can push my craft.

You can find Trudy online here:

http://www.trudyrice.com

http://facebook.com/trudyriceart

Thank you Trudy!  I love hearing your story and seeing the results of your brave dedication to trying something new outside your comfort zone. Bravo, my dear.  Keep up the great work.

If you have a Bloom True story to share, we’d love to hear from you!  Let’s continue to honor each others journeys, explore new territory, be brave and widen our circles of inspiration in the year ahead.

With gratitude,

xo flora