Field Guide to Truth and Beauty
I’d like to introduce you to
a true artist.
Someone who has shown persistence in building up a body of work through devotion to the craft.
Spend a few hours with this artist’s creations
and you will not be disappointed.
The beauty you encounter will move you.
The innovation there will delight you with its bravery.
You’ll see fascinating patterns woven between pieces,
holding everything together with an gorgeous through-line.
As you see this artist’s development through time,
you will marvel.
And the truths revealed will grip you
~ crucial wisdom that the world needs to hear.
The artist I want to introduce you to is yourself.
The Truth and Beauty process was amazingly full and useful. You gave me new awareness about my values, and I was actually surprised to discover the emphases I was placing during this process.
I found out things about my work, my self, my purpose as an artist, what I know, where I can grow ~ a lot in a short time. And without pain. The process was affirming, not at all daunting.
Writers and artists: when was the last time you rambled through your past work, reminding yourself of the great value it holds for you and your audience?
You’re used to evaluating with a critical eye, rejecting what doesn’t meet your standards. You resign yourself to disappointment when your finished piece doesn’t match your original shining vision.
What if you ventured in with appreciation, ready to see new connections?
What if you prepared to be surprised even by yourself and by these pieces you thought you knew intimately?
Could you read and look at your creations with the attention and reverence of a scholar? With the mad love of a fan?
I loved the Truth and Beauty process. The questions allowed me to meander slowly through my artistic self (via my art work) that I’d long forgotten. It was a timely reminder that “oh yes,” I do have artistic ability and amazingness.
A renewed commitment to my artwork is very much a reclamation (re-claiming) for me at this time of my life. I had a ‘body memory’ of possibility, exuberance of what I could do ~ in a past time when I had languished artistically for some years.
Explore your creations and move forward with purpose.
The Field Guide to Truth and Beauty is a personal retreat through your body of work. The process takes you on an exploration of the art you’ve made, with an eye for its uniqueness and meaning.
Along the way, you’ll meet your essential self ~ the one who doesn’t care what others think or whether there’s money in it, who creates to please herself alone.
This process is not just for traditional artists but also for life artists. It works for writers, painters, sculptors, and poets, and those of us who express ourselves creatively in everything we make, from our homes to our wardrobes to our family photographs.
The self-led retreat is designed to take two hours, although you can spend as long as you like. You’ll be amazed at how much insight and confidence come from this brief encounter with your back catalog.
The Field Guide to Truth and Beauty includes:
- A gorgeous PDF guidebook and worksheets to accompany you during the retreat
- A 50-minute MP3 audio class on the principles of truth and beauty, including a mini-retreat to walk you through the process
- An audio intro and closing for your retreat
- A bonus audio recording of my short story “Broken Water”, which serves as an illustration of the Truth and Beauty fieldwork process
- The opportunity to share your findings with me and other retreatants on a private web page
$47
For writing groups and artist collectives
The retreat process is a great exercise to do together with other artists.
Buy at least 3 copies of the retreat kit to share with friends and I will do a live 45-minute debrief with your group over Skype.
I had been feeling blocked for a quite a while, so it was good to look through past work and reflect on what I’ve accomplished so far, and explore what really interests me. What was fascinating for me was the emphasis on personal and family relationships in my work, as well as an interest in form, and how those two have come together over the years without any real effort on my part.
Part of the value of the retreat for me was in being able to accept that this is my content and I don’t have to fight it anymore. This went some way towards helping me unblock . . . I’m writing again so that is definite progress!
~ Rhonda Douglas
For artists in search of a breakthrough
Add an hour of one-on-one coaching to your retreat kit. This option is especially for those of you who are:
- Daunted by trying to find your place in the market
- Wanting to reconnect with the hopeful enthusiasm of your earlier years
- Stymied by the deadlock between your need for creative flow and the concrete dam your life presents
Breakthroughs begin small. Truth and beauty lead you to that small but crucial opening, the tiny crack in the dam.
Truth and Beauty + coaching = $168
Your body of work is a lush landscape
and truth and beauty are concealed in the underbrush
just waiting for you to notice them.
Don’t underestimate your accomplishments.
What you’ve achieved within the constraints of your life is nothing less than remarkable.
And the truth and beauty you’ve infused into your art
~ your beliefs and values given compelling form ~
can feed your soul and draw you forward with even more purpose.
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