FEARLESS We Paint: Guest Post By Jennifer Schildknecht

Fearless painting really did change everything—

Maybe you’ve heard of this wild woman Connie Hozvicka and her Dirty Footprints studio.
Maybe you’ve heard all the hype surrounding her BIG Fearless Painting workshop.
I’d heard it. Floating all about the inter-webs. Claiming to change lives.

Fearless.
Fearless Painting.
The notion appealed to me, the Queen of Fear, the Princess of STUCK-ness, the girl with an inability to commit to ANYTHING.

Just ask Connie; I signed up for her Art Journal Love Letters workshop and immediately shut down with fear.

But something kept niggling at me once I heard about BIG… “sign up! You can do this! You NEED this! You HAVE TO DO THIS…..for YOU….this is IT…Now or never! Do or die!”

I sent an email to Connie… “Can I do this? TELL me I can DO this! Will you hold my hand? Will you push me when I need it? Shove me, even?”

Connie convinced me that I, indeed, COULD do this.

So I signed up.

And nothing has been the same since.

Of course I had to get myself into a place of total commitment to this thing; if I never finished anything else in my life, I was going to finish this.

Total commitment is essential, by the way. This is NOT something to get into half-heartedly! Jumping in with both feet (and all your heart!) is a requirement; otherwise this is just another online workshop… that might or might not get finished.

Connie is totally committed to this thing, and her vision and enthusiasm are what makes it work, what makes it different.

The supportive and tight-knit community formed of all kinds of women from all over the world is the other half of what makes this work. The love and support exuded by this Tribe are crucial to our success. The bond that these woman form is just amazing! I felt completely free to say anything, to paint anything and share it with our Tribe, knowing that no one would judge or condemn me, and that there would be only loving discussion.

Many of us, weeks now after our session has ended, still consider each other true friends. We still lend our love and support to each other.

This kind of support and friendship is something new to me, and it has freed me beyond anything I’d ever expected!

Many of you likely believe that a course called “Fearless Painting” is about painting, no?

Yes, we painted. Of course we painted.

But there are no lessons on technique… or memorizing titles of famous works of art…. or any such thing.

We painted, and we did indeed learn about painting, but we learned more about OURSELVES than we did about painting!

We learned to listen…and let go.

To let go….and to listen some more.

We learned to listen to ourselves, to distinguish truth from lies.

It was shocking and amazing (as well as liberating!) to me that all of the others in our Tribe, no matter how talented, had the same fears, doubts and insecurities. I realized very quickly in those six short weeks though, what is there really to be afraid of?

We are who we are, and each one of us is perfect in our imperfection. I remembered that

I truly am ENOUGH, just like I am.

And, hey, I’m an artist. I can say it again (I’d forgotten for the longest time)

I AM AN ARTIST.

I’ve said this many times before, but it comes from a much different place now—
Being an artist is not the same as being, say … a policeman, or a construction worker, or a secretary. Being an artist is not something you just DO; it’s something you ARE.

And that’s ok.

And maybe the best thing of all that I learned?

That all of these lessons apply, not only to art, but also to REAL LIFE.

Not only do I maybe use a broader stroke with my paintbrush now; I’ve learned to paint with a much broader, wilder, freer stroke, with more abandon, in everything I do in life.

Yep, nothing’s the same.

And that’s a WONDERFUL thing.

Fearless Painting really did change my life.
Fearless Painting may have SAVED my life.

Come join the Tribe of FEARLESS Painters!!

BIG is currently on sale HERE! Starts January 9, 2011–ring in the New Year BIG!