Evan Carmichael Soft little dreams…

I have been busy researching art marketing. I am a creative soul who paints all the time but I have no idea where to start when it comes to marketing and what that really means. So my journey so far has been pleasantly surprising as I have learnt that although branding myself as an artist is challenging, what I am really looking at is how I can serve…my gift to the world. This is the thing that makes me unique and different. I got that ages ago but what I didn’t get was that marketing was not about finding ways to sell. It is the byproduct of having something to give that is seen as valuable.
So where did I start. I did a whole lot of online research (still doing it…baby steps). I got all excited about my unique brand and even created a little logo that I shared in an earlier post. Well today I watched some videos by Evan Carmichal and realised that maybe I was too eager. Oh the logo still fits but it is not the core. Evan gave me a few tips that I really liked. One idea was a sentence starter ( shown below) and the other was to find the one word that summed up what you are about. Not as easy as it sounds but love the idea of a sentence stem as it helped organise my ideas.

Complete the following sentence:
Hi, I’m ……………………………………………………….I’m a………………………………………………who believes…………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Well with a bit of soul searching this is what I came up with:

Hi, I’m Cheryle, I’m a mixed media artist who believes in women becoming their soul story and trusting their inner knowing. Each artwork is a soul story and an invitation to believe your own story as you open to your truth. If there was one word to describe what I am about it would be ‘be’. Be that person you dream of and live your possibilities as ‘you are powerful beyond measure’ (Marianne Williamson).

Now this felt stronger and closer to my truth and who I want to be in the world. I somehow left out the word heart that was so central in the logo I had designed but somehow that feels implied as I believe our truth is carried in our hearts.
Well the next challenge was to narrow this down to one word and so I kept asking and paying attention to what my feelings were guiding me to. I kept coming back to “be”.
Now “be” was not my first instinct…maybe “trust” or “become” but I realised that “be” had a peaceful sense of centering and acceptance. “Be” was the base word for lots of other words that resonated with the feelings and stories within my artwork. “Be” is the base word for words such as belong, become, begin and believe. I could really play with the possibilities that “be” encompassed.
As the pieces of me started to come together I realised that I was gravitating to the idea of “be the story”. This was what I had called the writers festival that I had run last year. We each have so many stories but to “be the story” is about choosing to live your life on purpose. I want to share possibilities of what it looks like to “be” that dream as it becomes and the adventure of beginning.
So this is where I am up to and each layer is building my understanding. I know that if I want to share my message I need to be really clear about my purpose. I feel a lot clearer now and I hope what I’ve shared here helps you become clearer. I’m still playing with ideas for my next step in my wish book journal ( my alternative to a vision board and visual diary combo) as I am continuing to dig deeper to see what my layers uncover.

My word for 2016 is “open” so for me now I know I choose to

 “be open”.

What is your word for 2016 and what do you choose to be?

My word for 2016 is…………………………………….
In 2016 I choose to be…………………………………….

I would love to here your thoughts and ideas about who you want to be and what you choose for your word for 2016 so please leave a comment below.