The Artist Within: Author Interview & Incredible Give Away!

ART

Creativity. Inovation. Discovery.

How do we unleash the artistic potential in ourselves and in our children? I'm glad you asked!! I have the particular pleasure of introducing you to my new cyber friend, author and creativity guru, Whitney Ferre. Whitney is a homeschooler and an entrepreneur. Not only is she generously offerning

one FREE Meet the Artist Within Program

http://www.creativelyfit.com/

(this is a $75 value that includes a copy of her book, The Artist Within)

but everyone who signs up will automatically receive a free ebook. How cool is that?


This is a 4 part interview that I'll post installments of each Thursday. The winner of the program/ book will be announced after the 4th interview installment on Thursday, May 6th. Enjoy reading and don't forget to stop back each Thursday to read more!

PART I
1)      Could you share a bit about how you became interested in creativity. Are you a trained artist?

Creatively Fit was born out of pure inspiration.  I was ready for a change. I wanted to change my career. I wanted to change my focus—I wanted some new inspiration. I was ready for the next phase. I had NO idea what it was going to be.
The word “inspire” means “spirit within”. I believe the “spirit” placed within me, in a single moment, the mission to get as many as possible CREATIVELY FIT. I understood, in an instant, the connection between creative activity and right brain development. This happened in December 2004.
I opened The Creative Fitness Center in May of 1996 in Nashville, TN. I had NO art experience. Truly. The first time I ordered paint supplies I randomly selected colors that I thought sounded right because I has no idea what cadmium or pthalo meant! I was wrong. The colors were not even close! I knew NOTHING about drawing or painting. I had always LOVED colors and had dabbled in beading, knitting, jewelry, Shrinky Dinks, macramé, and coloring books as a child and young adult. That is as far as it went. I did not think I had inherited the “art DNA” one needed to be “artistic”. Then, I burst my own bubble and I opened an art center.
Turns out our minds can be developed JUST like a muscle. Even though that was part of my original inspiration, I did not have a list of references to support this theory. It was all intuition. Turns out that intuition was right on! I found a quote just this year by Thomas Edison:
“The brain can be developed just the same as the muscles can be developed, if one will only take the pains to train the mind to think.”
It didn’t take long for my inspiration to take form. I learned right along with my clients and then I started teaching. My art students came back to me and said things like, “Guess what I did!?!? I have been meaning to do ____ for years! It was so fun! It was so rewarding!” Sometimes they were not even aware that the tipping point for them had been art class. As they became more comfortable creating change on the canvas, they became more confident and able to take bold action outside of art class. This is a big deal…as they created change on the canvas, they learned to create change in their life. Art class strengthened their right brain muscle. They became Creatively Fit. They created change in their lives that was not previously possible.
That is when I started to write my book. I knew this was TOO big and TOO simple to keep tucked away in Nashville. It has been an adventure ever since!

Thanks, Whitney!
Stop back for the next installment next Thursday!

 In order to qualify for the give away follow this blog and leave a comment, and join the Creatively Fit newsletter at http://www.creativelyfit.com/ (where you will all receive a FREE eBook about how to get into right brain thinking).

Stop by Hip Homeschool Moms for even more give aways!