Connie Hozvicka of Dirty Footprints Studio is a relatively recent discovery for me. And she pretty much inspires me every time I visit her blog. She is a good example of someone who’s got the qualifications, done the time, and then gone off on her own path. Plus, she is FUN!

This (the going off piste bit) is something I will always admire in others, because I know how hard it can be to do. Connie speaks a lot about art in conjunction with her philosophies on life, and her approach to painting ties the two things together. She is also doing yoga training and her experiences on that particular journey are interwoven with thoughts about life and her painting and teaching.

Connie teaches both in person and online; she pioneered what she calls FEARLESS™ Painting ~ a vibrant and intuitive approach to painting that encourages you to let out what’s really you. If you want to see and hear her in action, she has a YouTube channel. This link takes you to a video where Connie’s talking about how she paints. I think you’ll get why I like her if you have a little dip in here!

She also started 21 Secrets – An Art Journal Playground, which brings together 21 different teachers sharing all kinds of creative ways to express yourself in journalling and beyond.

You may remember I joined this class a while back; thank goodness Connie decided to extend the dates because I’ve only done about four classes so far! And I have to say, Connie’s was my favourite. Her style of teaching reminds me a bit of Flora Bowley’s – it’s about connecting with yourself, being centred and grounded in your body by incorporating movement into the process, painting with your whole body and letting the art flow through you rather than trying to control it.

Here’s Connie talking about her art journey:

“Truth is I woke up the moment I completely surrendered to the Creative Juicy Goddess inside me–and I am not being all New Agey, flowy skirts, and ginger granola here either. I finally–after decades of training, searching, struggling, and traveling this gloriously beautiful journey of mine–gave myself permission to create Art that makes ME happy–that speaks to ME–that comes directly from MY HEART–and doesn’t rely on fitting into any genre or even prompting any praise. That’s it. That’s how it works.”

(Amen to that.)

And here’s something she said in an interview recently (sorry, can’t remember where I found it!) that really made me smile with recognition and reminded me to take it all more lightly:

Do you ever get “writers” block? How do you deal with that?

“Yes I do, but really not that often. Truth is, my Muse likes to take vacations. So when she’s out doing her thing–I do other stuff other than Art and I don’t stress it! She always comes back. That’s how we roll.”

Connie has recently swapped the dreads for a cute pixie crop, reacquainted herself with life drawing classes and is making some changes to her site and direction. I’ll continue to follow her progress because it’s familiar and uplifting to hear her talk about what’s happening in her life, and she makes me laugh and remember that it’s not all Serious Business, this life/art making trip. 🙂