We recently connected with Esther Loopstra and have shared our conversation below.
Esther, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump right into how you came up with the idea?
I had been working as a commercial illustrator and designer for 8 years as well as teaching budding artists in higher education but I was feeling like something was missing. I was burnt out, and sensing that I wanted to create art that was more of a reflection of my own authenticity but I didn’t know where to start.
Around this time, I saw an artist friend posting some photos on Instagram of an intuitive painting class that she took. I was intrigued. Intuitive painting? What does this mean? I loved painting, but it frustrated me. Whenever I took a painting class, the shoulds in my mind would take over, and I felt like there was a formula that I needed to follow to make my paintings work. My paintings always felt stale or stagnant, not what I wanted them to look or feel like.
I decided to follow my curiosity and try this painting class.
From the very first class, I was outside of my comfort zone. There was no planning or sketching, a process I was used to with all of my other creative projects. We danced, listened to music, fingerpainted on the canvas, and felt the sensations of our bodies. Our teacher taught us how to listen to our intuition, which apparently was in our body and would guide us to the next step in the painting. We splattered paint, explored creating texture, turned the canvas upside down, and practiced changing our minds over and over again. When I was finished with my first painting, I wanted to cry with happiness. That painting felt more like me, than anything I’d ever created. For the first time maybe ever, my paintings felt like me. They were far from perfect, but they felt pure. They looked and felt like what I wanted to express.
The analytical part of me began to get curious. What was this intuition thing? And what did it have to do with finding a sense of joy and expression that I’d never experienced before? I had been living so long by following a formula, but it seemed that many artists and other successful people had discovered intuition as a way to live their life. So I began studying. I learned about the Flow state, happiness, productivity, creative process, intuition, and neuroscience. I learned about how play, creativity, and flow can enhance our lives. All of my studies began to converge, and a hypothesis began to emerge. I thought about my own desire to find authenticity in my life and career and then to be able to share it with others by following my joy. How could I use what I’ve learned from my life and my studies to help others pivot more easily into their authentic selves?
From here I created a process that I call The Flow Method of Creativity. I began teaching these ideas first to my art students, helping them to create work that they love. Then in workshops, helping others access their own inner knowing in their life. I began speaking in public about how to bring more flow into your everyday life. I moved from teaching in art school to coaching artists and creative thinkers about how to pivot in their life and career by using these principles. Then I, along with our friend Leslie, started a podcast called “Flow into Authenticity” in which we help people to reach their goals through creativity, intuition, and flow.
After the class I also slowly began to move from commercial art to exploring more of my own expression through painting. I know show and sell my work in galleries and online and feel more fulfilled than ever.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
My name is Esther, I am a professional artist, speaker, and creative career coach. I help creatives reach their goals, build an art biz, or find a career that aligns with their soul. While creating a successful career as a commercial artist, I realized that my ‘inner rule follower’ was causing me to abandon myself and repeatedly burn out. After taking an intuitive painting class in 2011, I discovered that when I was able to tap into my intuition it naturally led me to my most authentic self and everything changed for me. I began researching the flow state, neuroscience, creativity, and intuition, and now I teach these concepts to others, helping them to tap into their own inner knowing through workshops, talks, and coaching. I have a BFA from Minneapolis College of Art and Design and I’ve taught at Kent State University and Cornish College of the Arts. I’ve also been featured on the Adobe blog and given talks at Creative Mornings, Seattle University, Bend Design Conference, and more.
I offer one on one coaching sessions and packages that help you pivot in your career, reach your goals, and learn to trust your intuition. I am available for workshops or speaking engagements and I sell my artwork on my website and Instagram and I am always looking for collaborations.
Both my speaking, coaching, and my artwork are about connection to ourselves, each other, and nature. I believe that when you see a piece of art or hear a piece of music that connects with you on a deep level, it’s because the essence of that artist is resonating with yours. Each of us has a unique gift to give the world and re-connecting to yourself and your true essence is the very first step in that journey.
Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?
It sounds simple, but be authentic. In both my illustration career, my fine art business and my coaching work the more time that took to find out who I was and what I really wanted to say, and then create and share from a place of authenticity, and vulnerability, the more my perfect clients, opportunities, and collectors would find me. It felt kind of like magic. The more that I would try to follow what someone else was doing, the more frustration I felt because it didn’t work.
Most of us look at what others are doing to grow their business and try to make it work for us. And while we might gain a few great tips and tricks, most of the time we need to put the time and effort into discovering what feels authentic to us. First, for an artist it means creating the artwork that I love, like really love, not what I think that others will buy. Then, it means sharing it in a way that feels fun, exciting, a little scary but authentic to who I am.
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
When I went back to school to study art, I had an assumption that I couldn’t make a living as a fine artist, which was my true passion, so I decided to study illustration and design. I even had a fine art professor look me in the eye and tell me that I wasn’t a commercial artist, I was a fine artist. And I knew he was right. But my brain was so focused on keeping me safe that I made that assumption into reality. This is step two in the method that I teach, let go of assumptions.
Anytime we begin something new, the inner critic (which is our brain just trying to keep us safe) will tell us why we can’t do it. It will create thoughts like…”I can’t do that because_____” or “No one will buy that art because _____” . Or, our Inner Critic will tell us that we need to do things a certain way. “You should do something more practical like _____”.
We make assumptions about everything, from what people will think about our Instagram posts to what we think our future can look like. We can question these assumptions by asking ourselves if that assumption is really true and if we know for sure that it is true. We may even go and look for role models who have done the thing that our brain is telling us we can’t do. If we hold fast to what our intuition is guiding us toward, we can break out of those old beliefs and create something new.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.flowintoauthenticity.com/ https://www.estherloopstra.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/estherloopstraart/ https://www.instagram.com/estherloopstrastudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/estherloopstraart
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/estherloopstra/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/estherloopstra
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/estherloopstra
- Other: Podcast: https://www.flowintoauthenticity.com/podcast
Image Credits
Judy Lee Photography- https://judyleephotography.com/ Rant Casey – https://rantsaltcasey.com/