We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Haley Hoover. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Haley below.

Haley, appreciate you joining us today. Has your work ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized?

I grew up in a rural farming community which isn’t always the biggest supporter of abstract arts. To be fair there were always a few cheerleaders around me, which is partly how I’ve become who I am today. But the majority of folks there are only interested in art that matches their way of life and their surroundings. Western landscapes in shades of tan, khaki, off white and eggshell. To be clear – this has never been my style of art. I use glitter, bold, bright colors and lots of busy patterns and fluid shapes. White, and shades of tan are used quite sparingly. I have painted farm scenes and farm animals, but only in bold, unnatural colors with lots of drips and drops and splatters of gold and glitter.
When I was fresh out of college, I had a new found confidence in my artwork. I was encouraged to set up a booth at the county fair, so I did. I proudly displayed all of my wild abstracts on pallet boards (a great attempt to fit into the crowd and the scene.)
People came and browsed and smiled politely. I believe I made a few sales to some children (who are never afraid of loud splashy colors) but overall people would look around, then keep walking.
For whatever reason, I will never forget a comment from an older man. He had on a cowboy hat and boots, like most folks. He looked at my art thoughtfully. I wondered if he may be interested. My heart skipped a beat for a second. After a time he looked at me and asked, “do you ever just paint horses?” I burst out laughing. It was often ironic to me how totally misunderstood my wild art was in this khaki atmosphere. I told him I’d gladly paint him a pink and purple horse.

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?

Using a refreshing mix of intuition, art and personal development — I believe I am here to help women own their full authentic selves.

Growing up in a rural, small town, I always felt like I was a bright color in a tan landscape. From age 18 I began blogging about authenticity and finding one’s own identity beyond the masks and titles that society gives us. A year later I began doing Julia Cameron’s work: The Artist’s Way, and by doing so somehow stumbled into my purpose of helping others become their best selves through art and writing.

Since then, I have founded The Sparkling Hippie, LLC. and it’s sister brand, The Sparkling Hippie Publishing, which helps entrepreneurs self-publish their books on Amazon. An Amazon #1 New Release Author myself, I love supporting those who wish to deepen their innovation and expression.

I am fortunate that my expertise has been featured in PositivelyPositive, Thrive Global, Thought Catalogue, and Hypnozine among others. I have also spoken alongside Deepak Chopra and am the host of the Top 5% Globally ranked podcast, The Sparkling Hippie Podcast.

When I’m not sitting behind my psychedelic-colored laptop, I can be found watching 60’s hippie documentaries or walking the mountain trails outside of Colorado Springs where I currently reside with my partner.

Learn more at TheSparklingHippie.com.

What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?

Yes, very much so. I believe that we live in a society and a culture that oftentimes praises us for being fake. we’re constantly scrambling to the top of a proverbial ladder, trying to prove ourselves, itching for more success, more money, more recognition, but my life’s journey is about dismantling all of that in search of the truth that lies beneath it all. Who are we underneath the role of our job title? Who are we underneath the masks that we don to keep ourselves safe? Who are we underneath the success, and glory, the shame, the guilt? Who are we underneath it all?

I believe that that is our true authentic self. The authentic self is a reflection of the soul. To get in contact with the soul we must slow down, move into our bodies and become more aware of the emotional-intuitive side of the brain. These subconscious messages most naturally come up when we are free-flowing to the rhythm of intuitive art making, at least that’s what I have experienced.

All of my workshops, my art coaching experience, and my unique intuitive art works are aiming to reveal my own authentic self, as well as encouraging others to take the same journey.
The exploration of self, authenticity and true awareness is definitely a journey. This is the meaning of the journey of life. Many elements of my work focus on themes such as going with the flow, surrender, trusting the inner-self and letting go of control.

My belief is that if we all dropped our masks, our striving and our shame, we would be sparkling, intuitive, authentic and creative beings. When the world is full of people like that, war and violence can’t help but cease. We become a love-centric society, who’s only goal is encouraging and supporting one another on the never-ending journey toward deeper truth and inner-alignment.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

Get involved in creative works yourself. The more you are immersed, the more you respect what others are doing and naturally want to support, encourage and share their work with others.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.thesparklinghippie.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/thesparklinghippie
• Facebook: Facebook.com/thesparklinghippie
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haley-hoover-9b7858151/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqg5BUFuSD_GgtAUmgOky9A