We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Joan Marie a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Joan, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?

At age 19 I was awestruck by Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling. Profoundly inspired by the spiritual energy from this powerful art, my life’s purpose to add positive energy to the world through art, became a burning passion.!! After drinking in this profound spiritual energy, from both Leonardo DaVinci’s and Michelangelo’s inspiring expressions, I said: “If art can be that powerful, I have to be a part of it.”

From that moment on I have been driven to achieve my goal to add positive energy to the world through my art:

To uplift,
To soar,

and to express the truth of life as I experience and have learned to understand life’s magic and wisdom.

My art is a reflection of the progression my life has taken, and the spiritual lessons learned that have given my life fulfillment and exhilaration.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers?

After my inspiration with Michelangelo and DaVinci, I moved to a reputable Art University, where I recieved my Fine Arts Degree as well as my teaching certificate. Due to the insults I recieved from powerful Art Professors there. I went straight to teaching in the public school system. The biggest insult a professor gave me was in my sophomore year, telling me I should not be an artist , mostly because I was not creative. This burned me to the core but could not stop my intense drive to express the passion within me. After 10 years of teaching high school Art, while daily developing my technical skills and my creativity..I also took many spiritual workshops to overcome my low self esteem, and erasing the professors insults which I allowed to affect me for too long. After teaching 10 years, I felt ready to be a full time artist. I entered the world of Art Licensing. After a run of great success, selling millions on products such as stationary and tee-shirts, the public stopped buying my biggest sellers. I realized I had turned into an artist frantically seeking what design will sell well next. I realized I was not creating from my soul, from my deepest passions.

I decided to return to teaching high school art, to remove the financial pressure from my creativity. Now I was free to express myself. Again creating art every day after work, and starting many different art businesses, as my style and exploration of self shifted, a new direction for an art business would emerge. I experienced success in these businesses, but each were short-lived, I finally understood that these businesses “failing” was the perfect way to keep me on my journey to discovering my true artist expression.

After retiring from teaching at age 65, I signed up for a fabulous spiritual class : subconscious self-transformation with Jim Fortin, learning how to transform my life from the inside out to be in touch with my spiritual self, and retraining my subconscious mind. It began by embodying my Identity as a powerful Visionary artist; and shifting to be all my soul yearned for, ever since seeing Michelangelo’s Sistine Ceiling. Now I have a very successful business creating ones’

“Personal Power Portrait”

As a spiritual seeker, on the path to your full potential, you know the value of tools and techniques that connect you to your higher self. Because being the best version of you helps make the world a better place.

…Imagine being infused with cosmic wisdom, receiving energy through

art intuitively received just for you.

Imagine viewing your power portrait every day, experiencing the feeling of being uplifted, confident, and connecting with your personal-power.

Your Personal Power can be expressed through your Power or Spirit Animals, symbols, energy, and colors that inspire you…or it can even include your face. We will discuss the endless possibilities.

So after a lifetime of creating art every day, exploring new expressions of myself as my heart directed me…I have now connected to that beautiful, deep calling within.

My highest value is Spirituality. I am now combing spiritual growth with my intense passion for creating art, and through the years of exploring so many techniques and styles, and constantly working on personal spiritual growth… After years of following my heart and passions, with consistent drive, all while constantly quieting the insulting voice in my head, now I am both spiritually as well as financially successful. I finally reached that peaceful place of no longer insulting myself, feeling successful based on my feelings within, and that inner peace allowing powerful art to flow out…That is when the doors open, allowing the possibilities for financial success to follow. First BE, then DO, then you HAVE what you desire, Finally getting that straight and truly feeling it was a huge shift within me.

I am now extremely “proud” or deeply peaceful and feeling a beautiful sense of well-being knowing those I have created a Personal-Power Portrait for, are feeling their own beautiful energy expanded and uplifted .

Nothing could feel better than that .

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I wish I had discovered Jim Fortin’s TCP class sooner….His podcast on JimFortin.com is fabulous..but actually doing the work is life changing. To become aware of your inner self and purpose is the most important thing. Putting focus on “what will sell” and how to sell it only achieves survival if you are lucky…we creatives can not thrive with that focus. Our souls need us to express with authenticity … expressing what really matters to us.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I am 71 now.I was 68 when my artist’s career truly exploded. For 3 years I have a consistent waiting list of 20 people. I never gave up. I created art every day ( a few exceptions here and there (: I continued to seek solutions to express my souls desire. I signed up for SO many art business classes and how to be a millionaire classes, following so many of their steps, I finally realized it was helpful to hear and know all of these lessons, but in the end, unless you enjoy, or find a business path that resonates with YOU, you won’t do it, and you won’t succeed following someone else’s path unless it speaks to you. For marketing, share your message and story authentically, and share what you have to offer the world. In the end, the message is consistent: Know what it is that you really really want, (know what REALLY matters to you at your deepest core), listen to your intuition, and just DO it! Do what you love! Life is too short… do it, and share your message with the world!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.joanmarieart.com
• Instagram: JoanMarieArt
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joanmarieart
• Linkedin: JoanMarieArt
• Twitter: JoanMarieArt
• Youtube: JoanMarieArt

Image Credits
I own all the rights for my art Joan Marie Art