We recently connected with Sarah Gardner and have shared our conversation below.
Sarah, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Did you always know you wanted to pursue a creative or artistic career? When did you first know?
I’m a self-taught mixed media artist. Beginning in around 2009, I spent many years and invested in lots of books and classes, following what inspired me, creating and learning, to find my creative style. Much of my creative journey focused on art postcards. The idea of creating something small, using the most recent things I’d learned, and then giving the postcards away, was a low-pressure way to put my art out into the world. I didn’t feel comfortable selling what I made, and I didn’t feel I would have the experience to teach until I found a style that was all my own…until I’d “earned” the right to call myself an artist. I realize now that this was a limiting belief with foundations in self-doubt. When I got tongue cancer in 2018, and was fully recovered from surgery in 2019, I set up my website and my art business: “Juicy*S Art.” I realized that I could spend my whole life doubting myself and letting limiting beliefs about my art hold me back. I knew, once I survived cancer, that I must do what I love to do and I couldn’t waste time doubting. I’d already been sharing my joy via mail art. Now I wanted to share the joy of creativity by teaching. And then I was able to share it by writing a book about it. My creative practice is my self care. The joy I experience when I’m creating is something we can all experience. The goal of making my creative practice into a business is to share this way to joy with others, teach them what I’ve learned, and help them overcome their own self doubt around being creative.
Sarah, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Juicy*S is my DJ name. I’m not a DJ. I would love to be a DJ. It’s one of my fantasy, dream jobs! I got this name when my sister, my friend, and I were slinging paint and working in our art journals, sipping wine, and keeping track of the funny things we were saying on a “sign-in” sheet…just craziness. We all ended up with a DJ name that day. I started my first art blog in 2009 with this name, and I’ve had it ever since.
I’m the girl (yes, even though I’m fifty-something, I’m still a girl!) who has a Tutu Dance Party and makes every one of her guests their own tutu. What can I say? I really like to make things.
I’m also the kind of person who thinks a lot (maybe too much) about things. I’m a recovering perfectionist. Through all the years I’ve been making stuff, I’ve learned that what gives me joy is the process of creating, not the “perfect” end result. I still want things to turn out in a way that I like, but perfection isn’t the motivating force or the unkind dictator in my head anymore.
When I’m creating, I’m really focused on the process, enjoying the intuitive way things happen, seeing what different supplies do, and experimenting and playing around without judging every choice I make. I’m indulging my curiosity, open to what can happen, even mistakes and messes. Sometimes these turn out to be the best part! I’m not thinking about a result; I’m not in production mode. I’m in the moment, attending to the different choices I make along the way; with each choice leading to another and another. I feel a sense of flow, of being “in the zone.” I lose track of time and I feel connected to myself, because I am fully and intentionally engaged in the transformative process of creating something new out of my supplies.
When I get out of my own way like this, I feel more like a whole person. Staying curious and being kind to myself, trusting this process, can be a meditation. I can experience joy, awe, and wonder. When I empower myself to experience creativity in this way, I begin to understand that I can experience the same freedom in my day-to-day life. I see that everything turns out, even if I don’t follow a plan, or end up with something perfect. I learn that the attitude and mindset I have while I’m creating, is an attitude and mindset that will keep me in the moment and allow me to experience joy, even in simple, everyday ways.
I believe that creating, transforming art supplies into something new, attending to the little choices I make along the way, focusing on the process instead of the result, is a mindfulness practice. I am a firm believer that we can connect with our innermost selves, feel at ease, and let go of perfection when we intentionally engage in creating…anything…even something bad. Let’s take in what’s happening now and ask, what if? Instead of judging, let’s just be playful, waste paint, scribble like a kid.
Creativity is my self care. I want to help others who may think too much – or who want to explore creativity – get out of their heads, ignore that perfectionistic inner critic, and play around with art supplies. It gives me joy and I want to share this way to happiness. This is my wish for you. What’s your DJ name? Let’s sling some paint, make some art, and you can tell me all about it!
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative? Maybe you can provide some insight – you never know who might benefit from the enlightenment.
Quite often, I hear people say: “I wish I was creative like you!” I tell them, “you are creative!” You may tell yourself you are not creative, but that’s your inner critic talking. The perfectionist in me would keep me from trying, learning, and growing, if I let it. But I know now that you can’t know how to do anything until you learn how to do it. Children learn through play. Adults can too. I come to my creative practice with a childlike attitude of curiosity and wonder. I give myself permission to play. It’s a process of exploration, experimentation and discovery that really brings me joy. Instead of judging every choice I make, worrying about how things will turn out, I am kind and patient, and I give myself a chance to learn.
Learning means making mistakes and practicing. If you’re just starting out, you may have a little frustration because what you are making isn’t matching up with what you envision. You have to work through this. Find what you like. Take what you like and make it your own. You will make things you don’t like. But you learn to make less of that and more of what you love, if you allow yourself the grace of learning by trial and error. All the while you will be experiencing the joy of creativity.
Is there mission driving your creative journey?
I can’t meditate. I admit, I’m an over thinker. And my mind just won’t quiet if I’m sitting. But making things is a practical meditation for me. For me, creativity is mindfulness in action. Since the beginning of my self-taught mixed media art journey, I have known, intuitively, that creativity contributes to my well-being. Over the past five or so years, I’ve been studying new research on the connection between mindfulness and brain activity that shows how playfulness and creativity can benefit the nervous system in much the same way that meditation does. So, the science is confirming what I felt all along: Art is healing. I am healing from childhood trauma through my creative practice. This is something I hope to communicate through my book, my in person events, and my online class offerings. When we engage in any creative practice we are connecting to a uniquely human and powerful aspect of ourselves. We reach into our intuition and that part of us that is true and authentic, because everyone’s creation is completely different. In our day to day lives, we are often on autopilot, living outside ourselves and fulfilling roles and labels. We have to intentionally take time to be mindful. I hope that my students can focus on the process and not the end result; that they experience the joy of creating something that is uniquely theirs. Through a playful process of layering different media and making small choices, making mistakes and fixing them, and embracing imperfection, I hope students will experience my offerings as a healing meditation.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.juicy-s.net/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juicy.s.art/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/juicy.s.art/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp_DjpGy57_EbTBoptMabHw
- Other: https://juicy-s-mixed-media-art.teachable.com/
Image Credits
All Sarah Gardner