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

Tiffany, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

I’m actually working on a very meaningful project right now. I have a painting collection called, “The Girls of Gumption”. It’s a unique collection for several reasons. The first is that the entire Girls of Gumption concept is driven by my motto: “Women and girls need to see and hear women and girls standing in their own power and owning who they are… WITHOUT APOLOGY.”
Secondly, the Collection is not just paintings. Rather, there’s an entire concept that I have developed around them. Each girl is created based on either a phrase or three charcteristics that depict the type of gumption that “Girl” has. For example, Citrinia’s traits of gumption are Radiance, Passion, and Athenticity. After the painting is complete, I write an inspirational story about that girl and her gumption to help others who might need to hear that particular message or who resonate deeply with it in some way.
Finally, I am currently developing workshops and classes to help women “Grow their Gumption” so that they can heal wounds and go after the life of their dreams.
It is particularly rewarding to see a woman read the accompanying story to a Girl of Gumption they like, and burst into tears because they see themselves in the story. Two memories come to mind… I was at an art show and a lady picked up “Kendra”. While reading her story, she burst into tears and walked quickly away. She came back 20 minutes later after she had pulled herself together and told me that she had come to buy a painting of a waterfall… but she knew she was actually meant to buy the painting of Kendra because of the visceral reaction she had to her message. She felt it ws a sign. Another time, a young lady was looking at “The Girls” and purchased two of them and thanked me for creating them because they reminded her of her good friend who had recently passed away.

These are the stories that reaffirm my why for doing what I do. And almost every sale has a story similar to these ones.
Needless to say, this is a very meaningful project for me… to be able to connect with women and inspire them in meaningful and deeply personal ways.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.

I haven’t always done this for my business or work, but I believe that it is always who I have been. Let me explain.

I’ve always been an artist. From a very young age I would sit out in the woods or find something in the house and draw pictures of what I could see. I’ve taken many courses and classes and studio workshops in many different media and worked alongside many professional artists over the years. But I never believed I was an artist. Anything I created I would put in the closet in a bag only to be seen by me.

But my life was always lived from a creative space. I became a teacher and used my creativity for teaching in so many ways.
I helped many students over the years to learn about themselves, to believe in themselves, to grow confidence, and to help them to grow into their most authentic selves… through the creative process. We used art to study the human condition in Social Studies and to create meaning and express emotions found within a novel study.
But I did not confidently claim the name of Artist until after I went through a series of traumatic events in my own life… the kind that rip out your breath and literally bring you to your knees and render you small and trapped and seemingly unable to find a way forward… (an alcoholic husband that led to a painful break up, a daughter who had experienced her own set of terrible traumas, an ailing mother who then passed on, and my own debilitating illness and conditions caused by the massive stress caused by these events in and of themselves but also because they happened so close together.)

But what eventually helped me get where I am today physically, emotionally, and spiritually was creating art and discovering and exercising my gumption. The creative process healed me and helped me to keep moving forward in my life. It gave me a lifeline and grounded me during a time when I felt bereft and untethered.

So when I finally got through to the other side of all that “mess”, I realized I wanted to help other women so that they could also heal and grow and find their strength to live the way they want to live and do the things they’ve always wanted to do without apology. And I realized that art had helped me the way that I had guided students for years to let art heal and transform them. So it just seemed logical that doing this would be the right next step. I could put all my experience and skills into creating The Girls of Gumption Concept.

I chose the word Gumption because it embraces burliness and heartiness and is therefore so much more than just bravery or courage. It’s stepping into what you want to do or doing something that must be done despite the massive fear you feel. And stepping into it with gusto and with an air of being robust! Gumption just has a massive and lively energy that accompanies it… and that’s why it is more desirable than just courage or bravery.

And so The Girls of Gumption Concept was born.

I talked about this in a previous question, but I’ll tell you what it is I do and offer.

I am an artist. I create colourful, lively, and energetic paintings that uplift and empower. Currently, I paint a watercolour/mixed media collection called “The Girls of Gumption”, as well as, abstract intuitive energy paintings in acrylic.

I am a mentor and recently have claimed the title, Healing Doula.
I help women go from sadness to gladness, floundering to fulfilling, and intimidated to invigorated.
As women, we have been taught to put our needs and desires last; we spend a lot of time doing things for others, even following the dreams and desires of others to make other people happy with us, and what that very frequently does is put us in places we never wanted to be, doing things that we never wanted to do.
I work with women who have found themselves in this space who are feeling wounded, unseen, bored, empty, and unfulfilled, to name a few… and help them to heal themselves, rediscover their dreams and desires, and to tap into and exercise their gumption so they can grow into their most authentic selves and go after all their dreams and desires!

Right now, I do all this as well as work as a teacher three days per week. But this year, I am exercising my own gumption and I am leaving my teaching career and moving to the other side of Canada to be a fulltime Mentor, Artist and Healing Doula.

What do I mean when I say Healing Doula?

A doula is someone who provides support and guidance through a challenging and life-transforming experience. It can entail providing resources and engaging in activities designed to educate and empower the client.

I am a Healing Doula in that I provide guidance and support that will take a woman from a place feeling small, wounded, and unfulfilled to a place of wellness and wholeness. I do this through creative activities, mindfulness and meditation and a number of other activities based on the individual needs of clients.

I am so proud of the unique programs I have created that help women believe in themselves and allow them to express themselves and grow in their own unique and authentic ways!

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

What is most rewarding for me as a creative is witnessing the power that a finished piece has to evoke emotion, inspire gumption, and/or to spark a change or instil a piece of wisdom in someone. When a piece makes a person cry because they see themselves mirrored within the painting, when my work makes someone walking by stop in their tracks to take it all in in wonder, when someone says I need to own this so that it will keep reminding me to play and incorporate whimsy in my life, when someone says this has wisdom that I want my daughter and her daughter to learn and be reminded of, when someone can’t tear their eyes away from the canvas because they love the energy and keep discovering more and more within the images, that’s when I know that my work is still relevant and still necessary and still helping people at such a visceral level. That is the reward of my creative passion.

What is most rewarding for me as a Healing Doula, is when the person engages in the activities and discussions we do and have together, and they get that aha! moment that moves them to tears or excites them passionately and they are empowered by this discovery to move to the next level in their healing journey. This moment moves me almost as much as the client themselves, and it makes me feel so much love for that person and affirmed in what I do.

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

The mission driving my creative journey and my work, in general, is this:

“Women and girls need to see and hear women and girls
standing in their own power and owning who they are…
WITHOUT APOLOGY.”

I want women and girls to be who they are, fully and authentically.
I want them all to shine their beautiful light into the world.
I want them to “strut their soulstuff” and to “dance to the soul of their creative spirits.”

I believe every sister deserves all of these things… and to be whole in this world.

That is my desire and my mission.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.soulheartsembrace.com/
• Instagram: @soulhearts_embrace
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/soulheartsembrace/

Image Credits
Tiffany Gibson