Let’s talk about the artist’s evolution. As you continue in your craft – grow, change, repeat – your art will grow with you. It will evolve and expand and collapse. You will hate it and love it and hate it again. You will want to change it, and you will, and you’ll regret that sometimes, and you’ll move forward.

I’ve been a photographic artist for 10 years. That’s a DECADE, people! And in my fairly young life, that’s a third.

In a fortunate turn of events, I’ve also had an audience for those 10 years that I’ve been an artist. From just a couple of weeks into creating up until now, I’ve had people looking at, and commenting on, my work.

Which makes it understandable as to why I’ve heard this comment more times than is countable:

“I prefer the old you.”

In my career this has meant anything from “the you of 10 years ago” to “the you of last week”. And it used to bother me.

Can’t they see I’m GROWING?!

It doesn’t matter if you have a big audience or not. Anyone from your mother to a stranger on the Internet will likely tell you the same exact words sooner or later. Here’s why:

1. People change.
2. People hate change.

…And we all have opinions.

I’ve had periods of what I consider really, really bad art-making in my life.

2013. What a bad year. I look back at that year of my art and cringe! It was so flat, so boring, so not where I wanted to go.

But I had to make that art. I had to do it to move myself forward. To experience, to know that it wasn’t me.

I used to get upset when people told me they prefer a different style that I used to make. I thought it made me less of an artist. I’d second-guess my artistic direction. I’d let it consume me.

Imagine a friend calls you up and they say: You know, I really prefer your personality from a couple of years ago. This one just isn’t cutting it for me. I don’t enjoy being around you as much anymore.

That’s basically the conversation around art and change.
(That might have been a tad dramatic).

So it makes sense that feelings get hurt and that it stings a little to hear it.

As an artist, you want to yell back: “Don’t you see?! I’m doing the best I can!”

But you can’t, without sounding paranoid.

The fact is that we are doing the best we can. Even if you haven’t created in months, that’s the best you can do for yourself right now. You might look back in a year at this time and recognize just how much you needed a break.

Maybe you feel your style shifting and it scares you. Let it, but keep going. You never know where that will lead.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve made some art that I don’t like. And I don’t blame you for not liking either. But that doesn’t mean that it wasn’t worth making.

Perhaps the most difficult part of being an artist with an audience is knowing that, inevitably, someone will tell you that you were better before. And they’re not necessarily wrong. I value every opinion. I don’t disregard someone because they think differently from how I do.

But I do know that the bad art is as necessary as the good. That where I am now is where I’m meant to be. And that where I’m going will remain fulfilling if I listen to myself…

…All opinions valid, none as much as my own.

Flowers are an incredibly evocative prop. They are rich in color, delicate to the touch, symbolic of growth/beauty/death…and my personal favorite are either: dead flowers, or death flowers, like calla lilies. Did you know that the calla lily was my wedding flower?

I can’t wait to see what flowers you use, or if you only use the theme symbolically!

I’ll pull some of the art that I see this week to feature!
Use the hashtag #PromotingPassionChallenge so I can find you!

Here is some food for thought. Enjoy the challenge, and remember to push yourself creatively!

Fairytales vary from country to country, but one thing remains the same: Fairytales are cautionary tales. Some of them are sweet as sugar and oh-so-cute. Others are rather horrifying. No matter which way you interpret this theme, it is sure to be very, very fun.

Get extra weird this week with it!

I’ll pull some of the art that I see this week to feature!
Use the hashtag #PromotingPassionChallenge so I can find you!

Here is some food for thought. Enjoy the challenge, and remember to push yourself creatively!

I think that I will look back on this year with both mediocrity and exaltation in terms of the work I have produced. I mean that in the best possible way. Whenever I truly excel at my craft – which is to say, I surprise myself pleasantly – I am also ebbing with moments of creativity that do not serve me in the long run. They are the moments that remind me what I am leaving behind, and my moments of goodness show me what I could become.

After finding myself in that low tide of work that simply doesn’t move me, I wanted to change what I was creating. That is when I created this series. I did something very different for myself – neutral background, red and blue tones, and a collage-esque feeling. It was a great challenge though, and has resulted in another push forward of my style, vision, and self. What better way to change who you are than to create who you want to be?

One of my favorite things in this series is the simplicity of it. When your mind is cluttered with a hundred different thoughts, it is incredible how creating simply can cure the rattling. I really needed to use art to clear my head, and this has done just that. It has provided a place to go to get away from the nagging of to-do lists and has given me a blank canvas on which I can paint my thoughts.

When I created the origami piece, I wanted to show how vulnerable we all feel (naked) and how our imagination can lift us up out of despair. For the bedsheets, I wanted to show how beautiful and unique our most authentic self is. For the moon mask, I wanted to show the possibilities of dreaming. For the cloud, I wanted to show both the heaviness and lightness of dreams. For the image with the balls, I wanted to show someone whose emotions are so heavy they bleed out with nothing strong enough to soak them up (and definite menstrual under/overtones). And for the final image, a depiction of someone feeling held back by their former self.

The series is called “Girlhood”, which I titled to remind myself how pure the imagination is, and how an exit from childhood does not and should not mean an end to change.

This series was created very simply, with either a blank wall or bed sheet as the backdrop. I spent a total of $10 on the props, utilizing objects I already had – for example, cotton balls. Art does not have to be intimidating, fit into a box, or satisfy someone else’s standards. It can be, and should be, a true reflection of your imagination and truth. I hope you will create without boundaries, and I hope you’ll share with me what you come up with.

“Begin Again”

For you who have chosen to dive deep with the creatures we cannot name
or you who never chose to fall so far but caught a wisp of cloud on the way down,
For you who takes a lifetime to say Yes after No has stolen your voice
and you who must die a fiery death to be reborn the whole piece you were searching for.

We are the seekers who find ourselves in the cloak of darkness where we know Creativity is born
and the builders who dig deeper than dirt to find the pillars of our strength,
We are the many and the few who are alone and all at once encompassed by solidarity.

We search for the switch that turns time slower so that we can replay the hideous and beautiful.

For you who cannot speak out loud the names that you wish you had been assigned
or you who looks behind your shoulder every morning to make sure your shadow obeys,
and you who falls to bruised knees to beg for a chance that long passed you by.

To us who need to turn the page and see nothing written but the space to write –

Begin.

To us who close a book and wish we had never opened it for ending inspiration –

Begin.

To us who have fallen deep into the plagiarisms of other author’s stories –

Begin.

And to us who have begun and have been told too many times to end –

Begin again.

A lot (and I mean an alarming lot) of people I know feel like they have no significance in this world. I’m not saying they are depressed necessarily, but that they simply don’t know what they are meant to do. They try out hobbies here and there but never commit to a passion. They complain about not knowing what they are good at without really trying. And the biggest thing connecting them all? They are unique individuals, but none of them see themselves that way.

I think there are two problems at play: laziness and lies. The biggest lie is that we are told we are meant to do something special. How is this a lie? Because it indicates that we are meant to do one singular thing with our time; we are meant to find our greatest passion and the thing we are best at and transform that into a life-changing event. It puts pressure on us to narrow down our being into a singularity, when in fact no one is so one dimensional. We should be encouraged to find anything that makes our hearts sing and to pursue all of those things no matter if they ever change the world or not. Success takes momentum, and we get there by acting on even the smallest things that give us joy and letting it build.

How are we lazy? Simple. We rarely really and truly try to find what makes us special. We are spoiled into thinking our talents and passions come to us rather than us having to chase after them. We have hobbies that are fun but we don’t ask ourselves how we can take that further. We have things that we love doing but we assume we can’t make a living at it. We are chronic low-ballers. We choose a life free of risk in the hope that safety will provide us with what we want. We expect everything on a timetable, and that isn’t all our fault. We are taught what we are supposed to do by certain age brackets and if we don’t make it, we think we failed.

There is no time limit to finding your worth. Take as much time as you need.

The biggest life-changers are those who are multi-faceted. They channel their interests into serving a greater good.

Take Oprah for example. Would anyone believe that her greatest passion is hosting a talk show? Of course not! Her passion seems to be bettering others through honesty, healing and health. She has a greater mission, one that all of her endeavors aim to satisfy.

I won’t put myself in Oprah’s category, but my interests are photography, writing and filmmaking (so far!). Are those my great life calling? Definitely not. I want to inspire others to create the lives of their dreams through imagination and fearless art. My interests serve my greatest passion.

If you are someone who feels insignificant, you might be questioning right now how anyone gets over that hump and feels that they have something to offer. I promise you I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth, being told that I was going to change the world (still working on that, though). For me, the proof is in the action. I can talk about doing, or think about changing, or want to be different, but until I do it the rest is just folly. The moment I started creating the art I wanted to create, with the message I wanted to send, people started responding. When we find our authentic voice it is not easy for others to ignore it.

My biggest fear in life is not living up to my potential. I would rather fail countless times than get to the end of my life never truly having tried. People lead by action. You doing something that takes risk or moves you closer to your passion is a mirror for everyone around you. It makes them want to take action and achieve their passions. The best gift you can give to someone is to simply do. It is the most powerful word in the English language to me. DO. It is an action, a command, a calling. It is what happens when we stop making excuses or believing the lies we’re fed. It is our journey. Chase it.

—

Image: “Finding Your Place Among the Stars”, self-portrait, May 2016.
Available as limited edition prints on fine art paper, 20×20 inches & 40×40 inches.
Contact for more details about print purchases or image licensing.

For months, maybe even years, after I started taking pictures I longed for a day when my style would be consistent. Just when I thought I’d reached that point a gallery would tell me they are too different. And on days when I felt all over the place, someone would email me to say that all of my images look the same. It forced me to question why I so longed for images that were consistent from one to the next. The answer is one that most artists feel – a need to accurately convey their message. That ability often comes in the form of creating consistent work.

As I continued journeying through photography, my goal of creating works that were tightly related changed. I started putting more value on creativity and less on art. I put more emphasis on what it felt like to make my imagination come to life rather than thinking only of what it would look like in the end. I became obsessed with the idea that art does not have to look like any one thing. It should not be dictated by the people viewing it or buying it.

A couple years ago I looked at my portfolio and it felt stuck. It felt like someone had put up a roadblock and instead of finding a way around it, I simply built the same image over and over again. I hoped to find a way around it but instead I wasn’t able to see anything beyond it.

No longer did I just want to be creative, or express my imagination. I wanted to do so bravely. I would rather create with bravery than with fear. I wanted to create in ways that made me nervous, or that made me fear being misunderstood, or that invited criticism. This new image reminded me of that in the simplest way – visually. I have always been afraid of photographing backlight – such a simple thing, but something I was never comfortable with. And so I started last year and I continue on that little journey as a personal kick-in-the-pants.

I know that I, as an artist, get so caught up in doing things the “right” way or producing work that is consistent that I forget not to take it all so seriously. Who cares if everything we produce isn’t perfect? Or even good? Who cares if we experiment? Are we any less an artist because of it? I would say we are even more so.

Find your style – yes. Find your voice, and use it. Find the message that, beyond all other messages, is yours to tell. But never let yourself be trapped by those constraints. Let them be guides in the darkness that is the artistic path.

Surprise yourself. Let yourself down. Pick yourself up. Search. Do.

When was the last time you challenged yourself, and how?

This is what my Promoting Passion Convention is about – putting the journey before the image. Growing. Experimenting. And finding others who are on similar paths. I hope you can join us!

Promoting Passion Convention
Colorado Springs, CO
September 27-29, 2016
$350

The early bird special ends Wednesday and the price will raise to $390!

]]> https://www.promotingpassion.com/speed-edit-for-withdrawal/feed/ 4 https://www.promotingpassion.com/new-underwater-photography-work/ https://www.promotingpassion.com/new-underwater-photography-work/#comments Sun, 24 Apr 2016 23:46:18 +0000 http://www.promotingpassion.com/?p=3711 Read More Read More

Last year I had the idea to start filming music videos, whether someone hired me or not. I thought it would be an interesting medium to work in and since I have a film background, why not! I have shot two since then but they are still being edited, so I will share when they are finished. For my last video shoot we filmed underwater, and I grabbed a few stills while we were at it!

Shooting underwater is always wrought with challenges, but this shoot proved very simple in some regards. I rented a black bottom pool that was truly very dark, so editing the background and making the subject stand out became easy. I had an amazing model to work with, Sara Silkin, who is also a dancer and choreographer. She could move like nobody’s business under that water! And to boot, it was an overcast, rainy day in Los Angeles, so the light was wonderfully diffused.

The downside? It was COLD. That water was some of the coldest I have ever been in. Our model was turning a range of blue to purple to black, and so we could only shoot for a few minutes at a time with an hour in between to get warmed up again. It was extremely tough on my body and I definitely paid for it the next few days, but it was so worth it. I hope you enjoy the images!

Do you have a favorite?

Have you dabbled in underwater photography?

 

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My dear friend Marsha invited me to photograph in an old house. She being a realtor had access to it and thought we could do something fun inside. The event grew until there were at least a dozen of us shooting around the house one lazy Sunday, and it was a lot of fun. I found myself hiding though, wanting, or maybe, needing to be alone with my thoughts. I’ve been like that a lot lately. I’ve been craving the intimacy that creating something new and personal can warrant. So I hid in a bathroom for a while as I gathered myself. True Brooke fashion.

I brought a mask with me. I was in Connecticut the weekend before teaching a workshop (an extremely fun one, at that – thank you New Britain Museum of Art for having me!) and one of the attendees showed me a picture of the mask. I immediately starting making a big fuss over how beautiful it was, and the next day it was in my hands as a gift! Thank you Connie! I will never forget that!

I had my sister-in-law with me to photograph, which was really nice because she brought a sense of calm and patience to the day, and a willingness to do anything. I photographed many things that day, from buttons to bathtubs, but at the end of it, this was the only image that really stood out as being close to my heart. I will still edit the others one day, but until then, this one speaks to me.

Other people did…but not them.

From dreams to nightmares and everything in between my life has been utterly filled with nonsense and magic – some scary, some whimsical, and all amazing. In many ways, I see myself in this image. I see myself as a different character everyday with the same soul. I see myself as the great crescent moon that sings to the stars until they come close enough to light my way.

I’m going to be honest: sometimes I just need to hear something nice. The desktop background on my computer alternates between sweet and inspiring Winnie the Pooh quotes, and I have a little booklet on my desk of motivational sayings that keep my spirits lifted. I surround myself with people who lift me up, both on the internet and in person. I am a junkie for happiness. I take all that I can get, and I try to give it back in the same amount, though I often fail, I fear.

This week I was thinking a lot about inspiration, and how when I am happier in my life, I am happier with my art. I create much easier and with more control when I can internalize joy, and so I jotted down a few quotes that have helped me with centering myself and feeling good.

1. Include others in your quest for greatness.

Amazing deeds most often include other people. When you are thinking up your next great business idea or day out with friends, consider how your actions could positively effect someone else. The more you help others, the more you help yourself. I don’t know if I would have believed that if I hadn’t been living it for the last couple of years. The more I give to others, the better I feel inside.

2. You are never too good for anything.

Time for a humble pill. We may do great things. We may make great achievements. We may have cause to celebrate our lives. But never, does that ever, give us the excuse to feel as though we are better than someone else. The more we see each other as equals, the sooner we can get off our horses and play nice. Someone told me once that I need to say no to more people, and that was a very true statement. But the reason for saying no to someone should not be because the thing you’re saying no to is beneath you. All opportunities are just that – an opportunity to get out of it what you want.

3. If you want change, create it.

Rarely are we trapped in life. More often than not, despite our bad situations or good ones, we are not locked into the life we are currently leading. We have infinite power to make decisions and cultivate change. Start with something small that annoys you and work up to bigger decisions that can truly change the course of your life. Every time I make a big decision, I do so mindfully, thoughtfully, and with great excitement for what is to come…because when you enact change of your own free will, whatever comes next is of your own doing.

4. Stop forcing yourself into pants that don’t fit.

Everyone knows when someone is wearing pants that are a size too small. And in much the same way, when something in your life doesn’t fit properly, it is probably very obvious to those around you, and even more so to yourself. Don’t mistake the life you fell into for the life you should be living. Transform into a life that befits your dreams.

5. Find balance between making yourself happy and making others happy.

It is rare to find someone who sits in a happy medium between giver and receiver. Often we give too much of ourselves or take too much from other people. Finding that balance creates more goodness in the world, and cultivates healthier people, too!

6. Do the things that other people say are crazy or impossible.

If you are doing something that someone says can’t be done, you are well on your way to expanding the way that people think. Failing at doing something crazy is just another story in the bucket of amazing and fun things you tried to do. Succeeding at doing something crazy makes that thing less crazy and helps other people on their journey to fulfilling their dreams.

What are your favorite nuggets of inspiration?
Share them below!