As a professional artist and an exciting creativity facilitator Cheryl Jones Evans will ignite your exuberant, expressive creative self. She is a passionate well-seasoned leader with more than 28 years in all facets of the visual arts industry and 18 years of creativity facilitating. Cheryl holds a BA in Arts Management (UMASS) has been listed with Florida Department of Cultural Affairs as a presenter, the Creativity Coaching Association, the Florida Arts in Education Association, and the National Independent Artists Association. She served on the City of Casselberry Parks and Recreation Advisory Board as the Arts liaison and currently serves on the Leesburg Center for the Arts board as the director of Artistic Community Building. She actively facilitates The Central Florida Artist’s Way Group, has instructed classes at a small private college, conducts weekend creativity seminars, and regularly facilitates other spiritually based creative and art marketing classes with arts organizations all over the state of Florida.

Oh....and she actively, passionately, constantly CREATES!

http://www.cheryljonesevans.com/

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Pay No Attention to the Woman Behind the Curtain

The other night among creative friends, we played an interesting card game. It was more than a game and I have heard people talk about these kinds of cards, but never really felt compelled to participate in that kind of “tarot” like fortune telling. As we went around the circle drawing cards and then reading and discussing the interpretation, I was absolutely astounded in how accurate the cards and the explanations seemed to be.

It was my turn, and I drew a right side up wolf. The interpretation was a teacher, a teacher? I thought that was interesting, but not so sure it was correct. The truth is I do something that looks like teaching, but I never saw it as that. For the most part I use Julia Cameron’s description of what I do, “facilitator”. Facilitator made so much more sense. I cannot teach anyone how to be creative, they already know . I gently and safely facilitate their journey to the path of their own creativity and happiness. I only help them see what is already there. For the most part I feel like once a year we all go on a journey to the Wizard of OZ, where at the end Dorothy finds out all she had to do was click her heels and speak out loud what she wanted. The power was within her all along.
Throughout the summer, new creatives will often compliment and thank me for what I do. Although I truly appreciate the accolades, my first reaction is like the exposed wizard in the movie hiding behind the curtain. We are both desperately manipulating levers, and buttons frantically searching for the magic combination that will produce a big “ta-da” moment in life, while sternly announcing, “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”.


The wolf card says I am a teacher…
Julia Cameron calls it a facilitator;
I just call it a creative.
I have the same fears and am just as scared as everyone else in class. The only difference is I expose my fear and failures so others will see the grief and the joy of being an artist. When I fail, when I succeed, it will give others the courage to do the same,
I just do it out loud.

Teacher?
Facilitator?


Pay no attention to the woman-teacher-facilitaror behind the curtain!
But watch the creative!

1 comment:

DeborahG said...

A picture says 1000 words. It's funny how we see ourselves or don't see ourselves. I have always looked at you with awe of my first grade teacher. I know that she saw me as an incredibly shy little girl with nothing much to say. But it didn't mean I wasn't learning. You are a special teacher in the way that you have shared your wisdom to all of us without holding back your own feelings. You've shown us that it's okay to write down our feelings and that through morning pages we may reach clarity. I know I have encountered many aha moments in my pages. You've shown us that it's okay to go on an artist's date completely alone. You may have passed on what Julia Cameron has written but you've done this in such a way that I would have never gotten the message while just reading the book. Knowledge is power and being exposed to that knowledge gets us half way there. The other half we have to do for ourselves. Because of the Artist's Way wisdom that you have imparted to us, I have continued with my art everyday. Although my life is complicated and busy, as it is for many of us, I continue to thrive as an artist and a creative on my own terms and have learned not to measure my practice or abilities against anyone else. To just be. I am. And that's okay. Cheryl, thank you for being you. Deborah