On this episode I am talking with Australian artist Tracy Verdugo.
Tracy lives a colorful and creative life along the coast. She is a best selling author, a prolific painter and a leader of live workshops.
The heart of this interview is about the power of beginning, finding you creative voice, Tracy’s battle with cancer and the impact that sharing your gifts has on yourself and others.
If Tracy Verdugo was given the opportunity to coin a term for a new art movement based around what she teaches she might call it “Curiosity and Wonderism” or maybe “Loosen-upism” or “Endless possibilitism”.
When she is not hanging out with her family in their eclectic adobe home in a small village on the shores of Jervis Bay, Australia, or throwing paint around in her little purple studio in their backyard, you may find her painting beside thermal pools on an Italian island with an eager group of students, Aperol Spritz in one hand, paintbrush in the other, or sitting in a circle on St Pete Beach, Florida, listening intently as women share their stories of creative yearning.
Tracy is an inspiration instigator, prolific painter, bestselling author and lover of the written word, smitten traveller and soaker up of all that is beauty-full. She teaches her Paint Mojo and other creative workshops all over this amazing planet and reminds her students of the wonder that already resides within them.
Her works are vibrant and filled with joy, inspired both by global travels and the simple beauty of the focused moment. Since 2000 Tracy has held 18 successful solo exhibitions and her works are held in collections both in Australia and internationally.
Mostly though, she is mama bear to two gorgeous, zest-filled daughters, Santana and Cece, and co-adventurer in life with her amor of 34 years, the talented and brilliant Marco.
https://facebook.com/TracyVerdugoArt/
Instagram.com/tracyverdugo
Current $27 Jump Into Abstract Painting offer
https://tracyverdugo.com/jump-into-abstract-painting/
Episode Summary
On this episode Jeanne is talking with Australian artist Tracy Verdugo. Tracy lives a colorful and creative life along the coast. She is a best selling author, a prolific painter and a leader of live workshops. The heart of this interview is about the power of beginning, finding you creative voice, Tracy’s battle with cancer and the impact that sharing your gifts has on yourself and others.
Episode Notes
Podcast 023 | Creative Mojo with Tracy Verdugo
2:43 “I had the experience of having a younger brother who was what I thought at the time a
naturally gifted artist. It wasn’t until years later that I realized he spent every minute of his spare
time drawing.”
3:24 “When my husband and I were traveling in Mexico, I suddenly realized there were
cultures in the world where art was an integral part of their everyday life; it wasn’t this separate
thing that was put on a pedestal.”
6:32 “I think it does each one of us a beautiful service to get into situations where we are
going to be uncomfortable, we are going to be stretched.”
8:29 “[In Australia] I’m one block from the beach, so we get to walk across the street and just
go and walk on the beach…it’s a very soul restoring place.”
11:07 “Especially these little towns along the coast tend to attract perhaps people who are
wanting to get out of the city, people who are thinking maybe a little bit out of the box, they are
creative at their core…”
12:08 “This is something I still struggle with, finding the balance, especially between the social
media/online side of the business and then the time to myself to paint…”
14:05 “I do know for me there’s four important things: enough sleep, enough water, exercise,
and being in nature.”
16:35 “I was actually at an art retreat, Marco [my husband] called me and said ‘Honey, they
want you to have an ultrasound, but don’t worry about it…’”
19:22 “Unbeknownst to me as we were painting, they were all painting little hearts, under their
desks, and they strung them all together and they wrapped me in those hearts at the end of the
week.”
22:34 “Stress can come in a lot of different ways. I didn’t even realize that my default state
was this elevated state of excitement…”
28:54 “‘Just go,’ she said, ‘there’s a black curtain, just walk backstage, what’s the worst that
can happen?”
29:44 “She said to me, you know ‘One day we should do a thing together.’ And you know
when you just get the little spark, and that little seed is planted.”
32:55 “It’s like you are these grown ups, now, that have found yourselves doing the thing that
all those other years were preparing you for.”
33:39 “As I’m creating the lessons I’ve got this buzz within myself, where I’m just like ‘This is a
really good class.’”
36:50 “I was trying to figure out how to take the landscapes that are in my head, place that
we’ve actually been, and to put them onto canvas and paper in a way that is not literal but not
completely abstract.”
38:22 “I just feel like I’ve been on this journey trying to figure out how to take my experience and put it on the canvas in a way that feels right.”
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