Willow Wolfe started off painting little wooden bowls with her grandmother and by 19 was teaching art in her own studio in Winnipeg, Canada. Today she is an award winning art teacher, the author of a library of internationally available books and the designer of best-selling brush lines for over twenty years. Her approachable style and step-by-step painting methods have taken her to events, seminars and engagements across the globe. She is widely recognized for challenging and modernizing today’s world of art supplies and education.  At one point in this episode Willows shares a sweet story about how a thoughtful gift from her college boyfriend changed the entire trajectory of her life - And in fact was the seed for what would become one of the most important lessons underpinning all of her teachings. Homework this week is about Awakening the Artist Within  -  an important part of the process of coming into contact with this wordless, wise creative part of ourselves involves loosening the grip that our conditioning and experiences have had on us. We all have developed protective beliefs which over time, become parts of ourselves that can seem very real - like they are the real us. These parts have kept us safe, helped us navigate difficulties, chaos and even trauma in our lives. But they are not our true essence, they are survival mechanisms based in fear and ultimately are holding us back. We can begin to unwind ourselves from being led by these fear parts by looking gently at the conditioning itself. I have created a handful of journal exercises for you that will help you start to put some distance between you and these beliefs  - to observe them better, and to begin to notice and identify more with your boundless, infinite creative self which is how you will set yourself free creatively. WHAT WE TALK ABOUT- How we live with and perpetuate our own programming of the idea “I can’t” -The importance of navigating the liminal space between “I can’t” and “I can”  changing our own stories of what is possible for ourselves. She gives us her insights as a creative teacher of over 20 years for how to navigate that liminal space between i can’t and i can.. As we work to change our own inner narrative-Resiliency and its role in our lives as artists-How choosing to be you is something only you can do, and how it is the only thing you came here to do-How art can connect us to the people we love-How even people who are supported from a very young age to pursue being an artist, we can STILL found ourselves paralyzed by limiting beliefs and the simple thing we must do to bust through this. -How a thoughtful gift from her college boyfriend changed the trajectory of her whole life-Learning a new thing often feels impossible, but if you look closely, it can often be broken down is a series of achievable steps. -Learning how to honour and get comfortable hearing no when it comes to your creative offerings, and how to see these moments as detours taking you somewhere even better -Learning the important messages no’s can carry into our lives and how to look for their hidden meanings