Alena Rogozhkina on the importance of Creating for Joy and Love

Artist and teacher, Alena Rogozhkina, will be teaching an empowering and inspiring art course, ‘Dancing in my Head’ here on the 8th of July. Here she talks about how art can help you find yourself and access your Creative Flow. 

Taking your Inner Artist on a date…

‘I am not creative at all’, ‘My hands weren’t made to create’, ‘Drawing and painting frustrates me’, ‘Only some people are creatively gifted, and I am not one of them…’

These are just some of the phrases I have collected from friends, students, and participants at the beginning of my art classes and creative sessions. I resonate deeply with them.

In fact, for 30 years of my life despite the fact that I loved art and was always involved in creative activities, I chose to believe that I had no right to call myself an Artist. I believed that I wasn’t special enough, that what I was making wasn’t impressive enough to earn that title.

I was wrong.

We do not need permission for our artistic expression. Doubting whether you have creative ‘talent’ is normal, but this lack of confidence should not prevent you from pursuing creative goals; there is no need to measure ourselves against an imaginary perfect ‘Artist’.

One of my favourite writers and creative educators is Julia Cameron. She is known worldwide known because of her best-selling book The Artist’s Way. In her book, Julia coined an interesting term: “Shadow Artist”. The term describes an individual deeply inspired by art who pursues a more technical (ex. administrative, teaching, managerial) position within a creative industry due to various psychological and social reasons. They do not believe that they themselves are capable of creating the art which they love. Another path that shadow artists often take is to become a supportive parent or a partner, dedicating their lives to nurture their loved ones’ artistic careers. This allows them to compensate for what their soul is missing most  – their own artistic expression. However, their own creative potential remains undiscovered.

I am not trying to say that everyone should become an artist. In fact, every profession to some extent has a creative element in it. My main point is simply that we all need creative energy and inspiration in our ordinary lives.  

When we regularly allow ourselves true expression and the playfulness of enjoying the art process without the need for external acceptance, it can make us feel truly alive. I call this experience ‘creative flow’.

To be in a creative flow is to be in tune with the Universe around us, to allow our intuition to guide us through any decisions to be made. Creative flow activation helps us to be more mentally balanced, more deeply focused and grounded. Once we let creativity free flow in our life on a more regular basis, we can become more in touch with ourselves and what we want from our lives.

If you have resonated with the described above, join us for our special art workshop on 8 July. In a very relaxed and cosy environment, I will guide you through practical and easy-to-practice visual exercises to release your tension, tune your senses and unlock your unique creativity.

Book your spot and take your Inner Artist on a special date to explore your real connection. Find more details below.

About Alena Rogozhkina