Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Bad Art Fueling Intuition w/ Meagan Mahaffy
45 Plays14 days ago
In this episode, I chat with Meagan Mahaffy, founder of ArtGurl and fellow bad artist. We've both caught the ugly art bug, and yes, it is contagious because people like us have made it our mission to spread it as far and wide as possible. At different points in our lives, we both experienced the deep pit of despair of realizing that the life we chose wasn't the life we wanted, leaving us with a giant question of what on earth we were supposed to do now. Making ugly art allowed our intuition to grow louder each day, slowly unveiling our inner worlds and exposing the self beneath the masks.
Together, we also discuss how art can be used as a wellness tool for self-expression, allowing us to take up space in the world and process the emotions and trauma that get buried beneath stagnation and comfort. While doing this work to get in touch with ourselves and heal can be painful (and just might ruin your marriage *ahem*), the end result is you getting to live more fully into who you really are and who you want to be. That's a pretty great tradeoff!
You can learn more about Meagan's work on Instagram @ artgurl_. She does in-person workshops in NY, has an online art club, and is also running a virtual program called Art Gurl Academy where participants learn to use art to transform their life.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to the Ugly Podcast
00:00:00
Speaker
the
00:00:12
Speaker
you'll feel great Because life can get ugly And art sure can too What matters is to do it Let those feelings flow through you
00:00:38
Speaker
Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the Ugly. Ugly, ugly podcast. um It's extra ugly today ah for reasons which will become clear shortly. Today, i I mean, you know what I look like at this point, but I today am still in my very empty house that we have yet to decorate, um which we'll get there. We'll get to the decorations soon. And today I'm wearing my ah beige sweatshirt that has like weird kind of psychedelic sketches on it, which is appropriate.
Meet Megan Mahaffey: Artist and Healer
00:01:14
Speaker
um Yeah, so my guest today is... amazing. um They are an artist, educator, intuitive tarot reader and the founder of Art Girl, a creative community at the intersection of art, wellness, imagination and self-discovery. Her work emphasizes creativity, play and visual reflection as tools for self-understanding and wellness. After a decade of program development and interpretation work at the Smithsonian Institution,
00:01:44
Speaker
Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art, she founded Art Girl where she teaches members how to reconnect with their innate creativity as a tool for healing. Welcome. Would you mind so much stuff? ah Would you mind introducing yourself with your name and your pronouns and a little description of yourself?
00:02:06
Speaker
I'm so honored and happy to be here on the Ugly podcast. My name is Megan Mahaffey. I use she her pronouns. I am a white woman with blue eyes and blonde hair. Yes, it's blonde. It's not brown.
00:02:21
Speaker
yeah i have um I have a nose ring and today I'm wearing a white t-shirt with a little um like tiger drawing that a kid drew actually and that was on my t-shirt and lots of clunky jewelry. I love it. You could hear that. Awesome.
00:02:46
Speaker
awesome Thank
The Power of Making 'Bad Art'
00:02:47
Speaker
you. um It's always an honor to share this space with other ah creative people who are also touting the belief that but we should all make really bad art and that art does not have to be any certain way or look any certain way or achieve anything or have any use or value um other than what you assign to it, you know?
00:03:14
Speaker
Definitely. Yeah, I think it's such a hindrance when we look at creativity as a luxury or something that needs to be used to produce something that's like a value, I'm using air quotes there, because in reality, creativity is such an innate part of being human and perfectionism can just like really get so, we can just it just gets in our way so much.
00:03:42
Speaker
um And that's why when you set out to make ugly art or bad art, I always say make bad art, then um you just like you strip yourself of that need to create something perfect. And it allows you to just be in the creative act of making something which is healing in itself, I believe. Absolutely. Yeah, the the healing that has taken place from like since I started making ugly art is it I mean,
00:04:12
Speaker
As somebody who went to therapy, like talk therapy for like 10 plus years, it wasn't until I like actually started making ugly art and like getting into the muck with my feelings and like doing and making that like so much healing took place and just like the progress and the actual felt experience of all those things that I had learned in talk therapy, but actually got to like feel an experience through my art is wonderful. yeah Yeah, and we'll we'll talk more about wellness and and art. But first, I would love to know more about you.
Megan's Creative Journey and Influences
00:04:51
Speaker
um when what was your What's your kind of relationship to creativity been like through your life? um I like to ask it as like, if your relationship had a story arc, what would that story arc look like?
00:05:05
Speaker
I love the phrase of that question. And I think the story of me and my creativity would look like a really jaggedy line with lots of ups and downs and highs and lows. But if you picture a jaggedy line, that's sort of like always on the upward trajectory. like was getting kind of closer. And even though there's dips and divots, I grew up with a super creative mother. She was ah the ultimate crafty girl. We were always doing like craft holidays. And that was so amazing and joyful. And I have always loved art um so much so that I pursued it in college. I studied art and art history. And when I was in college in art school, I
00:05:54
Speaker
I did fine, but i did not I was not praised. I was sort of, you know... I got a lot of feedback that was about my technique and compositions or sort of like not right. Again, I'm using air quotes because art is so subjective. And for the professors that I am talking about in art school are, they mean well, they're trying to train you. They're trying to teach you how to use different mediums and you know get your work potentially ready to be in a gallery or collected by rich collectors. And so they they are giving you this advice from a place of
00:06:28
Speaker
like love and care.
From Burnout to Creative Revival
00:06:29
Speaker
But all I heard was like, my work is bad. I'm a bad artist. And and that kind of as I kept hearing that and as I also kept seeing like certain other classmates get praised for a work that I didn't think was better than mine but like just sort of followed the the the guidelines better I guess they I got further and further away from my identity as an artist and um I kind of just learned that I was better as an administrator and so that's how I could stay connected to the arts and so um
00:07:08
Speaker
That's how I ended up working in museums, which was amazing. It was an incredible experience, 10 years in museums, doing a lot of different things. But during that during those 10 years, I got further and further away from my own creative practice. And at the beginning, I would still paint. I would still express myself a little bit. And as I got more responsibility, it became harder and harder to make time for my own creativity. um and until there was that breaking point of, oh my gosh, I'm so unfulfilled. I'm so burnt out. I am using really, really unhealthy coping mechanisms in my day-to-day life that are making it even harder to like heal.
00:07:55
Speaker
And that's when my, that's when I guess you could say the creativity kind of like dipped, dipped back up and said, I'm mean i'm here for you. Use me. I'm like, I'm still in you. I, i the and then it was the I remember during the pandemic, my Everyone had a ah rough time during the pandemic, of course, but my roommate and I were like, what are we doing? This is crazy. And we ordered a bunch of crafting supplies and I got really into weaving, which was something that I never had done before. But I made like a cardboard loom and I ordered some yarn and I started getting into weaving and I had all these like
00:08:38
Speaker
weaving project all around the apartment. And that moment was when I realized that even though these weaving projects didn't look that good, they didn't really match the cute aesthetics that I was trying to do from Pinterest. But I felt so much better because I was creating stuff and I was away from my screen. And um I was like,
00:08:59
Speaker
ah alchemizing my feelings through the creative act in a way that, yeah, in a way that like, you can't do with just thoughts. You can't just do with like, one, one certain
Art as a Tool for Transformation and Healing
00:09:12
Speaker
tool. So that was the, that was the sort of aha moment where I said, Oh my gosh, just like you were saying, I gotta make bad art, I need to be creative again, that's gonna, that's gonna heal me. Yeah, I love it. I i know that feeling very well, the kind of rock bottom way. Some like I'm so unfulfilled what happened to this life that I was supposed to have control over. And that was supposed to be fulfilling. Like I checked all the boxes. i I did the thing I went to college, I got a job. And things just still are not feeling right. I love that you like noticed that little calling of the art being like, I'm still here for you. Like I can be
00:09:56
Speaker
I can help. I swear I can help. Just let me out. Let me out. And I think it's so hard, like you said, when you're on a path that, especially when that at one point you did really connect with, like I i hear all the time that people it's so hard to admit you're unfulfilled by something that you once really longed for. yeah And that's where I think something like a creative practice can help you just like unravel those emotions. And even if you're not in a creative profession or you're not, actually, I think every single profession is creative, but if you're not in the arts, I can say, yeah then
00:10:33
Speaker
you still can use this tool to help you like unravel it. So it might not be that you'll be your creativity will be like, you should pursue an art a career of telling people to make that art. That might not happen to you. Because it happened to us doesn't mean that's going to happen to you. And if it does happen to you, then reach out. Yeah, please. I want to have you on the podcast.
00:11:00
Speaker
um But it can still be such a ah like ah deep tool for you to just understand a little bit more about what the changes that you need to make and also to like forgive yourself for um changing your mind. you know Yeah, yeah like creativity is such a safe place to practice all of those things that are going on in your real life because it's just a piece of paper with some color on it. There are no stakes here so you can make it messy. So like all those stakes that are in your life right now that you're like this is big and I'm unfulfilled and I'm stuck. You can like get unstuck on a piece of paper and like just notice what changes. Like something small will change in you in the practice of making that bad art and like
00:11:53
Speaker
there will be like some like grace that's like, yeah, in that you get inceptioned into your brain that you give for your art that you can then give to yourself. It's wild. Yeah, it's true. It's so true. It's like your I always say creativity is a direct line to your intuition because it's a chance for your brain to like,
00:12:16
Speaker
check out a little bit and quiet your mind so that you're not so overburdened with all of your thought patterns. And we all have them, like all of the thought patterns that you've picked up from your entire life all the way back to childhood. It always starts with childhood.
00:12:32
Speaker
and yeah All those thought patterns that are still like clouding your thoughts and controlling your actions and behavior. um And of course, like one doodling session isn't going to completely override all of your lent limiting beliefs in one time. But with time, you will at least become aware of some of those things. And that um you can also start to build a little bit of trust in yourself again, which is huge because when we when we don't trust ourselves, we're so much more likely to fall back on old patterns, even ones that didn't serve us well. And that was certainly where I was when I was um in the
00:13:15
Speaker
depths of it. It's like, oh my gosh, i I can't change my behavior because I'll lose all my friends. I can't change my behavior because I'll lose my job and I will be able to pay rent. like i All of the fear that keeps you in this moment of like, well, what I've always done isn't feeling good, but it's better than not knowing what might happen if it changed, even if like knowing is so much better. Yeah, it's better than the wilderness and standing out in the wilderness by yourself.
00:13:45
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. Because that's scary. And be like, wait, let's imagine the wilderness. Maybe it's actually not as cold as you think. Yeah, like maybe there's some really cool berries and creatures that want to be your friends.
00:14:08
Speaker
yeah And they I guarantee that there are berries and cool the creatures that want to be your friends. Absolutely. um Would you say that like the the weaving was like kind of your ugly art origin story of that kind of like that's where that realization clicked for you? Or was there another ah point in time where you realize like, oh, bad art is the answer? It's so funny. And I do truly believe that bad art is the answer.
00:14:40
Speaker
I if I if I'm from from the vantage point of this current moment I think that the origin story of bad art was like when I gave myself that title in college kind of as a joke like oh I guess I'm a bad artist like I guess I'll do the admin stuff I um I had a conversation with a couple of good friends of mine and they were the ones that reflected back. They said, it's so cool to see your um your little scribbles and your doodles. And I was telling them about like my own relationship with art and creativity. um And they reflected back to me, well, it's cool to see your process and to see your scribbles and doodles, even the ones that are not like,
00:15:28
Speaker
ah you know, beautiful by the standards of Instagram or whatever, you're where where we are in this world. And that was a moment where I was like, Oh, yeah, this is, that's a, that's a good point. And I also, um, so that's one. And then two, I From teaching workshops, I teach a lot of workshops about like creative wellness and expressing yourself with art. and I hear all the time, not as much now, but I used to hear all the time, people saying things like, I'm not creative, I can't draw, I i don't know how to do this. and
00:16:08
Speaker
um The first thing that I always say is, well, creativity is not the same as drawing. Drawing is a skill that you can get better at. um Creativity is an innate muscle in your human DNA, and it's something that's part of you that also can be strengthened, but it's part of you. So don't say you're not creative because you are creative. um And when there's the fear of starting because you have that belief that you are not good at making art, then making bad art is such a clear invitation to just start. And yeah i'm you I'm so curious if you find this also, but
00:16:52
Speaker
this how I see this in my own practice. And when I am teaching people to make bad art and saying things like truly like try to make this look ugly, if you're afraid, like, make make it look bad, like yeah scribble over the page, like make the face look wonky, like whatever you're gonna do, try to make it look bad. Even when you're doing that, after you've worked on the piece for a little bit,
00:17:18
Speaker
like 99% of the time, there's at least part of the thing that you made that actually looks kind of cool, or you end up kind of liking it, or you're like, Oh, I now I have an idea. And susan for that, I think like, I think I'm curious to hear if you agree, but I think the reason for that is because once you get over the fear of starting, creativity is so abundant that once you start, it will just strengthen. And even in one single session of art making, you can see that happen. And I have certainly seen it over the last two years of being really consistent with my own art practice. My like ugly, bad scribbles
00:18:00
Speaker
look cooler now. And that's what happens because creativity is so abundant. And so if you just allow the the space for it, then it's like, boom, it's that's all you have to do.
00:18:16
Speaker
I fully concur with everything that you just said. Yeah. It is like, it's, I love looking through my, uh, my ugly art journals from like when I first started to now, like, because it's like each one of those tiny decisions as I'm like, okay, let's see how bad I can make this.
00:18:36
Speaker
and each one of those tiny decisions was just information just fueling in my creativity of oh this I kind of like or I like this color combination or I like how like these weird textures flow into these weird textures and like those all informed what came next and like the it's fun to see how my doodles have like gotten more like bold or weirder or like just ah You can see like your own style and personality coming through the longer you do it. um it's yeah It's just like a snowball effect and like that confidence comes with action and doing it. and
00:19:18
Speaker
Yeah, i totally I totally relate to that. but I've seen that in my own practice too. And I see it in my in my and other people as
Building Community Through Creativity
00:19:28
Speaker
well. Like that's the cool thing about this is that we are all so innately creative and with consistency, we all like responding to similar prompts can come up with such different things. And that is So cool. Like what a cool part of being human that we get to experience. That's amazing. And it's almost like
00:19:51
Speaker
if you're a people pleaser and you're having trouble with like taking up space or like, oh, this isn't worthy, then this that this mindset shift of like, yeah, but other people wanna get inspired by this ugly thing that I'm making and it might resonate with other people like that can that can help like motivate you and to start to be like, well, this is not,
00:20:17
Speaker
It's not just like frivolous. It's me sharing something from like the depths of my soul. Or if that feels crazy, then it can just be it's me sharing something funny and quirky and silly that will potentially inspire someone else. And that that's the beauty of creativity. Yes, agreed. Yeah, like being able to being able to turn off that people pleaser just by the the simple statement of, well, this is supposed to be bad. So there's no one I have to please right now.
00:20:55
Speaker
you know
00:20:58
Speaker
It's such a, it's such a big shift. And it's such a cool way to subvert that perfectionism and be like, all right, my inner critic thinks that I'm bad at all of this. Anyway, might as well prove it right and make it anyway and make it bad on purpose.
00:21:12
Speaker
Yeah, great. And then you're like, then you can stage your inner critic like, look, we're making so we're making something bad and we're not, we're okay. No, we're okay. Yeah. I'm not, I'm not dying. I'm not going to eaten by a bear or outcast from society. Like this is okay.
00:21:31
Speaker
ah yeah Exactly. Cause yeah, cause our sweet inner critics need to hear that. I think they just first and foremost need to be like heard and acknowledged like, okay, I hear you and we're okay. Yeah, exactly. And then practicing it like teaches your body over time, like not to have that intensive a reaction anymore like that. It's like, it's like exposure therapy, like,
00:22:00
Speaker
your inner critic will learn and like, yeah, some of those messages might remain, but like, especially if you have that intense, like nervous system reaction to the idea of making art or sharing art.
00:22:13
Speaker
the the more you do it, the less that nervous system activates quite so much. yeah like when i When I first started my business, I was so scared of putting like even putting anything on social media was just like would activate my nervous system to the point of like panic attacks. It was really bad. like i I was married at the time and I had to have my ex-husband push the post button sometimes. Cause I was like, I can't do it. Like, uh, like physically my body was like, no, like I won't, I can't. Uh, and then yeah, with like with time you like, you learn, you like find safety in the ugliness and, uh, in the mess and ah yeah, it's beautiful.
00:23:02
Speaker
I love that and I really relate to it. And I think another like reason why it's so good to build it into a practice is because when you're when you're doing anything that's generative in this stage, then you can adopt the mindset of like,
00:23:21
Speaker
quantity over quality for now. like That's where you're going to get to quality. And especially if, and I don't think it should be, your goal is not to like become the next Picasso, then you can use your daily art practice of making bad art as a self-trust, self-expression, like like microcosm where it's safe and consistent and no one is making fun of you and also
00:24:00
Speaker
it's like daily. So you've done one one day and then you're already on to the next day and you like, you're like so far back in your journal, you can't even see the ugly art that you made two weeks ago that maybe at one point would have stuck with you and created this like, I can't do it. It's like this try again, try again, keep going kind of mindset that um that consistency builds so much self trust in other parts of your life as well.
00:24:27
Speaker
and i totally like this like that's I'm so happy you brought up social media because it's just is a good reminder that this practice of like creating, whether it's content or bad art or like spreadsheets for your job or ah like new recipes that you're making, anything that you're creating, you're now you're never going to be perfect at it the first try. And if you think that you're, if you don't, if you're like, I'm i'm not going to start until I know that I'm going to be good at this, then you're never going to start and then you'll never change. Then you'll just wake up one day and be like, I spent my whole life feeling really unfulfilled because I i was unwilling to take a risk. And that's, yeah that's a choice. Yeah.
00:25:14
Speaker
And the good news is that you can start making ugly art at any point in your life, no matter what is happening. That's one thing that I really love about ugly art is that it's really accessible. Like no matter where you are in your life's journey, like we whatever your mental capacity or like it it is all going to be accessible no matter where you are in your life. um Yeah, I love it.
00:25:42
Speaker
Yeah, that's so true. And also you don't need anything crazy special to do it. You just need any writing utensil and any piece of paper, that's it. Or even like a napkin. Like you can like, like creativity can be like folding things. Like you can fold something weird and be like, look, it is nothing, but like it's, I fold it specifically today. Nothing even, I made it.
00:26:08
Speaker
if
00:26:11
Speaker
ah You can make ug i was literally anything. my um My girlfriend made me this ah little face out of, um but I think it was plaster. She was doing like drywall on the um on the bathroom walls. And like this was just like extra plaster that she just turned into like a little face. Good use of extra plaster. I love it. And now he sits on my desk. i'll have ah I'll have a little picture on social media for you all. um it's really It's really cute. It's really cute. It kind of looks like Oogie Boogie from a Nightmare Before Christmas.
Art's Role in Wellness and Personal Growth
00:26:49
Speaker
um
00:26:53
Speaker
ah But yeah, you can do it with anything and it's wonderful. who um So I would love to talk more about like how art and wellness work together. um Yeah. Yeah.
00:27:05
Speaker
The, yeah, I mean, there's so much to say, but one of my biggest goals, um, other than getting everyone to just make bad art every day, everybody everywhere all the time. yeah always Um, but one of my biggest goals with art girl is to bring creativity and art into the mainstream wellness conversation. And part of that is because of my own experiences.
00:27:29
Speaker
Like I was sharing earlier about like healing, for me, I really needed to embrace my creativity. And I i really believe that the the biggest connection between art and wellness is self-expression. and self expression is something that we all need. And it's also something that is not always thought of as a first thing when you're like, what do I need to do to feel better, you might think I need to like, ah exercise my body more, maybe I need to meditate, maybe I need to like,
00:28:05
Speaker
eat different foods, there's so many things that can be really healthy for you and good but as you're trying to make changes, but you cannot forget about expressing yourself because that's like so key to how we communicate and connect with other people. And i I'm sure you've seen this, but Harvard did a big study that was published like a year ago now, but they said the the biggest indicator of a long life is community and people that you is like the people that you're with. And so loneliness is a real issue. And when it comes to connection, you have to connect with yourself first to really find the deep connections between yourself and others. And I think that creativity is and and creation, like making something
00:28:59
Speaker
for you is a really good way to practice that act of self-expression that can be so, so beneficial to you in other parts of your life as well. So it's all about practicing. And what I what i also want to say is that when I talk about art as wellness and creative wellness,
00:29:18
Speaker
It's not meant to like replace any other wellness tools that you're using. right yeah I am a big wellness girl now. I've turned a big corner. I went from big party girl to big wellness girl.
00:29:33
Speaker
and I've tried like every wellness thing that you can think of. I've probably tried it. and A lot of them, I think, work so well. And I think um having options of what you can do to like connect with yourself as part of your daily routines is really healthy. And having art and creativity and self-expression as one of those options is really, really key. i and' ah I'm an anxious person person. I'm sure a lot of people can relate to that. But in moments where I wake up really anxious, I'm thinking, here we are. Thank you.
00:30:11
Speaker
i um I really struggle with things like meditation and even journaling sometimes because I just can't get away from the intrusive thoughts and even the like physical symptoms of anxiety. and when you, when that happens, when I'm in that type of headspace, I have found that scribbling and truly like, like you, I know you get it, like making, or like not making something cute, like scribbling, making something ugly. I have found that the combination between expressing yourself with that and the somatic element of like,
00:30:51
Speaker
getting your body a little bit involved is really, really useful and it helps me calm down a lot. um and so that is Yeah, I think that's a really important thing that a lot of people might not even know is available to them um because you don't have to be an artist or interested in being an artist to use this. And like you said earlier, creativity is not just art making. It can be like folding a napkin. It can be cooking. It can be making up a dance. It can be like how you dress or Oh my god, ugly outfits would be so fun.
00:31:33
Speaker
ah That's so true, though. All of those things are are just like you're just expressing an idea of yours. And in your brain, of course, like creativity is the same the same pathways that you're using to be creative are also used to problem solve. And so it adds so much um It adds so much to your to your brain. It like helps strengthen those pathways so much if you're practicing making some creative choices based on how you want to express yourself. It builds confidence. It can increase your self-esteem.
Navigating Life Changes with Art
00:32:10
Speaker
The physical act of creating also has been shown to lower your cortisol levels, which makes so much sense as an anxious person because it
00:32:20
Speaker
I have seen that in my and my in my life. um But then when you're when you're doing that in a consistent way ah in the on the page or whatever you're doing to do that, then you really start to notice, and I think you and I are probably both two examples of like, you can change your life in a really big, significant way that probably would have been scary. Like three years ago, Megan would be really,
00:32:49
Speaker
like so happy, but also like, what, there's no way that that's what we're doing now. Yeah. But small changes that, that help you practice the act of self-expression and then make it a little easier to like get into the bigger themes of your life that you want to shift or change.
00:33:12
Speaker
And change is scary, but it's like inevitable. And so that self-trust can just help you as you're like riding the waves of life changes and and all of that, even the good ones. Yeah, ah absolutely. all yeah All of what you just said is so good. Yeah, especially like i I love that you are drawing the connection between self-expression and creativity because um it Really, like getting into my creativity, I didn't really even think of it as self-expression, even though obviously that's what I was doing. But like that makes so much sense in terms of like what I discovered about myself as I started delving into my creativity. like That's how I you know discovered that I was genderqueer and
00:34:03
Speaker
Like that, ah you know, but just like these things about myself of like, Oh, I'm actually been like pleasing people and not being myself for a very long time and and ignoring all these parts of myself, but like expressing who I am on a page, like allowed that to come out. And like, that's.
00:34:21
Speaker
when like everything in my life changed drastically. And it is scary. Like at least like for me, i would i I think this would be a really funny title for a book of like how ugly art might ruin your marriage and save your life. yeah Because. go to that book right now Because that's what happened to me like ah making ugly are ultimately ended my marriage. like that's what of it yeah kind it it sounds like i i I now find myself in this place where I am like, so like,
00:34:58
Speaker
happy and like fully myself and like I'm just experiencing all the connections with people, like community. like i I have community now that I feel so much more connected to than like the community that I had before because I've been expressing who I actually am and not hiding those parts of myself.
00:35:20
Speaker
And then yeah, you get the community that you want to need from that. Like that's the, that's the end result. And like, yes, you do lose people along the way. And like, that is hard. It sucks.
00:35:31
Speaker
It's so worth it. So worth it. And that like, I think that's where like leaning on a habit of self-expression, like making ugly art, like that just builds so much trust in yourself because weathering a divorce is not easy. That's like a super traumatic thing to go through regardless of the circumstances. Like that's always going to be a hard moment and it's going to require so much self-trust to like get yourself through to the other side. And the thing with life is that you just never know what storms
Embracing Joy and Imperfection in Art
00:36:10
Speaker
are ahead. like there's always there's There's always weather happening and changing. And when you can like build a base of security and self-expression, then it just makes those hard things a little bit easier to like weather through, I think.
00:36:32
Speaker
Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Thank God for ugly art. Thank God. um Would you like to make some ugly art right now? I would. Yes. Yay.
00:36:48
Speaker
Um, this is only going to be like five minutes. So I like to use like post-its or something small, but you can use whatever, um, is calling you in the moment. Um, and I do, I can provide a prompt or I did see that you have daily doodle prompts. If you want to share what your daily doodle prompt is, um, Oh, I love that. Okay. Yes. Let's see what today's daily doodle prompts.
00:37:17
Speaker
Okay.
00:37:20
Speaker
Okay. Okay. So every day in the Arquo Portal, we post a daily doodle prompt. And obviously, you're you're here on the Ugly Art Podcast, so you know that they're not meant to be good. And so they are intentionally like silly. Sometimes they're introspective. Sometimes they're repetitive. um Today's is silly.
00:37:45
Speaker
Amazing. The prompt is draw a bumblebee on a mission. o Oh, amazing. amazing A bumblebee on a mission. Cool. it's All right. um Oh, no, my phone is across the room. There. It's all Do you want do want to go get it?
00:38:10
Speaker
i' I'm just goingnna i' going to ask Google to set a five-minute timer for me because it can do that, right? Yep, it sure can. you Technology helping us out. right A bum will be on a mission. Amazing. um okay and then so ah yeah Sorry, go ahead. oh go No, go ahead.
00:38:26
Speaker
I was going to say, I'm so happy that you're setting a time limit because I think that's another thing that hinders people from creative expression is that making art or doing a craft feels like a project and it sometimes is, but you can also just do a five minute doodle, like it can just be five minutes. It can be so quick. That's what it is. Yep, exactly.
00:38:53
Speaker
Oh yeah. Yellow does not show up on a blue post to know very well. That's okay. And then you learn these things and you get to problem-solving. like Exactly. Yeah. So this is going to be an orange bubble. be um but While we're doodling it, I know it is kind of hard to doodle and talk at the same time, but if you are able to, um, uh, do you have any like favorite ugly art or bad art stories or me anything memorable from either yourself or any of the people that you've worked with. um Yeah, that has really stuck with you.
00:39:34
Speaker
Honestly, it's so healing to look at people's bad art in the port in my in the like art girl community portal because, for example, this prompt, like the responses to it already, it's just so funny to see how people interpret this kind of thing so differently.
00:39:57
Speaker
And it's really fun to see other people's silly little doodles. It's just so, they're so funny. And they make me laugh so much, like things that I would never have thought of. I once had a prompt that was, um draw a bunch of sheep gossiping.
00:40:16
Speaker
yeah It was so much fun to look at the responses because some people have, some people took it like, in a kind of funny route, being like, oh, look at like, you know, they're like saying little things like, look at the black sheep over there. Some people took it more of like, oh, this is hard. Like, oh, don't worry, things will get better. Like, it sucks when people gossip about you, but it's not your like, it won't be your turn forever. And it just is a, it's like a reminder that everyone's experience of similar circumstances is so varied and different. And
00:40:52
Speaker
it's There's so many things that go on in your experience of life that can be truly conveyed in just this tiny little
Cultural Reflections: Discussing 'The Boys'
00:41:02
Speaker
doodle. And it can be different tomorrow, same person, different circumstances. So I think that's that's like but that's what I love about it. It's just fun to see. Yeah, it's always something different. Yeah. I wish I had a funnier story. ah that's okay This bee is vindictive and I'm excited.
00:41:35
Speaker
yeah
00:41:41
Speaker
I can't wait to see your bee.
00:41:45
Speaker
Oh, gosh, it is. ah So I just finished watching The Boys. Did you see that series? Oh, no, I didn't. I haven't watched it yet. It is ah very graphic, very violent. um And the the the premise, if you're not familiar, is like if superheroes were just like normal people who like didn't have like a moral compass, essentially. So it's like, oh, yes, just normal people who can be very bad and horrible have superpowers. That's terrifying.
00:42:14
Speaker
ah yeah so it's kind of stuff here
00:42:22
Speaker
That is a scary concept and it sounds like it's like kind of a good show though. Oh, it's yeah, it's a really good show. It's like if Superman were evil and it's scary. um The this latest season was a little too close to home ah with you know where our country is currently politically. It was a little too real. This is bad. I don't like Yeah, it almost feels like there are some some people that believe they are superhuman who are now in huge positions of power in our country. Yeah. Wow.
00:43:08
Speaker
Oh, goodness. That's scary.
Creative Process and Empowerment
00:43:11
Speaker
All right, that is time.
00:43:15
Speaker
OK, let's see. All right, here's mine. um He is intentionally scouting out the most allergic person to be seen. And then kind of zooming in with like laser eyes ah to go get that person.
00:43:39
Speaker
I love it, oh my gosh, he's like, who is, who can I hurt the most? Where can I do the most damage? i'm
00:43:50
Speaker
Okay, mine went in a different direction. She's taking her time on her mission. Oh yes, oh. She was like, I'm getting there. um But I was gonna draw some more flowers over here, like, there's something ahead, but she's enjoying the process.
00:44:09
Speaker
Oh, I love that. Oh, I like to make art truly. I love it. Um, I do like, I like to, um, share those when I share the podcast episode and updates and stuff on social media. So, uh, if you want to send me a picture of that, I will have that up for people to be able to see what we made. I love it. I love it. Everyone's gonna love it. So good.
00:44:39
Speaker
um and he Any parting thoughts before we wrap up here?
00:44:46
Speaker
I think the if there's one thing that you remember from this podcast, then I hope that it's you are worthy of making stuff and you don't have to be good at good and quotes at art to be worthy of self-expression because we all are. And the more you practice that skill, then like the more your life will expand. And we have two examples right here of ugly art being a huge catalyst for positive change, even when change is hard. oh It's like ultimately
00:45:28
Speaker
making change for to like more closely align with who you are is always positive. And this um this kind of like quirky, silly concept of make bad art is actually so profound in its simplicity because all you have to do is create and it will change your life. It sounds crazy to say, but it truly
Engage with Art Girl's Initiatives
00:45:52
Speaker
will. But it Yes, it does.
00:45:55
Speaker
like It really will. Yeah. I love it. Yeah. um Thanks so much for being here, Megan. Thank you so much for having me. This was such a blast. I had the best time. Where can people find you and support you? I will have whatever links you mentioned written in the show notes. So no need to spell anything out, but um go ahead and and say or find you. Our curl is on Instagram. um And that's where you can find out about the latest programs and stuff that we're doing. We have a community portal that I mentioned, which is free to join. And you get daily prompts every day with the goal of
00:46:38
Speaker
self expression over perfectionism. So now that you've listened to this podcast, I know you're all in on that. so Come join us. It's really fun. um If you're in New York City, then I host lots of workshops around the city here in person that are a lot of fun. Those are all linked on Instagram and We also just launched Art Girl Academy. And so if you're interested in the um deeper parts of creativity and intuition and the intersection of art and wellness, then Art Girl Academy is a subscription membership program. And we meet on Zoom so you can join from anywhere. And it's all about learning how to use art to transform your life. And I'd love to have you. It's really good.
00:47:23
Speaker
Incredible. Thank you so much. And thank you everybody for listening. Go forth and keep it ugly. The Ugly Podcast is created by me, Laura Alexander of Scribe and Sunshine. It's produced and sort of edited also by me and written and directed by absolutely no one. Our theme song was written and produced by the amazing Zoetronic. If you like the podcast, be sure to rate and leave a review on your preferred platform and share with the creative people in your life.
00:47:52
Speaker
If you're interested in learning more about what I do, head to ScribeAndSunshine.com to learn more about my ugly art workshops and my editing services. If you haven't yet today, I dare you to make that thing you've been thinking about making but have been too scared it's gonna be terrible. Make it terrible. And as always, keep it ugly.
00:48:11
Speaker
You can do it. promise you'll feel great.