S1 / E4 - ARTIST PERSPECTIVE - HANNA BARCZYK

In episode 4, we feature Hanna Barczyk, a gifted visual artist and illustrator, as well as the twin sister of @franziska from episode 3. @hannabarczyk opens up about her journey, from nurturing a childhood passion to creating a self-sustained career in the arts. Her story is an inspiring exploration of creativity, resilience, and finding purpose through art.

Learn how pivotal life decisions and a commitment to creative purpose have shaped her artistic path. Whether you’re an artist, a creative professional, or someone seeking inspiration, this conversation offers valuable insights into aligning with your true calling.

S1 E4 - HANNA BARCZYK - INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTS1 E4 INT

[00:00:00] Welcome to Creative Clarity. I'm your host, Jada Dana. Each conversation is designed to guide, uplift, and inspire as we explore creative flow, mindfulness, and breathwork, discovering what unfolds along the way. Today we welcome visual artist and illustrator Hannah Barczyk.

So my name is Hannah Barczyk. I'm an illustrator, editorial illustrator, and painter. So I mostly work on publishing illustrations for newspapers and magazines, book covers, film posters, but I also have a private practice of self initiated projects of painting and drawing. I always knew I wanted to be an artist.

There was never a thought in my mind where I thought I can, I could be someone else when I did try to be someone else. I've had a graphic design internships or I was working in different [00:01:00] professions. I never felt like myself and it always came back to, I have to just figure out how to make art. So it was a long process from knowing and then actually initiating the journey of becoming an artist, which brought me through years of, yeah, like different lives almost.

I feel like I had different lives. where I had to go through that in order to be an artist. I guess, uh, the earliest experience was even when I was a young, when I was a child, I was maybe five years old. I was already drawing on the walls and getting in trouble for it. And at any time I felt bored or I didn't know what to do.

My, my greatest source of imagination and escape was always just drawing, but it was drawing cats and flowers and people. It was always, there was something that grounded me closer to who I am. And by age 30, it was like, I felt a lot of pressure to finally figure it out. And that's when I made a big [00:02:00] cut from my past lives.

I cut, I left, and I eventually went to New York and I worked on becoming an artist, an illustrator. At age 30, I decided that's it. I can't just work for someone else or waste my life. I felt distracted. I felt all over the place. And yeah, that's when I, that's when it really came down to me. Where I was like, okay, I have to go now.

If I don't go now, another 10 years will go by. And, and then who do I want to be? I want to make art. That's all I know that I want to do. And, you know, there was a big risk involved because I didn't know that I was going to make it. So I just. Tried. I tried. And yeah, I moved to New York for five years and I worked on my portfolio and I started meeting people.

I started showing my portfolio around and one job led to another job. And eventually my portfolio grew and my, my client list grew and I was able to become self sufficient with my [00:03:00] artwork. So let's backtrack now. You said at age 30 is when you had that pivotal moment and the choice to make a big change.

How long ago was that? If you don't mind me asking, just to put things into context. It was a decade long journey, so that was exactly 10 years ago. Take you through the timeline. So I was born in Germany, and by age 13, 12, 13, we moved to Canada. So we left half our family behind because my mother remarried someone.

Um, Yeah, we immigrated to Canada in 1996, and I did high school university in Toronto. And then I was working, like I just mentioned, all over the place. At age 30, I moved to New York. And then by 35, so five years later, I moved back to Toronto. And I came to a point where, um, I had to decide [00:04:00] what's next in my life again.

Um. And it was between staying in Toronto or trying something new again. And I thought since I already had so much experience in Toronto and everything felt too familiar, it was almost too comfortable again to be back there after New York. I thought, I need something, I want a new experience. I want, I can't just go back.

So at 37, 38, um, 38. Eight, I decided to move back here, move back to Montreal. From Toronto to Montreal. Let me see if I have that. Six. Yeah. 37. Actually I moved here. Yeah. For four years in Montreal. It was just before the pandemic because I was only going to try. I was only supposed to come here for one year.

to see if I like it. And then the pandemic hits and I ended up staying here. And then [00:05:00] I actually, I met someone here and got married. So the decision just became final at that way. Yeah. Personal and professional kind of coming together. Yeah. Yeah. It felt right. Montreal feels exactly how I wanted my life to be with a better balance between work and personal life.

Whereas in New York, it was very much. Only work and a lot of hustle. And Montreal finally gave me that balance that I, I really needed. And I was looking for. If you don't mind me asking as well, what were you doing before the age of 30 that might have caused this catalyst to change your life in a more creative way?

Yeah, so before 30, so I graduated OCAD, Ontario College of Art and Design when I was 23. And between 23 and 30, nothing was moving forward as in art. And I also, I didn't have money to print a [00:06:00] portfolio and do the trips to New York and show my work around. I just had a huge student debt over me, which I felt stifling to move forward.

So I thought, okay, maybe if I get rid of my debt first, maybe I'll feel more, more free to move forward and make decisions. So I ended up working at. many different kind of jobs. I was a stand in and body double in film, like in the, in Hollywood, Hollywood for Hollywood films that came to Toronto. So I spent, yeah, I spent my years standing in for different actors.

body doubling, photo doubling on sets. I was hostessing. I was making juices at a juice bar. I was dancing. I was dancing quite a lot. I, I performed and taught, um, Argentine tango and salsa. So that also became. A little bit [00:07:00] distracting after a while because it became almost addictive to go out all the time and dance and perform here and practice.

You have to keep practicing and going out. And so it was more, I would call an exterior life. I had a very social external life where it was always. me going out to, to see people and be in service of being that external kind of person. Like always, yeah, I, I don't know how to, I don't know how to describe it other than I guess it was part of me that was more of the, external personality.

And I didn't have the time to, to sit down and draw. I didn't have the patience or the discipline yet. And during that time, I was happy doing that as well. Like I did find happiness in that. Mm hmm. You were almost experiencing your extroverted side, it sounds like. Yeah, that's the word I was looking for.

Extroverted, yeah. [00:08:00] I was living only my extroverted side at that time. But I guess, uh, too much of one thing is not really creating that balance and harmony. So there you are at age 30 and you are taking a big change, a big leap into an avenue that is far more creative. Has that avenue also shifted your more extroverted nature into a more introverted?

style of living? Or would you say that you have the best of both now? I think I have a good balance between the both. If I would put it in percentage, I would say 70 percent introvert, 30 percent extrovert. So 70 percent which allows me to be at home, to draw, to read, to come up with ideas. And the 30 percent is really where I have to go see people, go to meetings, have these meet people either in person or on zoom.

So I can allow myself to actually. be there and be present because I have that 70, 75 percent of introverted time for myself. [00:09:00] Yeah. Was it, what was it like before percentage wise? Oh, I was out all the time. It was probably 95 percent extroverted. Yeah. It was between work, going on set, seeing friends, going dancing, performing.

On the weekends, teaching, it's always on, right, with teaching and performing, it always has to be, there has to be, it's a performance, yeah. No, yeah, yeah, it was a big shift. Did you consciously make that decision, or was it more like you also subconsciously, just all around, were exhausted by this lifestyle, and you had your fair share of, yeah, you know, experiencing what you needed to experience from it, that it was time to actually pursue what you genuinely wanted on a much deeper level.

Exactly. That's exactly it. Yeah. I felt almost a pressure of [00:10:00] If nothing happens now, I don't know how to continue living like this. One more question. It's very fascinating. While you were, you know, between your 23 to 30 age range, when you said that extroverted life really came to the forefront, were you also at the same time, in the back of your mind thinking of how it'd be great to nurture some more creativity in your life or did that not cross your mind at all whatsoever and you were genuinely fully immersed in all those extroverted activities that you didn't even think about creativity until 30 when it started coming up?

Yeah, I always felt like something was missing. So even though I was Being active and doing things, dancing is still creative, right? And being on set can be creative, but I always felt like it's still not me. I couldn't really fulfill the deep needs that I had, which [00:11:00] almost felt like, um, for me, it was like, I was looking for a home.

Like I was looking, I needed to find my place. I need to find my home. And it never felt like home. was always, okay, it's close enough. I can be happy this way, but it was never, um, it was never to the point where I was like, okay, this is it. This is me, which I feel now. And before that pivotal, pivotal Age 30 moment.

Did you ever have an inkling as to what that creative practice was that would be fulfilling to you? Were you still questioning it, wondering what it was and simply experimenting with other mediums until you found the answer? Or were you aware of you actively? consciously distracting yourself with other things because you knew what you wanted to do creatively but you were holding back for some reason?

And if you were, [00:12:00] why were you holding back? Was it a fear of worrying that you wouldn't be good enough? I think deep down I always knew it was gonna be art, painting, drawing, and illustration. What was holding me back wasn't so much a fear of oh, am I not gonna be good enough? It was I didn't have the resources.

I didn't have the access. I didn't have the, maybe it was partly a bit of a confidence. Like maybe I didn't have enough confidence to, to try and get out there and put myself out there until the age of 30. Yeah, I didn't know it was always, it was art, but I became really aware of it in the process of trying all these other things.

And in the process probably of not doing that, the thing that you wanted to do. Exactly. Yeah. Very interesting, very relatable. This is why all those questions coming. And [00:13:00] reflecting on, so we'll go back to a childhood moment, just in general. And this question is about you, but also about your environment, whether or not it fostered a, an atmosphere of creativity, but reflecting on your childhood, what were some pivotal moments that ignited your passion for art?

Yeah. So for childhood, I felt like. Any time I drew, or was drawing with my sister, it felt, it just felt like the best escape, and the best form of imagination, like being together. I grew up in Germany, so we are surrounded by a lot of cultural history. My parents really into bring, taking us to all the museums.

And my father was a historian and a professor. So he would always just teach us about history, art history, and the cultural, um, history of Germany. And we grew [00:14:00] up in the South, so close to the Alps, which is surrounded with monasteries, castles, churches from Renaissance, Baroque, Baroque, Middle Ages. My earliest experience in the art world was seeing Catholic iconography because Catholicism is, Christianity is the main religion in Germany.

So all, all these churches obviously were built around that time where Christianity spread throughout Europe. And so my father would really introduce us to painting of Renaissance painting and Baroque painting. Um, and my mother, we did also did. She's Hungarian. So we did a lot of trips to Budapest and there was always a time there too.

We always visit a museum. It was always part of our lifestyle to, to go to museums. So I think pivotal moments in childhood were definitely these moments where you are being shown art. You're being, you have some kind of access to art and you have somebody explaining it to you [00:15:00] a little bit. Where there's appreciation of culture.

and education towards traditional painting and history of art. Very nice to be exposed to so much history in culture and art from around the world and hands down it probably has made an a positive impact and influence on your appreciation of and also your your take on art I'm sure. For sure. Okay now for those questions where we'll see whether What the similarities and differences may be between you and your twin sister.

So there's already some interesting things here, but this will take it, we'll take it easy with this one. How does your day typically start before your creative session and what rituals or routines help you focus? a [00:16:00] double espresso in the morning, read through the newspaper, and then I generally start sketches right away.

Okay, I'm a morning person. So I like to my my best ideas come to me in the morning. And if I'm yeah, um, coffee is definitely my main ritual. That helps me in the morning to just start getting right there to draw to think. Yeah, that's how I start my day. Newspaper? Yeah. I read through the news. Okay. A paper.

Newspaper. Online. Okay. I know. That's like, oh, that's. That would be very old school. Rare. I'm not like, I'm, yeah, that's not, no, sorry. I read through, I scroll through the news. Yeah. Yeah. I scroll through the news in the morning. It's. Yeah. So your sister had mentioned something about there being sister briefings.

Ah, yes, that's, yes, around [00:17:00] 11, 1030, 11. That's our time. Yeah. Okay. Every morning we do a little debrief session of what are you going to do today? And what did you do today? And what are you thinking about doing in the future? Like we said, have you have the short term goals and a long term goals? All right.

Oh, that's nice. We discuss it every day. Yeah. Oh, so that's you guys kind of maintain like this accountability partnership to each other. That's nice. Okay. But it isn't until 10 11, you know, after you've done your Own things for yourself, and then you'll have that chat. She knows if she calls before, I'll be like, I'm having my espresso, and call me after.

Or I need to walk to the studio by myself first, like, I can't be on the phone right now. But yeah, usually in the early, Before noon, we would have a debriefing session. Yeah, who's the older twin? She's older by two minutes, okay? I [00:18:00] think that's a really nice relationship to maintain no matter where you are in the world and Yeah, you're in Montreal.

She's in Toronto. So it's nice of you to both have that and I'm sure it helps keep you on track I think so. I think it's definitely one of the main reasons why I feel like I could make it was just having conversations with her every day. I think it's really important to have a soundboard, like someone to speak to, that responds to.

And it's really honest. Like, one thing that is between us is that we are not scared of hurting the other, because we are. We can't hurt each other. We just tell each other exactly sometimes what we think. I think that's so refreshing and such a treasured connection to have. Not everybody has twins, and I'm sure would feel the positive energy and benefit [00:19:00] of having someone that is in their life, that they trust enough to feel safe expressing how they genuinely feel and think about things regarding themselves and regarding the other.

It's, it is a wonderful gift. That you both share. So yeah, I feel lucky to ever. Yeah, a nice motivation tip as well to others to really practice that or exercise that safety around being honest because it's really truly the truth that helps propel things forward and set things free and in a much higher way.

It's a nice reminder to everybody. So how would you describe being in the zone or in a flow state? When I'm in a flow state, I am usually either working on a project or painting or drawing. And what happens is that I completely forget time. [00:20:00] And I, it almost feels like I have a conversation between something beyond me, let's say my inner world and some kind of outer world.

There's, there's some kind of communication happening where I know what I'm supposed to do. And, Yeah, it's a nice dialogue when I get there in the flow state. It's really quite an internal kind of experience. You pretty much touched on most of the things that are connected with flow state, which is timelessness, a sense of effortlessness.

What I'm almost interested in is, as soon as your pen touches that, creative page. Are you in a flow state or do you feel it takes time? And when you are then in it, how long do you stay in that state? Yeah. When I start putting my pencil on the paper, it, it's really hard at first. I find usually takes me [00:21:00] about 20 minutes, half an hour to really get into a flow state.

Sometimes even an hour. Yeah. There's a lot of hurdles. I find that I have to go through. to get to the flow state where I'm like, okay, it's okay. I'm just gonna draw. I'm just gonna draw something. I don't have to show anyone. I just need to do this for myself. Um, and then when I, once I'm in the flow state, I can keep going until I realize I'm starving.

Actually hungry, you mean? Yeah, I'm actually just, I did not eat like for five hours, six hours. And oops, I'm, my husband is calling me and saying, are you coming home? Like, who's doing that? Are we going to do groceries? Something has to take me out of my flow state, an external kind of factor. I'm like, Oh, I didn't realize how involved I was.

So it's good that you actually get Your chunks of time, like all those hours that allow you to get that undivided attention toward your work. Because my next questions were going to be [00:22:00] around distractions. Do you get any how often and in what form? And also, my other question was what is your workspace like?

Do you work out of your home? Do you have a separate space? And how do you go about functioning in your creative career? Yeah, so I'll start with the last question, which I have a studio outside of the home, which is really important to me to have the separation where I'm, at least there's less distractions here.

So it's just 10 minutes away. So every day I walk up here and I stay here. I treat it like my, I treat it like my job. So from nine till six, I'm here. And how I deal with distractions. There's tons of distractions from phone calls and social media and emails. There comes a point in the day where I just limit myself away from the computer, from email, social media specifically, um, where I give myself like little [00:23:00] disciplines where I'm like, okay, I'll only check Instagram two hours from now.

And then I know that, okay, I'm not gonna, I told myself two hours, so I have to give myself that. Yeah, I trick my mind a lot, actually. So that's how I get rid of distractions or sometimes I just go for a walk or sit outside on my balcony. I find that really grounds me again to, to figure out what my next steps are and how to stop myself from distractions with computer and phone.

Do you share your office space with, or sorry, do you share your studio? No, not right now. I think in the future I will, I'm going to look, I'm looking for a bigger space. I'll probably share it, but for now, it's my home studio. Yeah. So you really carve out the time. to dedicate to your art and you don't let other things take precedent unless they need to and you really treat it like a job.

Yeah, because I get [00:24:00] work come in as an illustrator. I get deadlines that are sometimes the same day or 24 hours from now. So I need to be, I need to be present here. It's just like any other job, you know, people aren't, people are at their workplace from nine to five. You're not there at the workplace. So I do treat it like a job where I'm in an office and I work.

So, yeah, I think that's so important because a lot of times people who have that artist heart and they want to create, or they feel they're great at creating and it'll just come to them and projects will flow to them whenever almost look at art. Like it's something that. will happen whenever they touch that pen to paper or that brush to canvas and masterpieces will unfold.

And it's lovely to think of it in that abundance mindset way, in a way where you're infinitely producing work. But on the other hand, [00:25:00] something that has such a flowy nature really thrives in a, an approach that is so structured at the same time. And I think that's an important thing for artists to hear who are trying to make it.

I agree. I think even when I wasn't working and you know, I, I still gave myself that time where I was like nine to five is my time regardless. It's, and it's not about sitting there and producing work. It's reading, it's figuring out who you are, it's doing sketches, it's research. It doesn't have to be, there's no, you know, there's a masterpiece at the end, but every day there's, there's a commitment.

Mm hmm. Yeah. A consistent commitment. What kind of role do you feel mindfulness might play in your reaching that state [00:26:00] while you're creating? Do you even have a practice of mindfulness that helps you get there at all? If not, all good, but Yeah, I do have a sense. I do have a practice of mindfulness. So as an illustrator, I get a lot of commissions that are written by authors who are writing about economic conditions, social political conditions, personal essays.

So I find that my mindfulness often happens when I'm reading other people's stories. And I try to find the empathy and emotion in their writing. And I connect that way. And then I start drawing from there. So that's in my professional practice. I find my mindfulness within my work. And then in my practice of mindfulness, I find that I have to be physically active.

Like I have to I have to at least stretch my body three times a week. Um, or go to yoga or go to Pilates. Like I, I feel like I have to do [00:27:00] something out of my mind, more in my body. And I still dance. I take classes now, so which is also really nice, which is just separate from the practice. Yeah, that makes sense.

During your intense creative sessions, do you ever become consciously aware of your breathing? Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, I do actually. Sometimes I hold my breath so much when I'm trying to get a perfect line that I feel that, oh, I can, I notice that I'm not breathing. So I really make an effort while I'm doing line work, that I'm breathing with the line work.

Interesting. Yeah. Nice to have your breathing match up with your physical creating. That's interesting. A line does take quite a bit of focus and attention to get it so straight too. It's if you want a perfect line if [00:28:00] you want a perfect line It's an art to get a perfect line it's true i wonder what you're breathing yeah you said you hold your breath that would be it would be so interesting to take you through the breathwork but then also if once that breathwork recording is ready to have a visual line almost take people through The, the breaths, we're moving our line and then during the hold is like just a straight line.

Yeah. Visually representing the breath work. That's fun. Yeah. Final question before we start the breath work. How does this awareness of your breathing affect your creativity, if at all? It affects me because I really pay attention, actually, how I'm breathing. When I notice that I'm holding my breath, I really pay attention.

Try to breathe it out or take a moment and take [00:29:00] some breaths. Mm hmm, or almost as soon as you find yourself holding your breath drawing that super straight perfect line You're very much giving all your attention To that line. So yeah, it's like you are holding your breath for the line to be perfect So have you done breath work before guided meditation?

Yes Okay. Then what we'll do is we will take five minutes, stretch your body, visit the restroom, clear your nose, drink some water. I think if you have a snack ready that you can maybe have a bar, a protein bar, whatever piece of fruit just on hand, uh, that would be great. And then I'll take us through the exercise and all of that.

Now we move into our guided breathwork, followed by our recap of the experience. [00:30:00] And we're back. Hi. Yeah, that was awesome. I, I wish I could do this. I think I'm going to do this every day. I just, this is going to be my new ritual, right? It's such a great way to start the day and to start creating. Yeah. I love that thing with the hands with the, over the eyes.

And yeah, it was, that's nice. I like it. And, uh, holding the breasts. Yeah. I didn't expect it. You did it? Yeah. I didn't expect the, the, like how clear I felt like my mind was very clear. starting to relax. First my face was relaxing, then my body started relaxing, and I could really feel my mind just being like nothing.

Just like still. Wow, already an expert in flow state.[00:31:00] 

At first I was like, Oh, I should, I have to email this person, I have to do this, I have to do that. And then after a while I was like, Oh, this is nice. I just, uh, I was, yeah, it, it, it, it's almost like, it almost like before you fall asleep, almost like the feeling of like, um, Everything's kind of falling away and yeah, I mean, you know, wasn't it Salvador Dali?

He'd take his 20 minute, uh, conscious nap and then at the 20 minute mark his alarm would ring and he would just spring, spring awake with new creative ideas. Oh wow, I didn't know that. I know Da Vinci meditated because he needed the oil paint to dry for so long that he would sit there and meditate. Oh, well, I think that was the point.

Very productive activity probably. Yeah. So how did you feel right after the breath work? [00:32:00] Right after the breath work I felt, um, almost like I just woke up from a sleep, deep sleep. So I felt refreshed and ready to take on this day. Amazing. Yeah. And did you have any thoughts come forward or visions or even feelings, including the physical kind of reactions that we may have spoken about?

Yeah. At first, like I said, I was a bit, you know, thinking which emails I still have to write. And I was I was thinking, what do I have to do today? And things like that. But after a while, it really felt things settle and everything should slow down and definitely felt like my body started to melt more into more comfortable situation.

Um, it was interesting when like we did the holding of the breath, cause it was. It felt a bit uncomfortable at first and, [00:33:00] and because your brain, I guess my brain was maybe like on a fear mode, like you mentioned, like a little bit of like, Oh, what if I stop breathing or like, can I even hold my breath for that long?

But then after a while it comes to a point where it's the in breath again, after the holding of the breath, it's just, it feels like so much life again. Like it felt very, very real. refreshing and rejuvenated. Did any visions come forward or any colors, any lights? Yeah, there was a point where it was like between blues and purples, like little, how do you describe them, like blotches almost, but no direct, like nothing was figurative or nothing was, It wasn't like in any sense of a picture.

It was more like you mentioned, more colors were popping up in, in different areas of my interior field of vision, I guess. [00:34:00] How about, how did it feel or did any memories come up? Anything along those lines? I think memories, I quickly had some, because I was just traveling, so I had some quick like travel memories pop up, which was funny to remember because I was just in Portugal.

So I had a little bit the ocean, like memories of the ocean, seeing the ocean, seeing the sky, sitting on the balcony, like things like that came up because maybe because it was just so recent, but it was moving along those lines, but nothing from. Yeah, the recent past, yeah. And the feeling overall, what did it feel like for you?

Were you able to tap into a feeling at all? I felt very curious. So when I started seeing the colors, as soon as I started paying attention, like wanting to see something, it didn't work, [00:35:00] because then I got stuck. But then when I let go, like the colors started moving around more, and It was nicer to let go rather than try to see something.

So I just let it happen. I asked, okay, if I want to think about Portugal, I'm going to think about Portugal. So it went back and forth between, yeah, between those. Yeah. How about those states that are very much descriptive of a flow state? Like we had mentioned, timelessness, effortlessness. Did you experience any of those kinds of things during the exercise?

Yeah, I definitely felt like myself, like I felt like in my body. So those are probably similarities that I would feel in a flow state where I feel like I am in my body. But I did feel the urge of love. Wanting to do something, wanting to do something, like wanting to be creative, like wanting to, wanting to start again, like I wanted, wanna [00:36:00] get my sketchbook and start drawing.

Mm. Did you get any ideas? Like clear ideas or glimpses of ideas that you might like to translate into your creative work? I felt, it was more like that I felt an urge to do something. Like an excitement to? Yeah, an excitement. I felt a, yeah, curiosity, excitement to, to do something. Yeah. How does this, you know, those feelings that you got through the exercise, those states of timelessness, effortlessness, compared to how you feel when you are in that state of flow from creating?

Were they similar at all or a little different? With this, with this work, it felt more To a point of, of deep relaxation, or I think as in, in my workflow state, I feel a very huge, big sense of curiosity that [00:37:00] kind of drives it. And the timelessness comes from continued continuity, like from being actively aware of body, mind, soul, I guess.

Whereas with the breathwork, I felt more. more grounded rather than active. And would you say when you came back from the exercise, you were explaining how this was wonderful and it's something that you'd love to practice again. And is this something that you'd see very much connecting with your line of work in terms of helping fuel your creativity or help you address your creative blocks even?

For sure. I think probably that's the main reason why I wanted to do this every day is to fuel creativity and also to relax and check in with myself, bring back an [00:38:00] energy. to create. Yeah, it's really important to feel grounded to be able to work. So on the topic of creative blocks now, I wanted to ask you what some might be for you and how you overcome it.

Yeah, I think for creative blocks, I definitely have them. And I think with the idea of self worth and feeling like sometimes not being good enough or distractions by emails on phones and email messages, I think it's, Really important to be aware that when that happens that like the only way out of them would be through.

Yeah creative blocks are hard to move around because when they happen sometimes for me I feel like that is a permanent state and I'm like oh what if I can never get back to How I did that one thing one time and what if this is it, what if this is the end of creativity? And sometimes I don't, don't even feel like [00:39:00] doing anything sometimes.

So I think with the breath work helps fuel that energy again. And for definitely for creative block, I think I can see this time away from work really helping the re ignition of creativity. Cause sometimes for creative blog, it is continuing to work through it. And sometimes it's to step away and step away is really important that it's not.

on a computer or social media. Stepping away means nature or talking to someone or doing this breath work. So I think it's really important to do this. Yeah, I think that all those practices like breath work, meditation, even affirmations and writing, things that help you get back to yourself and I'm sure helps anybody facing a block move forward.

like you said. So in what ways has creating art served as [00:40:00] a therapeutic or transformative practice for you as well? Yeah. I mean, for creating art, I'm always, there's, I think, parts of life that I'm trying to make sense at, uh, something, things that have happened where, or I, maybe I didn't feel connected or.

death and immigration and finding a sense of belonging or finding a sense of home, what I was kind of discussing earlier, this idea of war is home. And I think I tried to make sense of that with my art. So, so it is therapeutic for me because I'm always finding my own narrative or reclaiming my own narrative that way of this is the thing that happened, but maybe I didn't have control of that situation, but how can I now find peace with that by myself.

So that's been. The idea of therapy comes in is art becomes this vessel of [00:41:00] making sense of things that didn't maybe make sense. Mm hmm. You said death? Yeah, like dealing with death, like my, my father passed away in 2019. And I think it's one of the things that really shook me were, you know, we talk about pivotal life moments.

And I think that was definitely a pivotal life moment. Death does not make sense. So art has really helped me figure out how to be with death and continue life. To almost translate it into a medium that helps you navigate it in a, in an unspoken way. Art has its own language and connects on an emotional level visually, but yeah.

Wow. That is definitely something big and transformative to experience and then channel through your art. I [00:42:00] think so. I think it, it helps, you know, whether that's for me, that's painting. I think like you said, with writing and, and being active in a body, I think there's. different forms of therapeutic art forms that are, that really do.

help and make me feel like I'm connected. Yeah. That's so good to hear. And I guess it's part of everyone's journey to recognize was what that form is for themselves, what that creative outlet looks like and what allows them to feel so connected. Creating is like creativity is such a, another universe almost.

It's like that mysterious hidden key. To that also very mysterious unknown side of this whole other part of the universe that we're in. [00:43:00] But it's very much more described as a feeling, I'm sure, and it's very much connected to our imagination. It's just like a very interesting place and space to be when one is in it.

So I can understand how great it is to revisit as often as one can. And yeah, part of this is definitely addressing how important it is to create and how important it is to nurture and nourish this and really keep it as a form that is very much alive and thriving and healthy. What advice would you give to other aspiring artists about cultivating a mindful and creative flow practice or just a practice in general in their own creative?

Medium. Yeah. The best advice for me was always not to take it too serious. I've always told students and people who are [00:44:00] interested just to use cheap paper and write things down and do a lot of sketches and if you want to throw them away, just to, it's for me, it's always just to keep going. Just be curious where you can go, curious what you can do and don't stop just every day a little bit.

It goes a long way. Yeah. Yeah. And are there any artists or creators who have significantly influenced your perspective on art? Yeah. Picasso has definitely been an inspiration and an influence throughout my life. It's the amount of work that he has produced and in the intensity he has gone into his practice.

There's a Katie Corbett, she's a German expressionist, drawer, painter, she does liquid cuts. And she directly is informed by the violence she's seen in the world, and especially women and mothers [00:45:00] and, like, sickness and diseases during war. And she has a way of illustrating and, uh, drawing a narrative. I think that's, uh, It's a mirror to society.

I think it's really important for people to see. There is Eva Hesse, she's also like a German Jewish sculpture installation artist. I just, I'm impressed by conceptual art, probably because I don't understand it so much, but there's a way of, she's talking through her artwork, communicating in such a feminine way.

is very strong. Like it's, you know, I don't like these traditional ideas for masculine feminine because we always think feminine is soft and soft spoken and emotional, but it's actually where the strength is. So I see her work feminine, but in a, in almost a, what we actually would consider [00:46:00] masculine, strong, powerful.

So yeah, I think those three artists really left an imprint on my psyche and inspiration. If you want something done, you need to do it yourself. I've always had a very strong mindset that if nobody can tell me, Oh, I can't do this. But if I have my own money and I worked for 10 years to make these changes, then nobody can hold me back either.

So yeah, money does buy access and freedom and it's unfortunate because we live in a world where it is important. But the approach to it in a practical way is obviously helpful. I mean, everyone does need to remind themselves that if they'd like to do things and achieve things, part of that is money works as a great tool to achieve them.

It, no one needs to be dependent on it or make it the most important. Of course, at the end of the day, especially if you're an artist, you probably want to connect closely with your art [00:47:00] over everything. Yeah, especially as an artist. There's no guarantee of making money. I don't even know sometimes. So yeah, when you become an artist, like you have to live with the risk that things don't, they don't happen like a normal job where you're going up a ladder and you're plateauing and then you're going further up.

It's just up and down. Yeah, ebb and flow. Yeah. And ebb and flow. It's all part of life. Yeah. Thank you so much, Hannah, for, you know, entertaining this conversation and going through the breathwork exercise together, being very open to it, being curious and sharing with me and everyone listening, all that is about you and your art and your creative world.

And there's so much there to learn from. And again, it's a wonderful gift to hear it and to talk about it. [00:48:00] and to bring it to this world as well. So thank you again. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you for having me here. Yes.

Thank you for tuning in to Creative Clarity. Until next time, stay inspired, stay mindful, and keep creating.