What If Perfectionism Is The Real Creative Block with Sam Ridgway

A blank canvas sounds harmless until you’re staring at it, frozen, asking the same old question: “What if I mess it up?” We go straight at that fear and come out the other side with paint splatters, movement, laughter, and a surprisingly practical path back to yourself.

We’re joined by Samantha Ridgway, founder of Gypsy Soul Work in Kansas City, Missouri, where she hosts creative arts experiences that throw out the rulebook. Think water guns filled with paint, balloon darts, collective canvases, and prompts that make creativity feel safe for people who swear they “aren’t artistic.” We talk about why perfectionism and end-product thinking shut adults down, how “holding space” changes everything, and why a playful process can support real mental health and emotional release.

Then we zoom out into collective creativity and art therapy ideas: why groups default to words and hashtags, how symbols can open deeper meaning, and how a simple prompt can help the nervous system step out of fight or flight. You’ll also get easy ideas to break a creative block today, using nature tools like pine cones and grass or whatever is nearby even foil, an orange, a fork, or ketchup and mustard.

If you want a more embodied, grounded relationship with creativity, press play, share this with a friend who needs permission to make a mess, and leave a review if it helps you. What would you create if “perfect” was off the table?

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Transcript

Anger, Movement, And Making Marks

Osha Rose 0:00

Imagine there's movement. Like I think the body needs to move to really get connected to the heart. But I was remembering this moment in time where I met this beautiful six-year-old child, Rosie, and I said, Rosie, what do you do when you get angry? That was when my my daughter was two, and I was just like getting so many emotions from her on a daily basis. I was exploring my own anger very deeply, like how what would evoke it and what I would do to express it, because my daughter was a toddler and just outright expressing it with punches and throwing things and screaming at the top of her lungs, like she was just so clear in her expression, in the moment of her emotions, that I was interviewing everyone and everyone to find out how they were processing their emotions. And so when I asked Rosie, I said, What do you do when you're angry? And she said, Well, it depends where I am. She said, If I'm at the beach, I'll splash it out. She's like, If I'm home and I've got paper and pen, I'll scribble it out. It always stuck with me, like this just clarity of, you know, depending on where I am, there are all these tools and avenues and paths to express this emotion. And one of them was to actually express it with her hands through paper and pen. So welcome to Superbloom. I'm your host, Osha Rose. So today we're exploring something close to my heart: creativity as healing. My guest today is Samantha Ridgway, the founder of Gypsy Soul Work, a creative arts experience in Kansas City, Missouri, that invites people to make art with water guns, balloon darts, movement, all the things that we were told not to do with serious art. Samantha, welcome. Thank you, Osha. I'm very happy to be here as well.

Sam Ridgway 1:42

Thank you for holding the space.

Osha Rose 1:44

Yes, you are so welcome. I got the very wonderful privilege to experience this art with you when you were local to us here. And for me, you know, just inviting people to throw darts at a balloon and create this communal piece of art together was just so profound and different to me. And I was curious how it would go, like how it would go in our community. We have a lot of artists on the on the North Shore, but I just don't know how liberated, you know, people would be in that sense. And what I found was the children took right to it. It was so easy for them to do. I noticed even for myself how fun it was. Like once I just like I was more like just making sure everybody else was good. But then when I finally picked up a dart and threw it at the balloon and it splattered and it created art, but it created art on top. It was like another layer of what somebody else had done and the colors. And so for me, it was this wild experience that was so fun and so different. And I know everyone that came. There was like 40 of us total, I think, with all the kids, like thoroughly enjoyed themselves. And then we had this beautiful piece at the end that we had all created. And then we all had our little stamped versions that we took with us. But it was to be the one facilitating that. Like, how how did you get to this point? Like, was this something that you created? Did someone teach this to you? Like, how did you find your way to this art, this way of creating?

Sam Ridgway 3:09

Great question. Thank you for um yeah, asking it. Yeah. Um, creativity is always something that I know it was like the avenue I wanted to go down. You know, I feel like when you're younger, especially if you go to a traditional type of schooling, people are always like, What do you want to be when you grow up? Well, what do you want to be when you grow up? And you're like, I don't know. Like, there's so many options out there. There's so many things that you don't even know about. You know, I feel like you just have to get out there and explore and try, try new things and honestly figure out what you don't want to do. You know, start narrowing that down. After high school, I went to college in the United States and then I studied abroad for a year. Um, and I decided I was like, you know what? I'm not, I'm not gonna go back. I don't want to. I think I just was like searching for a different culture, different type of people. And so I went to art school in London. I mean, that was my dream was to be there and go to art school there. Um, amazing. Actually, did photography, which is my first love. Um, 35 millimeter film. Art school there was great. You know, you focused on you just had your one class. It was a studio class. You could go out, you could go to museums and get uh inspiration, you could go out and take photos and just wander the city. You know, you could stay in class and explore different different you know, experiments with the with the photos or you know, have time with your teacher or whatever. And um, after a year there, I went back and I went

How Gypsy Soul Work Began

Sam Ridgway 4:30

to art school in the United States. And so vastly different. So different. You had two studio classes, you know, four electives, a job on top of that. You know, you're just like barely trying to survive, and and and your creativity is so dimmed, I feel like, because you're just spread so thin throughout these different avenues. Um, it really made me question, you know, how art is taught to people and what different ways art is taught to people. And honestly, I think in a way, art is it's taught wrong. Um, you know, I think that creativity lies in all of us. I think we're so consumed with like an end product that we forget the whole process and how to just let go of whatever is inside. And we're so consumed with that perfectionism of what it's gonna look like or what it's gonna be, you know, especially as adults, you know, kids are more free-flow, they just kind of get things out there, but adults are we're a little bit more rigid in our ways. So that was kind of the start. And when I was going to art school, living at home, you know, just late nights up thinking and thinking and thinking. And I think we all have those times where we can't get to bed. So um I just I picked up painting, which was really different for me because I was still going to art school for photography. And it was those late nights when I just I couldn't think, so I just needed to like get it out somehow. And just so I started painting. And um, we had a little storage room, and I asked my parents if I could turn it into a little studio, and um, so I did. And the uh I don't know what came first, the water gun or the darts. But I remember having a water gun one night, and I went to go I filled it with like this forest green paint color, and I went to go spray it on the paper, and I just like I giggled like a little kid. I was like, oh, like this is so much fun. Like what a release this is, and um, and I think you you brought up the word, but the word fun, you know, I have to remind myself that that's kind of why I started it was for fun, you know, to let loose to just like release that, like you said, release that perfectionism. Um, that's something that I very much I'm very much am a perfectionist, and that's something I've had to kind of let go with over the years. And sometimes I think you can get too much into your head. And so releasing that um end result and just kind of going with whatever tools you have or free flow, you know, is kind of my way of letting go, you know, letting go of the head, letting go of all of it.

Osha Rose 6:55

Yeah, I think that's just so important to remember, like this is just such a beautiful analogy for life and just that concept of are we doing this thing for somebody else, or are we doing this thing for our hearts, for our souls, for our existence? And in life, I know for me, most of the work I was doing was for somebody else. It was work that would pay the bills, would give me health insurance, would look good to my father, whatever, just you know, sound good on paper. Uh, you know, when I look back, there were always aspects that I loved about work that wasn't creative or didn't feel like it was for me or like soul work. But it was mostly in the connections with human beings. It was the the talk and the being in their presence that really felt meaningful. But when it comes to art and the outcome, to me that's just it truly is liberation. Like if what if every piece of art that we that truly resonates with you personally was never created with the intention of being perfect? It was just created with the spirit of the person. Like, would you would you say, like for me, I think that is true, but I wouldn't necessarily know unless I was having this interview with each of the creators of the art? But I feel like you can sense when you look at something. Like there's just like an energy to it. How it was created. Like, was there love and joy and bliss in the creation? Was it a sacred moment, or was it something the person was doing? Like I know a lot of artists that will get commissioned. You know, here's what I want, here's the picture. Can you do a painting of the, you know, it's but even then there's still soul in the work. There's still like a moment, at least for me when I'm creating, where you just feel there's some flow that takes over and it's different. You're not forcing it, it's just happening. Right. Would you say that's kind of the breakthrough with what can you can create that breakthrough for people with this squirting of forest green paint through a water gun and just not having that pen or paintbrush or trying to be precise? It's like just be have fun, press the trigger.

Sam Ridgway 8:57

Yeah, because it's intimidating. Especially, and I created this for people who don't think they're creative because I think we all are creative. We just need to help have a little bit of help pulling that out. And like I said, I think it goes back to this um perfectionism or this intimidation. Um especially, you know, a white, a stark white canvas. Someone who's not create, even to someone who's creative, I look at a stark white canvas and I'm like, okay, well, where do I start? Where do I begin? So that's sometimes I even paint my canvas as a different color or they already have a background on them or something to give that little bit of more of inspiration or yeah, take away that like that starkness to it, like give it some sort of energy to start with.

Osha Rose 9:46

Would you say it's also like this waking up the creativity and within each of us? I I wholeheartedly agree with that and I love, I love, and I I knew you were my people, but like I love that you said it first. But would you say part of it is this you're almost giving people permission to do it? Because some maybe like like you had mentioned adults compared to children, you know, are just a little more rigid. You know, when I'm rigid or the rigidity I feel at times, it's out of this like discipline or like obedience or just respect, I call it. Well, I wouldn't want to just, you know, do whatever I want. I want to make sure it's within whatever this person would want. Like being given permission to make a mess or be given permission to have fun while doing this, instead of I'll let you know when you get it right, you know, like that feeling when you're in a classroom. I definitely was that student. Like, is this good? Is this right? Did I get an A? Can I get an A plus? You know, like what do you think? Tell me, teach. But as a teacher now, it's like, and I saw you doing this with us. There wasn't that, is it right? It was, are you having fun?

Sam Ridgway 10:48

Right.

Osha Rose 10:48

You know, do you want to try a different color? How does it feel?

Sam Ridgway 10:51

Yeah. Um interesting. Like, I don't know, I've never I've never used the word permission in that way. Uh, I think people give themselves that permission, but I I think what I do is I I I hold the space. I hold the space for them. And it's hard for me to say, oh, I have a painting class because that seems a little bit more rigid, right? I like to say I hold a painting experience because I'm holding the space for you to be creative. I'm giving you the tools to be you, however you see that fit. Yeah. You give yourself that permission. If you want to open up, if you if you want to be here, that's on you, you know. But I am creating this environment and this space for you to come in and and and flourish in your own way.

Osha Rose 11:41

So for you, the creativity within you was alive from from the start for you and photography, and that was kind of the beginning. And then when you started creating this wild way of creating with paint, it was more of like cathartic for you. Like it was almost like a healing experience. Like, I'm just curious, like how it fits into your your world now, now that you're sharing this experience with people, is it still something that that you do? Like, do you still on your own pick up the skirkat or the the the balloons and create your own mess? Hello?

Sam Ridgway 12:12

Well, very very much um cathartic in a way, like very much um a release, you know, definitely want to bring that to people, just get them out of their boxes a little bit. You know, we're all in these little boxes, whether it's our home, our you know, our office, our car. It's like let's just break down these boxes and let go. And as a mom, I don't do it personally as often, but I do create works of art with my daughter more than anything else. And you know, that's really special to be creating with another human being and kind of leading her in different directions and really just playing off of each other. I think that's yeah, I really like the the collective pieces and how people interact with the collective pieces of art.

Osha Rose 13:01

Yeah, that's beautiful. And it's so beautiful that this is the way she'll be raised, you know, with art as a creative expression and she'll be invited. I guess maybe invitation might be the better word. Inviting, yeah, like you're inviting people to explore a depth within themselves that they might be intimidated to approach, but you're creating this space that's safe for them to do that in. They won't be, you know, shamed or blamed for not getting it right. You know, there is no right. It's this, you know, to me, it felt like just to do it was the thing. Like that was all the invitation was like pick up, pick up a

Perfectionism And The White Canvas

Osha Rose 13:40

dart, pick up one of these little fun toys and play. And that's enough. Absolutely. Or what's your intention? Like, like, is this a mission? Is this something that you feel like like with Superbloom? I have this like mission to, you know, help people wake up what's hidden within. And so this is like totally in alignment with that. Um, like what is it that you really think about what's driving your your heartfelt mission?

Sam Ridgway 14:03

Well, and and for me too, like there's so many different avenues that I have with it. So I guess that question, I when I'm thinking of it, I kind of think of it in different avenues as well. Cause, you know, I host classes, I've hosted classes for adults, and I'm gonna do some classes for the library for um young kids that are toddlers, so Salem's age. And then I'm gonna be doing some for teens, which I'm really looking forward to. Um, and then I also have a one-on-one that I do with a girl who's in sixth grade, and I've been doing that for over a year now. Um and then, you know, there's the collective balloon darts, which are fun, and then this new collective art that I did um this past month for an event we had, which was so vastly different.

Osha Rose 14:54

Okay, so yeah, I wanted to I wanted to hear about that because I saw that on your on your blog, that that piece um that you just kind of put up, right? And you invited people to just add to this. Was it a plain white? It was.

Sam Ridgway 15:08

It was a it was a big white board, which is so intimidating. And I knew it was, but it was it feels like a first of an experiment of a collective for me. And I because I love I love sociology, I love anthropology, I love psychology. Just what makes a human, you know, a human, and especially like also a collective, you know? And I think with art, I don't know, I feel like we can expand with with creativity and art itself, you know, expand that consciousness a little bit through different ways. And it's it's almost for me, I I'm like, okay, what can I get people to do? Not obviously not in a bad way. Like, what can I push people to create with a simple prompt or a simple design? So it's it's it's a little bit different, I would say, than like my fun, you know, balloon dart art creative thing. Like, that's super great for like a community event, but this this path is just a little bit different. I feel like it's a little bit more purposeful um in seeing what I can get people to create. Like, so this this past month we had an event, and I've been wanting to do an artboard, but sometimes the paint and the balloons are just so messy. So I kind of had to like take it down a little bit, and I just did something simple. I did some paint pens and some markers, and I put on the board collective art, make your mark, and I put my symbol and you know, trace my hand with it's actually a third eye in the hand, and it was just so interesting what people decided to do. And I I expected people to make some designs. Like I wanted the whole thing to be people were drawing, drawing designs, drawing a character, you know, kind of whatever, obviously, whatever they felt. So many words, so many words. I was so, you know, so surprised by that. And looking on it, I'm like, as humans, like language and words and speech, it's so much, almost too much, in a way. Even when I think about like society way back when, like telepathy, they didn't have as much speech or voice, or um, you know, they could just understand each other on a different level. Nowadays, it's all about some an individual's voice. It's not, you know, a bad thing, but with social media and it's all about an individual, it's all about words. So it just it turned out really graffiti-like and and people writing their hashtags, their social media, their names, which is really basic when you think about it. Like that's not really breaking the creative barrier if you're just using words or using your name or using your hashtag. So kind of looking on it, it's like, how do I how do I break people free of that? Especially when it's handed just a pencil or a pen in a white canvas, you know, you're kind of just in your intimidated. You probably weren't expecting the board to be there and you don't know what to do.

Osha Rose 17:52

And and usually when you get to an event, you sign your name, or people will say, like, you know, you sign in here or sign the guest book. But the fact that they went graffiti to me is like, okay, so the people in the room were were artsy, you know, like there was something about that that allowed them to at least express them their words with some design to it. I love the disappointment and the expectation that you had because it just shows the like the teacher in you to me, you know, like there's a part of you that like is saying right now out loud, like, how can I, you know, get them to tap in and go a little deeper and express with something beyond the words. To me, words are less are more in permanent and temporary, like our thoughts than the actual feeling. And when we can connect with a feeling and then move that feeling through us with art, like express it with art. I have experienced that. Like I've gotten surges to paint a few different times in my life. And I'm like, the paint revealed itself, like so. My sister gave me paint, and then my neighbor gave me a canvas, and I was like, okay, but my my at the time baby is asleep, I'm painting tonight. And what came through was very abstract, but it felt good, like every stroke, I you know, every color I picked, every way the color swirled together. But it definitely came from the depths of me. And so that was me tapping into divine spirit. I wholeheartedly know. But when when you've created a space, so you created the event, you put up the board, and you invited them with your own sample of what to do. Like, how do you do that if you aren't the board? That's a good question.

Sam Ridgway 19:25

I think you said it right as a feeling. You know, how do you elict a feeling that they can create something? So thinking about like a prompt, like I'm I'm working on my art therapy certification right now, and it talks a lot about symbols, which kind of in a sense, when I think about symbols, like Bridget's not the right word, but I feel like that pigeons holes it in a way. When I think about symbols, like I don't know, I think about for some reason I think about like the government and like what symbols we have as as a you know, the United States or whatever, at least for myself, I'm trying to pull out with this art therapy and the lifting of feeling, like what symbols are there? Like this, maybe it's like the symbolic feeling or like um I I think of the word, like if I if I did a prompt and I put the word love, and I would put like I could put something like um, you know, what symbols or like what feelings come to mind with the word love, you know, without using words.

Osha Rose 20:23

So something like that where you're kind of I'm kind of like yeah, like you start with the word, you give the one word, and then you invite the the abstract, you know, response to the word. I love that. And it's interesting what you're saying about symbols. In astrology, they have the glyphs, and they're called glyphs because there were hieroglyphs, you know, back in the Egyptian time, and you know, when words weren't words, they were symbols, and you would put symbols together to make your your message. And I think now, like in astrology, looking at the different symbols, no matter who's creating the glyph, they all have a similar shape, and like you know that this is Taurus and this is Aries and like the V and the waves. But for me, I have a similar feeling that you do, where I think symbols do matter. Like when I studied Reiki, there was this understanding that you could envision certain symbols, and that would help you connect with this energy of all, you know, of us all being connected. And so there's power in symbols, there's darkness in symbols. What matters is how you feel looking at it. And it sounds like the word symbol has its own connotation phrase.

Sam Ridgway 21:30

Right.

Osha Rose 21:30

You know, like not actually every symbol, but just the word. I finally put it together this year, but there's this symbol that I've been drawing, it's like a heart with swirling lines and then other dots that came out. It it first came through with a painting that also came through as a surge back in I think it was 2006. Wasn't a painter, I don't even remember how the art supplies got to me, but I gave the piece to my mom. So she still has it in her house, you know. And now, what is that? Almost 20 years later. I really like that painting. And my mom's house, she used to be an art curator and an art critic in New York City. She has art on every like speck of her walls. So the fact that my five-year-old niece pointed out the symbol that I created, like that was the first time I ever drew it or painted it. And so 20 years later, I'm I'm finally realizing that this is my symbol that evokes my spirit. And I look at it every day. I when I moved to California before I got pregnant, I started writing it like at my work desk in corporate corporate job. I would just write it on my notepad or and I was on a call and I would draw that symbol. And that was the year that I finally just made this decision to move. And I just there was something about this symbol that was connecting me to my spirit. So I just think it's beautiful that you're bringing this up because it's so powerful when we do connect with a symbol and the expression of it, like the more I draw it, the more I look at it, the more I share

Holding Space For Safe Creativity

Osha Rose 22:50

it. Without words, I feel like a connection to something deep and known. Yeah.

Sam Ridgway 22:57

Well, and with the symbol too, it's like other people can relate to that symbol in a different way. You know, it's not a set definition where words have set definitions that come with them, but the symbols can are are abstract in a way. And each person can either relate or not relate, or you know, have a different feeling elicted to that symbol. And you know, I think with the collective board, it would be interesting to see if there is a um, you know, common connection between say if you know, if I put the word love on there, what symbols or or what what people as a collective would come together and put on there and see that common thread between you know each one. Because I think that also shows who we are as humans too, in that collective, that we all are connected in that way. We all have the same feelings, you know, the same shit happening in life. Like, I think in a way we forget that how connected we actually are.

Osha Rose 23:58

Yeah, we are, we're all in it together. It's like the more I share what I'm going through in a moment's time, I I learn other people are experiencing the same emotions, but for different reasons. I can't help but think of like the graffiti artists I know that spend years finessing like the way they layer their colors and put their art in certain places so that it becomes this like backdrop for something else. But at the same time, I'm thinking I get what you're saying, and I think it would be interesting to see what people would do if you invited them not to use any words or letters. Absolutely. Just as a challenge, you know, to get the brain to get some different neurons firing. You know, it does take that invitation, I think, to get the brain to start to to open up and develop in a different way. You know, there's there's this like I just think of like the paths, the smoothness, or just like the new paths that we create in our minds, like the neuro, you know, synapses, like they fire, and then we create these these pathways the more we we do something.

Sam Ridgway 25:04

And something new, new experiences, like epigenetics, yeah. You know, we especially in Kansas City, there's just there's bars and there's a restaurant, and there's another bar, and there's another bar, and there's another bar, you know, and it's all about people just want to go out and they want to drink and they want to hang out and drink and talk, hang out and drink and talk or listen to music, you know what I mean? So it's like, well, that's great and all, there's so much more. Like, what else could we do with our hands? And so I was so grateful to like to create this space that people could do something with their hands in a creative way that's not just sitting in a space drinking alcohol, you know, which really isn't good for us, you know. So, like I'm uh offering something that you know can expand a little bit or even create a conversation in the night. But really, like, you know, with our my business and like we have a nonprofit, and it's like, well, for mental health, and that that's one of the reasons why I started my business too, like mental health, like just feeling down, feeling in your head, can't get out. Just like, okay, go like go throw something on a canvas. I don't care what it is, go find a fork in your kitchen and start making marks on your on your canvas. Like, it doesn't have to be perfect, doesn't have to, you know, doesn't have to be a paintbrush, doesn't have to be a rhyme or a reason, just like get some stuff out there. But like I said, with just you know, with mental health and whatever, like when you're out and about, you want to be social, but you know, say you don't want to drink or you don't want to be in that crowd, just just trying to offer something for people to expand themselves just a little bit more.

Osha Rose 26:34

And even though the drinking isn't necessarily good for us, like we all know it's technically poisoned, but it just is more common and more mainstream and just easier in our minds to do, to go do like somehow that seems easier than taking what might feel like a risk to be vulnerable and express yourself fully in front of someone else, you know, like making yourself vulnerable enough to show a part of you from the inside out. I think with drinking, I think drinking helps people relax, but I I don't know if everyone drinking would still feel comfortable creating. Do you know what I mean? Like the sip and paints, like I don't know. I think it does help people get to a place to be like more willing. I've done it before, and that actually did help me feel like I might be able to create the thing we all went there to to paint. But to really tap into what's within us to deeply express that. I have experienced how it's almost like layers of of separation that any type of substance will do for me. So in those moments of clarity, that's when these like pieces were coming through me that weren't about creating a piece of art. Like I wanted to show people after just to be like, look what just came through me. But the people that really saw it understood it as like, whoa, you know, like that's what you were feeling in that moment. Like, whoa. And then, you know, what's beyond that? Like, is this like a prophecy? Like, like when person was like reading way into it, and I was like, I don't, I don't know. That doesn't look like God with a ball of light. Um, so just being curious, I think, is the biggest change for me, like the shift, like what is inside of me? Like what could come out if I created the environment where I felt safe enough to let it out?

Sam Ridgway 28:15

I think that's key. Can we hold can we hold on that? I need to go get my charger for my computer.

Osha Rose 28:20

Yes, and we're almost done.

Sam Ridgway 28:23

Great. So you were talking about, you know, having that safe environment to be able to create. I guess when I say, you know, holding the experiences, like, you know, creating that safe environment to where people feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable, to be able to show themselves who they are, you know, what they can be. Like that creativity does. It stems from inside. Like, you know, we've talked a little bit about like, okay, I've done the painting with my with my daughter. You know, that's a whole different experience. Doing it with like a collective people, that's a different experience. I do this one-on-one with a girl who's in sixth grade, doing it for a year. I'm just, I'm I really like the intimacy of that one-on-one to be able to have that safe environment where she can be who she wants and create what she wants. And I think at that age is so important. And I'm really looking forward to being able to hold space for some of the teens at the library because that's such a vulnerable time where we're searching for ourselves or trying to figure out who we are. And, you know, I think there's unsafe environments when it comes to that vulnerability. You know, you have school, but kids are mean, but they really are, like, especially at that age. And, you know, sometimes you're home, you have so many other influences coming from you, from your parents, or you know, so truly to be able to hold that space for those teens and individuals that are um that are struggling, you know. And to give them the the the time and space to to be who they are and to create something that that they want, you know, with their own design rules, but at the same time having fun because I have to remember and remind myself that that's what this is all about all the time. It's just still having fun with whatever you're you're creating or doing.

Osha Rose 30:06

It releases different chemicals out of the brain when we are having fun. It creates a different experience around us when we're moving and operating out of joy. But I just have to say, like changing your scene from outside to inside, as we were talking about what it the effects of being in, like in a in an enclosed, safe container to create and to express ourselves through art versus being maybe in a public group setting. It was just this beautiful contrast where when you were outside, there was sunshine, there were birds, there was this big open openness

Collective Art And The Problem With Words

Osha Rose 30:40

to it and other sounds. And I mean, there's still other sounds inside now, but there were other sounds outside that just felt big and expansive, and just like, yeah, I want to create something the whole world can see. I don't know, just I had that vibe more than now when you're inside talking about working one-on-one with someone. I just could feel the difference in how it felt safer when you were inside. And just this reminder that when we go inside, there is more of a quiet space there. There is more of a connection to our inner voice, you know, when it's so loud around us and there's so many things distracting us, it can be hard to turn our awareness inside to really ask ourselves, like, how do I feel right now? How do I want to express this? And one thing you just said about working with kids reminded me, what if every child had this opportunity to work with someone one-on-one as a mentor, but for art? Instead of just going in a room to talk, I would imagine there's more than that. You know, it's just creating things that they can do together so that as the thoughts come up, the conversation can just flow naturally. Um, like I imagine there's movement. Like I think the body needs to move to really get connected to the heart. But I was remembering this moment in time where I met this beautiful six-year-old child, Rosie, and I said, Rosie, what do you do when you get angry? That was when my my daughter was two, and I was just like getting so many emotions from her on a daily basis. I was exploring my own anger very deeply, like how what would evoke it and what I would do to express it, because my daughter was a toddler and just outright expressing it with punches and throwing things and screaming at the top of her lungs, like she was just so clear in her expression, in the moment of her emotions, that I was interviewing everyone and everyone to find out how they were processing their emotions. And so when I asked Rosie, I said, What do you do when you're angry? And she said, Well, it depends where I am. She said, If I'm at the beach, I'll splash it out. She's like, If I'm home and I've got paper and pen, I'll scribble it out. It always stuck with me, like this just clarity of, you know, depending on where I am, there are all these tools and avenues and paths to express this emotion. And one of them was to actually express it with her hands through paper and pen.

Sam Ridgway 32:56

Absolutely. That's a that's a great way, you know, pick a feeling and you know, whatever feeling you have, and just to get it out there.

Osha Rose 33:02

Yeah.

Sam Ridgway 33:03

Yeah, it feels it feels good that movement. I think kids are so in tune with that, we kind of lose it as adults. But you know, they're wiggling around or moving, and you're like, just sit still, but like that's what they need to do right now, you know? Yeah, they need to get it out. Kind of going back to what you were saying, like the difference between like being outside and being inside. I've done art, you know, with people outside, and I've done art with people inside. You know, you can feel the difference. And I really enjoy kind of being grounded and being in nature and doing the art outside, and you know, having the birds, you have the sky, you have the fresh air, you can feel that sunshine. And when we think about boxes, trying to break people out of these boxes while being inside can feel comfortable enough, or you can feel vulnerable enough to um, you know, express. I think it's so important to be outside and be grounded in nature and feeling all of the elements and um even bringing some of those elements into your painting. Like we've I um I kind of experiment with people in my classes. We do like fun tools like toy cars or tour dinosaurs, or like I mentioned, like fork in your kitchen, any random tools that you find. We do that for a little bit and then we switch over and I give them a tool from nature. So it could be a pine cone or an acorn or you know, some grass, and just letting people experience the difference that that creates, not only for themselves, but for their artwork as well. I think there's some sort of a little bit more intimacy when you're working with those nature tools, maybe because they're a little bit more fragile. So you have to get a little bit more in depth with your picture and kind of using it maybe a little bit more purposefully. But there's just a difference, you know, you could hold something made out of plastic in your hand, and you could hold something made out of from nature in your hand, and you can feel that difference. You could feel the energy. So I mean, you know, thinking about that and creating an artwork, if you're outside, that energy of what's surrounding you is going into you, and then you're going into the canvas, and whatever you're using, that energy is going into that canvas as well.

Osha Rose 35:13

Oh, I feel like this could be like an invitation to people who like a listener that's feeling blocked or just disconnected from their creativity. Go out in nature and grab grab a pine cone and what, you know, like what how can they?

Sam Ridgway 35:26

I think it just goes back to simple like just look around you. Like look around you right now and pick something random that you don't mind getting paint on and just use it to paint.

Osha Rose 35:38

And if I don't have paint, ketchup will do and mustard.

Sam Ridgway 35:42

Hey, go for it. That's funny. My um ketchup I had a uh my one-on-one over the summer. Um, we were using red and and yellow, and she kept saying she's like, it's ketchup and mustard. I think she had just gone to like some event where there was some some hot dog eating contest or something. So it was even more for sure. Use some ketchup and mustard. It doesn't have to be paint. Sure, go for it.

Osha Rose 36:08

Yeah, I was just thinking that I'm like, what would you have in the house that you wouldn't mind wasting? And it wouldn't be a waste, but that's like the way my brain works. Like, what could I use? I don't really, you know, use the mustard that often. That'll be a good use of it.

Sam Ridgway 36:19

Like, um, okay, I'm looking around right now. I'm sitting in the kitchen. It's kind of I'm looking around right now, and I I just grabbed two things. I said, you know, you said if someone's blocked and you just look around you. Osha, look around you. See what you can grab an item that you think you could paint with. All right. Okay. That's non-traditional.

Osha Rose 36:39

Oh, okay.

Sam Ridgway 36:40

I think that's what I another thing that I just, you know, with a paintbrush, I feel like there comes, ooh, lovely. There's so much expectation with a paintbrush, just like there's expectations with a white canvas. You know what I mean? So not attaching an expectation for something because then that's you you trying to control the outcome in a way. Um so true. What did you pick for your items? So I have a rock and a wooden shaker. Okay. Oh, wooden shaker. That would kind of be fun. Like I think about sometimes when I'm painting, like, what's the sound that this that it's creating, like, you know, thinking about all of your senses because we think about, you know, we're thinking about movement and what you're you're looking at it, but like listening to it and and what's that sound that that item's making, you know, can kind of be meditative in a way.

Osha Rose 37:29

Yeah.

Sam Ridgway 37:30

And the rock, I love the rock, like using it. Yeah.

Osha Rose 37:32

It's already one painting that we couldn't do more. Yeah.

Sam Ridgway 37:35

I picked an orange. Like, y ou know, it's kind of bumpy, maybe kind of fun to put some paint on and roll around. And then I picked some foil.

Osha Rose 37:44

Okay.

Sam Ridgway 37:45

So I guess like with this exercise, it's like someone who's stuck or just like kind of feeling down or whatever, and just pick something. Pick a random item and and start using it and kind of explore it and don't have an expectation. Just kind of if you're feeling angry, then in you know, what's that motion of anger? What's you know, how can you release that anger? Are you gonna throw something at the canvas? Are you gonna rub something really hard at the canvas?

Osha Rose 38:12

Poke holes in the canvas.

Sam Ridgway 38:14

Sure. I was thinking that, yeah.

Osha Rose 38:17

Oh, I love this. That is you and your essence right there. Just pick two things, just do it, you know, just do it. And people, you know, like I could even feel myself getting in my head, but wait, so did you say I could use mustard, or what kind of paint do I need, or what, you know, it's like just do it, you know. If you don't have the paint, have that be something fun to go pick out, you know, colors that better you're drawn to, but see what you have right now, and instead of giving yourself a block of to the block.

Sam Ridgway 38:42

And even if you don't have a canvas, like could be the ends, the a boxed a cereal box, you know, cut open the ce real box and paint in the cardboard. Like, I don't know. I'm as an artist, I think all artists can agree with this is we're kind of hoarders.

Osha Rose 38:58

Um and such a good point. Everything's recommendable.

Sam Ridgway 39:03

Oh, I can make out of that. Oh, I can make it.

Osha Rose 39:04

I can do something with that later. Yeah.

Sam Ridgway 39:06

Um use paper towels to like clean up my messes, and then I look at the paper towels and I'm like, oh wow, that's really pretty. I'm gonna save this. And I have like a stack of paper towels that are just like, what are you gonna do with these, Sam? But then they just they're just they're still there. Um you can use anything. It doesn't have to be.

Osha Rose 39:29

What else? What else is next? Or you know, you're in this art therapy, we're talking about ideas of ways to elicit more creativity and and crack open the parts of people that might be blocked. But what's what more can we say here? What's next for you? Or how can we close with you feeling like you've shared everything that feels important today?

Sam Ridgway 39:52

Well, I think there was kind of two questions there, right? What's next? What's next? And what else um can I share? At least like what's directly in front of me, experimenting with the collective and what I can what I can get a collective of people to create. I think that's kind of where uh my brain's working right now, and how to and and you know, to do another board, a big board for another event, and

Symbols, Prompts, And Shared Human Meaning

Sam Ridgway 40:20

trying to think about with with the words, how to get people to avoid the words and use more symbols or designs or whatever, thinking about the prompt of of them. You know, I want to I want to push the boundaries of what they can create because I know they're all, like I said, creative people. Yeah. But I think that that's I'm I'm excited about the experiments. Because they are experiments, you know, and doing it differently each time and seeing what the outcome would be. But I think like with my business as a whole, everyone I just want to say everyone's creative. We all are, we really are. We just need to help finding it, getting it out.

Osha Rose 40:55

So I believe that we're creative beings, and that's the whole point of being here is to realize our ability to create, not only physically with our hands, but to create our reality with the thoughts and the feelings we hold on a regular basis in our minds and our bodies. And I think when we look around with the question of how am I being creative today? Just noticing what is actually you creating something in your day, I think people will start to realize what you're saying. Like, oh, I solved that problem. I came up with this way to solve that problem, or look at that meal I just created and came up with. Or look at that way I just reorganized my closet. Like that was a really beautiful way to create more space. But there's so many, yeah, there's so many ways in a day that we're being creative that maybe aren't considered art or artsy, but there's definitely a reminder for all of us if we look at our the way we're moving throughout our day, that this creativity does live within us. But I think having an exercise where we actually pick up an instrument, like for me, it was like picking up an instrument and realizing, like, oh, okay, I'm a musician. But it wasn't until I really felt like I was doing it for me and not to cover a song or to create something for someone else, that I really felt like, okay, I'm an artist, I'm a creative. So I think that's where that word, that connotation of the word is like I can't come up with these things on my own, you know, I can't create something out of nothing. But the reminder, I think, what you're saying and what I'm hoping to give in another way to consider it is that we're creating our e ntire reality every second of every day.

Sam Ridgway 42:34

Absolutely.

Osha Rose 42:35

Thoughts with the way we move our bodies, with the way we talk to people, the emotions we hold and the emotions we release. For me, meditation and breathing and being in nature, these are all the things that get me out of my head and into my heart space. Like I think of it as like dropping in, you know, coming out of the head. I think it's a journey. Like it's something that could be a lifelong process, right? Where we just continuously learn, okay, I'm stuck in my head right now. How do I get into my heart space? What's you know, what will get me through this bridge? And that's why I think we talk is where like our voice is the bridge. But when we are using words that we're maybe not cognizant or like aware of the words we're using, we could be blocking ourselves with our words. So yeah, I love that you just know, like get into that creative space because the words aren't necessarily gonna get you to that feeling. I think getting into the the heart is getting physical. And that's why I think the work you do and the movement that it entails is the bridge. That's that's how people get to that creativity. Just do it, even if it doesn't feel easy that first time. The more playful the items you pick up, like the fact that you had an orange and a piece of foil, just made my heart happy to be like, what's she gonna do with that? Like, how's she gonna do with that? And then my rock and my shaker. First, I'm like, well, the rock already has paint, so that can be painted again, but breaking it. Out of this? Do I care if this gets dirty? You reminded me, I don't know, hoard is such a strong word, but I'm looking around my room like there are so many little things I can purge after this, after this. Because and therefore, everything can be used in art. Everything's a possible viable option to create with. And that to me is powerful.

Sam Ridgway 44:20

Yeah, I really love when you were talking about creative, like there's so many different avenues of creativity. Like you said, you're creating your life every day, like your manifestation around you, but people don't think that as creativity. But even just as simple as baking some muffins, like you said, like coming out of your head and I like that dropping into the heart. It's like, what is it that is your creativity? What are you doing? And this is like asking people, like, what are you doing with your hands? That's breaking you, you know, that's dropping you from your head into your heart. And when we think about mental health, it really is it's about getting out of our head and really being grounded and what's going on around you. And I think one, stepping outside, great way to be grounded, barefoot. But two, what are you doing with your hands to keep you busy and grounded into this present moment where you're not in your head anymore? So is your creativity baking? Is your creativity playing music? Is your creativity painting? You know, there's so many different avenues, but to have that one specific avenue that you know that you can go to and you're feeling that you need to drop back down and get grounded, I think that is what is so important. But also understanding that it doesn't have to be grandiose, you know, it can be something simple and it doesn't have to be perfect, it could be something messy, whatever you need to do just to kind of release that

Nature Tools And At Home Experiments

Sam Ridgway 45:45

and get out, get out of that head. Yeah.

Osha Rose 45:47

And thinking of like my daughter and symbols, I do think if you find something that you do like to look at, that maybe like like I draw that heart symbol, you know, all the time. And and that just picking something you do like, like she wants to learn how to draw numbers and letters, and like she's in age right now. And so she's excited to do that, but she also likes to draw people. And it's been beautiful to watch how they have arms and legs now and faces, and she tells me these are the eyelashes. And so she's you know, she's trying to draw what she sees and she looks at someone like a human. But it's becoming her own, you know, abstract design in a way, because it's still her way of interpreting what she's looking at. But I think it helps her when she's looking at the blank page. You know, what do I start with? What do I do? Right. Right so I can get the juices flowing, I guess. If you if there is a symbol or you like to write, you know, letters, if you do the graffiti, like all of that's kind of the warm-up, right? To get you, it's like starting that drop phase of like from the head.

Sam Ridgway 46:47

Yeah, I always start with circles. I'm not really into circles. So I just start either drawing circles or I find different tools that can create different circles, different sizes. Um, I actually was at the a library in Prescott yesterday, and there was a collective art piece, and it was called circle painting. And it was just a group of people drawing circles. Really great, really great board, just different circles. And I'm like, well, that is a simple way to prompt people, you know what I mean? Because there you go. If you're just completely open with everything, again, that's intimidating. You have a white canvas, you have no rules, it's so open that people are so intimidated. But when you give them just a simple symbol or prompt of a word or the one tool, you know, kind of direct them in a way which then they they can expand on.

Osha Rose 47:34

I think that helps like rein in the brain. The brain goes into fight or flight when it thinks it has to do something that it can't do right now. Yeah. So it's hard to really get creative because you're not in your heart space. You're like, I don't know what to do. Ah. But if you're like draw a circle, then it's like my brain can kind of sit over there and I can just draw a circle and enjoy it and then see what happens next because I'm not in fight or flight, I'm present. I love this. I love this so much, Stan. So thank you so much, Samantha, for bringing your beautiful spirit and wisdom to the space today. Your work is a reminder that healing can be messy and playful, and that joy, like this is something that I carry too is that joy is a medicine and art can be this language of the soul. And to everyone listening, you can find Samantha and her upcoming creative experiences at gypsysoulwork.com. And if today's episode touched something in you, maybe that's a sign for you to play again, to grab some paint, dance barefoot, and just let your hands make something without needing it to be perfect. When we let ourselves truly feel free to create, that's when we bloom. So I am Osha Rose, and this is Superbloom. Until next time, take care of your heart, your time, and your creative spirit. Thank you so much, Sam. Thank you, Osha, for holding the space. Yay, you're so welcome.