art gallery

3 Women, 3 Visions: New Paintings at Big Blue Gallery, Belliveau Cove. Reception Aug 8 at 6pm

| Flora Doehler

I just spent a glorious day at the Big Blue Gallery in Belliveau Cove, on St. Mary’s Bay in Nova Scotia. I hung new paintings in the August exhibition with painters Nadine Belliveau and Jennie Morrow.

This gallery is truly a labor of love, created by Artist and Art Professor Sam Norgard. Together with gallery manager Tracy Jordan, they are manifesting an artist gallery, community, and retreat centre. This magical setting includes an old apple orchard, a one-room school house for classes and a bright blue house that serves as main floor gallery and upstairs sleeping quarters for workshop and retreat attendees. Each room is unique in terms of palettes and art and handmade quilts. It’s off the charts in terms of charm.

I feel honoured to be invited to show here.

I’ve been painting my garden flowers for the last two+ months and it has been a restorative process. It is so energizing to be around their beauty.

Like so many of us, I often feel waves of despair about the state of the world and the environment. I can’t look away from it, and I don’t want to. But painting the garden—being with these living things and capturing their energy—has become a necessity for me. It reminds me of the beauty that still exists and the persistence of life itself.

Click on the image below to see my paintings in the show. But better yet, come and see everyone’s work live.

If you’re nearby, I’d love for you to come to the opening reception this Friday, Aug 8 from 6 pm. – 8 pm

🌊 Big Blue Gallery open Tue- Sun, 10 am – 4 pm
3491 Highway 1, Belliveau Cove, Nova Scotia

You can find directions and more information here: Big Blue Gallery on Google Maps

It’s pretty special to have a show in a space that feels this creative and alive. I hope to see you there!

New Paintings in Bear River Artworks Gallery Year 10!

| Flora Doehler

Bear River Artworks season opening on Saturday, June 1, 2024 marks the tenth year since a group of local artists opened a cooperative gallery in Bear River, Nova Scotia.

I attended the very first meeting back in 2015 and joined without hesitation. I was eager to find a venue for my paintings and to help develop a member-directed community project. I also wanted to meet the wonderful people who bought my paintings and who created their own bonds with a piece of my art.

New Paintings

But even after ten wonderful years, I still worry at the beginning of May that I won’t have finished enough paintings in the autumn and winter to hang. But, surprise, every year when it comes time to varnish and name the babies, I find that I even have a few extra!

This year’s crop of paintings is almost entirely flowers.

The one exception a the huge double painting of sumach trees.

The Enchanted Sumac Grove
©Flora Doehler, 2023
48″x72″
Acrylic on 2 Canvas panels

It is a thrill to paint live flowers, but I am severely limited in the winter to forced tulips, forced forsythia branches from our enormous bush and potted geraniums. All of these made their way into some of these new paintings. 

The remaining paintings were developed from a group of floral paintings that had been neglected until this winter and spring when I finally finished them.

Every artist has her own unique approach to painting. Bringing my easel inside from the centre of a living, moving garden and surroundings is a difficult transition at first. Painting from memory, from sketches and from my photos is a completely different way to work.

I must shift my concentration away from the living world and the outside elements to a static one. So, I use the opportunity to focus on learning more about the mediums (oils vs. acrylics vs. sketching) and color theory.

When I’m not able to get inspiration from Nature, I look for it in the work of other artists. I revisit and add to my collections of artists’ paintings on Pinterest. In this way I ‘discover’ so many new living artists along with new-to-me works from long-gone artists. I learn a lot about what I like in a painting and am able to step back and to take a critical view of my unfinished paintings that got ‘stuck’ and, hopefully, inject life into them.

The greatest way to learn is by doing, and there is a lot to learn. I am very fortunate to be able to paint in this beautiful corner of the world.  And I’m grateful to be a part of a group gallery with supportive colleagues. It is truly wonderful to be part of a small gallery where I can exhibit my paintings to people who are interested in what I do and to those who have helped me pursue my passion by buying my artwork.

Bear River Artworks Gallery is open in June from Thursday to Sunday, 10-4pm.  We plan to extend the week by 1 day for July, August and September. Hours will be posted on our social media.

All the artists take turns managing the gallery and while there is a schedule, there is no set day that I work. I will be there June 1, 7, 15, 21, and 30th from 10am until 4pm. If you would like to visit me in the Gallery or in my home studio, please contact me.

The other artists are jewellers Larry Knox and Laurel Strachan, painter Crystal Pyne and photographer Gary Fraser. They would love to meet you too!

Gary Fraser
Larry Knox
Larry Knox
Crystal Pyne
Crystal Pyne
Gary Fraser
Flora Doehler
Laurel Strachan

My Rural Landscape Paintings on Display in Nova Scotia

| Flora Doehler

Here are images of my current exhibition of paintings at Bear River Artworks Gallery, 1913 Clementsvale Road, Bear River NS.
April 15 – 23, 2017. Daily 1 – 4pm

Paintings can be shipped.  Interest-free payment plans available. No HST.
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I painted this from the shadows of the vegetable garden. I was startled by the strong light cast on the distant lawn and how it silhouetted the tree. Continue reading →

My Paintings at the Flight of Fancy

painting©Flora Doehler, 2015
| Flora Doehler

For the past 9 seasons, my paintings have had a home at the Flight of Fancy in Bear River. Rob Buckland, the owner and curator of this gem of a shop, has promoted my work since we arrived in Bear River in 2007. Over 200 fine artists and fine craftspeople have paintings, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, and glass in his two-storey gallery. It is a destination for art lovers and the collection is an inspiration to all. Continue reading →

Nurture and Nature Paintings – one more week only!

| Flora Doehler

It is a wonderful feeling to see the fruits of my labour on display in a gorgeous gallery. Sharing the experience with a fellow painter is better still!
Susan Geddes and I hung our paintings and hoped that people would come out to see them. The place was hopping during our opening and it was wonderful for both of us to share our visual view of the world with old and new friends. Thank you for being part of it – in person at the gallery or right now, virtually.

You can still see the paintings daily in Annapolis Royal (closed Mondays)until November 23rd at ArtsPlace at 396 St. George Street. I’ll be there on Saturday Nov 15th from 1-3 pm.

The Colour of Longing ©Flora Doehler, 2014
The Colour of Longing ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Oil, 24″ x 24″

Tulips are a favorite flower (are they ALL my favorites??)  This oil painting went through quite a few versions until I arrived at this final one. You can see my progress here.

As attached as I am to that tulip painting, in this moment “Earthly Delights” (below) is my favorite of the show. I think it has an under-water quality and has a depth to it that I don’t usually use.

I started it in the spring using poured acrylic inks in the background. When the lilies bloomed in summer, I added them  and in the fall the last ‘poser’ was a brilliant orange Chinese lantern. So really, I painted all the flowers in the bouquet  as they bloomed. It represents, to me, the entire flowering cycle, hence the title.

Earthly Delights ©Flora Doehler, 2014
Earthly Delights ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 48″ x 36″


My next favorite paintings are these three and I described in this post about where my inspiration came from to abstract my Bee Balm garden flowers on the canvas.

I can’t help myself. I keep planting lilies and I keep painting them too. I was a little inventive with the colours “In a Field of Lilies”. I WISH there was a blue lily. This painting inspired me to plant a new, deep maroon lily this fall. I think they are one of the happiest flowers in the garden. With their heads in the air they are true optimists.

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In a Field of Lilies ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 30″ x 30″

These are 8″ x 10″ paintings I started at the Historic Gardens in Annapolis and finished in my studio. I got to make full use of the sgraffito style that I like to play with.

Red as a Geranium ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 8″ x 10″ $125
In a Victorian Garden ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 8″ x 10″ $125
In the Cool Shade ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 8″ x 10″ $125
Salvia ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 8″ x 10″ $125
This is the World ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 8″ x 10″ $125
So Wild and Perfect ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 8″ x 10″ $125
A New Voice ©Flora Doehler, 2014 Acrylic, 8″ x 10″ $125

I also painted lilies and other flowers using acrylic inks and paint on paper and then adhered it all to boards. These are 12″ x 12″ and are another reminder of summer. I enjoyed combining drawing and painting here.

My artist – friend Susan Geddes flew in from Victoria BC to share this show with me. I love her use of colour and texture. Her paintings have a dreamy, ethereal quality to them as well.

Stop in this week and see her work — and mine. Details about the show are at the bottom of this post.

painting by Susan Geddes
Jump for Joy! ©Susan Geddes

painting by Susan Geddes
Bubbling Up ©Susan Geddes
Acrylic, 16″ x 20″

Paintings ©Susan Geddes
Paintings ©Susan Geddes

Painting ©Susan Geddes
Painting ©Susan Geddes

©Susan Geddes & ©Flora Doehler, 2014
Painting ©Susan Geddes Painting  &  ©Flora Doehler, 2014

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On the Road from Realism to Abstraction in Painting

| Flora Doehler

There were years and years when I believed that all abstract work was bourgeois and decadent and wasn’t actually art.   The shift in my thinking has been gradual and unexpected. All I can say for sure is that the more I paint, the more I feel drawn to the work of abstract artists. I notice this when I view art exhibitions or when I look at online works. The bold colorful paintings of abstract expressionists past and present excite and move me.

abstract4
“Garden Chaos”. Acrylic Ink sketch detail. 4″ x 4″ © Flora Doehler, 2014

And yet what I paint still remains literal… That is, the viewer knows exactly what they’re looking at. Even when I try to paint in a non-representational way it gradually morphs into a flower painting or landscape. I can’t seem to help myself.

So I decided to create a series of works that would challenge my way of approaching a painting.

Flora Doehler
“Garden Chaos”. Acrylic on Canvas. 20″ x 20″ © Flora Doehler, 2014

This series that I created for my October 2014 show in Annapolis Royal is my way of abstracting flowers. Instead of painting live flowers, I painted from sketches of mine of live flowers. The “big deal” for me was to use a previous drawing as a point of reference rather than the actual plant or flower.

abstract1
“Bee Balm”. Acrylic Ink sketch detail. 4″ x 4″ © Flora Doehler, 2014

The original drawings are ink and ink stick on watercolor paper. I cropped them that I would be forced to paint a larger-than-life version of the flower which is also not my usual way of painting.

"Bee Balm". Acrylic painting on Canvas. 18" x 18" © Flora Doehler, 2014
“Bee Balm”. Acrylic painting on Canvas. 20″ x 20″ © Flora Doehler, 2014

20″ x 20″

The finished paintings are one painting removed from the original subject and have morphed into an abstracted painting that suggests a floral theme. I would like to experiment by cropping these paintings and developing new and changed versions of them.

abstract3
“Breathing New Life”. Acrylic Ink sketch detail. 4″ x 4″ © Flora Doehler, 2014

It’s like playing “broken telephone” with the brush.

abstract5
“Breathing New Life”. Acrylic on canvas. 20″ x 20″ © Flora Doehler, 2014

I’ve very excited to explore a new approach to a favorite subject and I can’t wait to hang these in a couple of days at my show in Annapolis Royal. Please come, if you have the chance!

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DSCN4194

 

 

 

The Paintings Revealed!

| Flora Doehler

Today our power, water, phone and internet was restored after a long 4 days. At this moment I feel a deep appreciation for all those things that I usually take for granted!

The tropical storm Arthur also bumped my art show opening to this Saturday July 12 from 2 -4 pm. I will also be present in the Gallery on Sunday July 20 from 2 -4 and the Shambala Art Group of Annapolis will have an opening in the larger gallery on that day. The show continues until July 23.

This post is a debut of the 8 paintings that I created for my show Fairy Tales and Transformation , followed by images of each painting.

fairy ARCAC1

Why Fairy Tales?

Last winter I created a piece for the Fairy Tales and Fables show in Bear River – I was reluctant at first, because I usually don’t like to work to a theme. I prefer to paint what inspires me in the moment. Working in collage with a story was a huge departure from plein air painting.

I enjoyed the challenge and wanted to explore the theme and technique further so I created this series to fit into this space in the Mym Gallery at Artsplace / ARCAC.

I’ve always loved myths and fairy tales and I have wonderful memories of being read them by both my parents. In turn I spent many summers reading legends and fairy tales to our children on camping trips. What can be more thrilling than to read a dark Grimm Brothers’ tale than in an evening forest setting?

And dark they are! Coming back to these stories now, I see how horrendous the circumstances were for the young heroines in these stories. They endure and transcend injustices such as abduction, confinement, loss of family and isolation. All are liberated from their situations with help from princes, sparrows and woodcutters and magic and are transformed forever.

fairy ARCAC2

Painting Technique

My ‘painting materials’ are collaged pieces of my watercolours.  Like the young heroines in these stories, they are transformed in my studio to tell this visual story.

The archival watercolour paper pieces are glued onto cradleboard that has a birch plywood top and basswood frame. Three coats of acrylic matt varnish seal and protect each painting.

fairy ARCAC4

Pricing

The larger paintings (16” x 16”) are $450.

The two smaller paintings (12” x 12”) are $300.

I welcome creative payment plans – please contact me at flora.doehler@gmail.com

Wolf’s Dilemma
©Flora Doehler, 2014
16″ x 16″
mixed media on cradleboard
$450.

 

Demeter’s Realization
©Flora Doehler, 2014.
12” x 12” mixed media
$300

 

Visit to Grandma
©Flora Doehler, 2014
mixed media, 16″ x 16″
$450

 

Demeter’s Garden
©Flora Doehler, 2014
12″ x 12″
mixed media on cradleboard
$300

 

Thumbelina
©Flora Doehler, 2014.
mixed media on cradle board
16″ x 16″
$450

 

Rapunzel Waits
©Flora Doehler, 2014
mixed media on wooden cradleboard
16″ x 16″, $450

Seven Ravens
©Flora Doehler, 2014
16″ x 16″
mixed media on cradleboard
$450

 

Searching for a Daughter
©Flora Doehler, 2014
16″ x 16″ mixed media
(sold)

My Art Show in Annapolis Royal – July 5 – 23, 2014

| Flora Doehler

Please note that the show opening is postponed until Saturday July 12, 2-4pm due to the power outage.

I’m very excited about the new body of work I’m creating.

Fairy tales is the theme and I’ve been immersed in them – reading them again, listening to them online, falling asleep with my heroine young women in my head (Rapunzel, Red Riding Hood, Thumbelina).

Without realizing it, I chose tales that featured young women – all overcoming challenges like confinement, sexual assault, loss of family and isolation. All are transformed in the process and emerge stronger. My ‘painting materials’ were old watercolours of mine — mostly from my former life in Toronto. They are transformed in my studio to tell this visual story.

I began this journey  with a group show in Bear River organized by Ken Flett. The theme was Fairy Tales and I reluctantly agreed to create a piece. I don’t usually work to themes, preferring to paint what inspires me at the moment. It was a fun challenge to paint to theme and  to explore collage as a way to paint.

DSCN3248

I am a member of the Arts Council in Annapolis. It’s a vibrant, happening place and they offer spaces for shows for its members. The tiny Mym Gallery is set aside for artists to hang experimental work or journals or process pieces. When my name was drawn for the current show, I decided to create a series that would be different from what I usually paint. That’s where these 6 images came from.

Please drop by to see me on Saturday, July 12 th for the afternoon opening. I’ll be there the afternoon of the 20th as well.

For those of you who can’t make the journey, I’ll post all the images here over the next week as well as my thoughts about the stories that surfaced.

invite

Next week, I’ll be back to painting my favorite fairy tale…my garden.

 

An Artist’s Toolbox Must Include Self-Promotion

| Flora Doehler

What I love about January is that it always brings the promise of a fresh start.

It’s a chance to look back and to look ahead and to take stock of life.  And this is true for artists too.

Last year's wishes and dreams are carried away by the wind.
Last year’s wishes and dreams are carried away by the wind.

I spent 6 years on two continents at art schools in the 1970’s. I practiced weaving, printmaking, painting, life-drawing, sculpture, and pottery;  but there was one subject that NEVER came up. That subject was Art Promotion which could include grant writing, approaching galleries, planning a show, finding venues for art and craft, pricing the work and more. It was all a big mystery and I now believe that many graduates abandoned hope and went into other fields. I hope art students today graduate with tools for promoting their work.

Playing with watercolour on a slippery yupo surface.
Playing with watercolour on a slippery yupo surface.

Fortunately we have the internet where there are many resources on the web to help artists learn marketing and promotional skills and today I want to tell you about 3 of my favorites.

The studio is a marvellous place to be.
The studio is a marvellous place to be.

THE marketing and organizing guru for artists is Alyson Stanfield. I used her ideas to good success from her book I’d rather be in the Studio when I organized my own pop-up art show a year ago.  Alyson is very practical in her advice. She recommends a purposeful tracking of the previous year’s art income.

I did this recently and broke it down into income streams – galleries, online, markets, holiday shows, teaching. The results truly astonished me. I discovered that the galleries are doing the hard work of selling my paintings because even with their 35% – 40% commission, over 60% of my art income is from galleries. But also surprising is that 40% is self generated through sales at the studio, a self organized art show and to a very small degree, sales through markets and craft shows. I’ll use the data to strategize for this year.

Enamel pendants I made. I love the colours and textures.
Enamel pendants I made. I love the colours and textures.

My other planning method comes from British writer and artist Susannah Conway who shares a workbook to help artists plan their art direction in the coming year. The focus isn’t about income, it’s about what feeds the soul, the mind and the spirit so it’s a nice complement to Alyson’s suggestions. I wrote in my workbook yesterday and by the end of the afternoon, I had a clearer sense of  my art path this year. There is a very cool exercise where you imagine the advice your future self will give your present self.

One of my art goals this year is meditation that is focused around imagery.
One of my art goals this year is meditation that is focused around imagery.

Another supporter of artists is painter Keesha Bruce who divides her time between Paris and New York. Her tweets are full of links with great articles about support for artists.

All three women also teach classes and seminars off and online. Their newletters are free and each of their websites have signup forms.

In progress.
Acrylic painting in progress.

I think that anyone who is self-employed or is self-directed could benefit from these exercises. Are there January rituals that help you plan your new year? Please share.

Two paintings in the studio.
Two paintings in the studio. “Good Vibrations” and “The Green Table” © Flora Doehler, 2014

PS: A shout out to artist and beekeeper Shirley Langpohl who let me know that my youtube video on monoprinting was mentioned in last October’s Cloth Paper Scissors magazine. What a lovely surprise that was! Sometimes promotion comes from unexpected places.

wc monoprinting

Watch me Paint at the Gallery, surrounded by more Paintings!

| Flora Doehler

The opening for my painting exhibition was fantastic! Lots of people came to take a look, many having to travel through ice and snow to get there. It was a thrill to talk to people about my Nova Scotia work and wonderful to find new owners for some of the paintings.

The show will be up at The Rebekah Gallery for the next few days and closing at 4 pm on Sunday, Feb 3.

I’ll be there for 4 afternoons starting tomorrow, Thursday Jan 31, 2013. I have a gorgeous bouquet of flowers to paint and you can see how I work and what materials I use.

If you haven’t had a chance to visit the show yet, or if you would like to view it all again before the show ends, please join me.

@
The Rebekah Gallery
1890 Clementsvale Road
Bear River.

Please stop by on these afternoons:
Thursday January 31
Friday February 1
Saturday February 2
Sunday February 3
from 1 pm to 4 pm

Over 30 paintings are on display.

 A-brush-with-life-title-page

Here is a video to give you a better idea of the size of the paintings.

If you are interested in purchasing a painting, the prices range from $250 to $1300. Payment plans are available too. Email me at flora.doehler@gmail.com

Intentions for 2011 at Green Willow Studio

| Flora Doehler
Our Green Willow tree,  Cordelia, has finally dropped her leaves. A Cherry tree stands to the right and produces tasty cherries that drip down your chin in the summertime.  Mostly the birds get the bounty as the limbs are too high for us to reach. Our studio is the red building. The other two ‘public sides’ are painted periwinkle blue. We heat it with a wood stove and a small space heater.

2010 was the ‘birthing’ year for our Green Willow Studio. We started with an uninsulated garage and transformed it into a warm, walled and electrified studio! It took us some time to get everything arranged so that a silversmith and a painter could work in the same space. Together, yet apart.

Most of the time it works. We listen to music or to podcasts. We break for tea or coffee and either talk about our work or we go for a walk around the garden to get a different perspective.

It is a thrill for us both to have the luxury of such a well lit room (there are windows on all four walls!) and to be surrounded by garden and a wild field where pheasants live.

As part of the Bear River working artists studio tour it was essential for us to have our studio ready for the beginning of the tourist season in May. We set up a display area in the studio where people can buy our work.  We have met some wonderful people that way and have sold some pieces.

Tulips. Acrylic on canvas by Flora Doehler. SOLD

 

My painting sales this year at the Flight of Fancy, at Paint the Town and in the studio were motivating and rewarding.  A series of one-on-one art coaching and tutoring in painting has helped me to share my painting techniques and to practice teaching. Attending the Bear River Artists and Farmers Market nudged me to develop affordable art as well as gave people a chance to see my work.

 

 

Larry received jewellery commissions and is showing sculptural pieces at Art and Jules Gallery in Halifax.

 

“Growth Spurt” hammered copper vessel by Larry Knox, 2010.
Now 2011 lies before us like a blank canvas or like a shiny sheet of copper waiting to be formed.
The possibilities are infinite; the ideas are many and there are decisions to be made about content, about intention, about the best way to express one’s creativity.
Blooming summer flowers were a constant inspiration.
 I will spend more time posting to this blog and sharing step-by-step, the creative discoveries and techniques that I am using in my work and that Larry is using in his work. Up until now my blogging focus has been on our day to day lives in our adopted village of Bear River. After three years there are over 100,000 hits on that Blog and it has even brought visitors to Bear River. It’s time for me to shift some of the energy spent in promoting Bear River into sharing our artistic life and promoting our work to the world!
Commissioned copper and silver bracelet by Larry Knox.
Copper pieces.

 

Larry and I are excited about these developments and we look forward to sharing our creative journey with you in this coming year.  Thanks for your virtual visit!
Happy New Year and may you experience many creative moments in 2011 and may some of them be inspired by our creative journey.
Painting outside in the summer.

A Lesson From Emily Carr (1871-1945)

| Flora Doehler

I’m in Vancouver for a visit with my daughter and today I went to the Vancouver Art Gallery to see the Emily Carr paintings. She willed 157 of her paintings to the Art Gallery in 1945 but most of them are in storage or on loan. However about 20 of them were on display today and coupled with contemporary artists who are depicting similar themes such as the First Nation village life, the forest and the symbology that comes from West Coast First Nations cultures.

Emily Carr
Young Pines and Sky, circa 1935
oil on paper
Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery, Emily Carr Trust

I think that no one has captured the power, feeling and mood of the magnificent ancient British Columbia forest that was still evident when Emily Carr started painting it almost 100 years ago. Yet even Emily became discouraged about her work and almost stopped painting during the 1920’s. Instead, she earned her living renting out rooms, and making and selling the most god-awful looking pottery souvenirs.

I knew that she’d made pots, but hadn’t seen them until visiting the Vancouver Art Gallery today. Emily appropriated ‘indian motifs’ in her pots and ashtrays without really understanding the context.

The exhibition juxtaposes quilts made by BC author / artist Douglas Coupland who has stitched ‘souvenir’ First Nation motifs into his creations. Coupland has also imagined a dialogue between him and Emily about their work and it plays in the room where the pots and the quilts are displayed. I thought it was a clever way to talk about the appropriation of culture!

I wish I could show you photos of the exhibit, but photos are not allowed; the Vancouver Art Gallery does not have paper brochures about their exhibits; the website is also very sparse in terms of description and imagery of their exhibits.

Emily Carr, Loggers’ Culls, 1935
oil on canvas
69.0 cm x 112.2 cm
Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery.  Photo: Trevor Mills, Vancouver Art Gallery

I’ve been thinking all day about this wonderful artist who set aside her brushes to create ‘saleable’ ashtrays and dishes. Thankfully Lawren Harris (yes, the Group of Seven Lawren Harris) invited Emily to a show in 1927 that sent her back to her oil paints.

Emily Carr, Strangled by Growth, 1931
oil on canvas
64.0 cm x 48.6 cm
Collection of the Vancouver Art Gallery. Photo: Trevor Mills, Vancouver Art Gallery

I’m thinking that Emily’s period of self doubt is a very good lesson for all of us.  Rather than abandoning the art that seems ‘non-commercial’ and trying to make saleable items, like Emily’s ashtrays, we need to follow our passions and stay on course. We must dismiss those doubts and follow our creative hearts even when (pardon the pun) we can’t see the forest for the trees.