And so it begins...

The blog, the book, and the Intuitive Voice

The Intuitive Voice, we all have one. It seems I can’t help myself from expounding on it each time I teach. In fact, the first live course I taught on Facebook was solely focused on using the art of collage to help each participant discover their own intuitive voice within.

I’ve learned a lot about the intuitive voice over the nearly two decades of my art practice. Each time I get to teach, it helps me identify more about what it is, what it does for us in the studio, and in life, and how easily we humans tend to detach from it.

From the time my first book, The Art of Expressive Collage; Techniques for creating with paper and glue, was published in 2015, I knew there was another book to be written. Still geared towards artists, this one will be all about the Intuitive Voice.

I’ve not been idle in the gap between that last book and now. My experience in teaching workshops, and sharing these concepts with my community, Crystal Marie: Canary Rising on Facebook, has expanded what I thought I already knew about the Intuitive Voice. Had I written it when I first conceived of it all those years ago, it would be a much different and incomplete version of the book waiting to be written today.

My art bio speaks of collage being my first love. But the truth is, that writing is the thing that started it all. As an awkward, shy girl, in the 70s, I beamed when my story was selected to be read in front of the entire 3rd grade class. It happened again in high school, and then again in the one year I managed to go to college.

My first blog was called Other People’s Flowers, based on an obscure quote I stumbled on in a book of collectable ephemera, by the 16th century French philosopher, Michel de Montaigne:

"I have gathered here an offering of other people's flowers, bringing to them of my own only a thread to bind them with."

I wrote my first blog post on OPF in 2006. It began as a place to share my work as a collage artist and connect with other artists at a time when Facebook was only for college students, and Instagram wasn’t a thing. I quickly learned that connecting to the deeper meaning in my work was as important to me as creating the work of art itself.

That blog became the place that I could be vulnerable and authentic in a way that life had never afforded me before. The more I wrote, the more I discovered about myself. The more I discovered, the more I wanted to know.

Fast forward to today, many years of therapy and healing from childhood trauma under my belt, newly diagnosed as autistic, an explanation for that awkward, often silent and scared—not actually shy, girl that I was. An explanation for the way that words will roll across my tongue demanding that I speak them. A reason for the melody that I hear when I write. So often dissatisfied if I can’t place my words just right on the page.

Here, on this blog, I’ve named Crystal Marie, Deeper, I honor the girl who so often retreated to the closet under the stairs, book and flashlight in hand, to explore mystical, magical worlds in far away lands, as words danced across the page for her.

My ability to commit to the time needed to undertake such an endeavor as writing another book has been limited by my need to continue to generate an income and support myself. If you’ve followed me for very long, you know that my ability to continue to teach at the pace required for that income has also been diverted by a rare chronic illness that has no cure.

Today, my own intuitive voice is telling me it is time to get back to the practice of writing and to begin to write that next book in earnest.

Twice monthly, the weekly newsletter will be coming to you in the form of a blog post, just as this one did today. You can read these posts from the convenience of your inbox, or by visiting the blog itself, where I’ve been busy the last few weeks posting old samples of my writing from the old blog, Facebook, old newsletters, and other places I tend to write. These samples will give you a good idea of what future content will look like, and hopefully you’ll simply enjoy reading them.

These twice monthly posts will be on the deeper meaning I glean from life, my observations of the metaphors I see in everyday circumstances, the art I create, and the encounters I have with other people along the way.

It gives me much pleasure to know others are reading, and being inspired by, my words and this commitment gives me the accountability to sit down and write. But this, in itself, will not help me get the book written.

And that’s where you come in. For those who are able, ready, willing, I am offering a paid subscription level at only $10 each month. This is a vital aspect to allowing me the time and stability to get the writing done, and it comes with many benefits to you:

Benefits of being a financial supporter of Crystal Marie, Deeper

• Monthly excerpts of the book as I write it. These excerpts will range from fledgling first drafts to the polished and edited passages, and will be presented in no particular order, but will be an earnest commitment to finishing the thing in the coming year.

• Access to the comment section on all posts, both public and paid. Where I hope that a robust dialogue between readers, and between readers and myself, will occur. Your feedback will be immensely valuable to me as I write.

• Occasional polls to help inform points that will be covered in the book.

• Exclusive deeper conversation starters and journal prompts to provide thought provoking fodder for your own art or writing practice and continue to build that sense of community among us.

• Opportunities to challenge me with creative writing prompts for public posts. Some of my best writing has come from being challenged with a topic I may not have considered on my own.

We’ll build this thing together as the community grows. I have more ideas percolating, but will allow them room to breathe while giving myself permission to begin this adventure before perfecting it.

After all, as you may have already heard, perfectionism is not a trait of the Intuitive Voice!

With so much love and gratitude,

Crystal Marie