Kate Van Doren: 0:00

Just showing up for yourself with your art practice, with your meditation, with your self-care, with your exercise, with the the words that you speak to yourself, the the kindness that you show up, the way that you show up for yourself, it directly shows up in the artwork that you create, and that energy-it's just energy flow, and the more that you take care of yourselves, the more the energy comes back to you and your artwork, and the more money you make.

Laura Arango Baier: 0:29

Welcome to the Faso podcast, where we believe that fortune favors a BoldBrush. My name is Laura Baier, and I'm your host. For those of you who are new to the podcast, we're a podcast that covers art marketing techniques and all sorts of business tips, specifically to help artists learn to better sell their work. We interview artists at all stages of their careers, as well as others who are in careers tied to the art world, in order to hear their advice and insights. For today's episode, we sat down with Kate Van Doren, a multidisciplinary artist and registered art therapist of over 25 years, for a conversation packed with hard-won advice for artists building a sustainable creative life. Kate shares how she structures her studio practice, ritual, routine, and blocking out five hours a day, whether or not inspiration shows up. Why she treats marketing and social media as a scheduled, non-negotiable task rather than something to dread, and why finding a trusted mentor matters as much as any technical skill. Kate also opens up about her Healing Words project, an initiative that began in 2020 during protests against femicide in Mexico and has since grown into a global collaboration with over 2,000 women and gender expansive participants, each choosing their own words, images, and stories to reclaim their narrative. She also explains how self-care, energy, and creative output are all directly connected. It's part studio practice playbook, part meditation on why showing up, even imperfectly, is the whole game. Finally, Kate tells us about her upcoming show at the James Baird Gallery in Pouch Cove, as well as a TED Talk on healing that she has coming up in January. Welcome, Kate, to the Faso podcast. How are you today?

Kate Van Doren: 2:00

I'm wonderful. It's wonderful to be here.

Laura Arango Baier: 2:03

Yeah, it's wonderful to have you here because you have an absolutely incredible array of portraits and working in humanitarian things and art therapy. You are just an incredible woman who has just surrounded herself with this attempt of using art as a vehicle for healing, and I really, really appreciate that. And of course, you have so much more on your on your list of incredible things that you've done. So I'm excited to have you and to discuss your really beautiful projects.

Kate Van Doren: 2:34

Thank you so much. Thank you for the beautiful introduction, too. I appreciate it.

Laura Arango Baier: 2:37

Of course, you're welcome. So before we dive in more deeply into that, do you mind telling us a bit more about who you are and what you do?

Kate Van Doren: 2:46

Absolutely, I'm Kate Van Doren. I am an artist and registered art therapist for over 25 years, and I am a multidisciplinary artist. So I use photography, visual any any kind of visual art, painting, photography, video to express healing the healing journeys of people that I work with. Not my clients, but people who are participants in the Healing Words project, which is largely based on on my work.

Laura Arango Baier: 3:29

Yes, yes. And then what I'm also curious to discuss a bit more is when this all began. When did you begin to follow the path of the artists, and then how did that lead you to this really incredible project that you've been working on.

Kate Van Doren: 3:46

So I I've always been an artist. It's how I translated the world when I was young. I was very shy, and I think I was always an artist. And it's interesting because I put my the artist side of myself away, and I became a therapist for 25 years, and so I didn't go back to art until not too long ago. I dedicated my life to helping other people heal through art, and now that I am a full-time artist, almost full-time because I still have a small private practice, I can't imagine not being an artist because it's such a huge part, an integral part of my life, and dreaming up ideas, and you know, I think it's really important that people let themselves be the artists that they are. I think everyone has the artist within them, and I'm very very grateful that I I had the ability to to move back into the the artist path.

Laura Arango Baier: 5:00

Yes, beautiful. And I love that you know you like most artists. You still maintain some of your private practice, and while you're still you know shifting things over into full time art, do you mind if I ask when would you feel ready to close out your practice completely? When when do you feel like that moment will be?

Kate Van Doren: 5:24

I don't think I'll ever stop being therapy with people. It's an integral part of the work that I do, and I really enjoy being present with people. And the moment I see people deciding to make changes in their life is really powerful and it inspires me in my own work. And I don't think there's one or the other. And I think they're both incredibly important. And it and humans inspire me. The changes that they decide to make in their life truly inspire me. So yeah, I don't think I'll ever. You know, a lot of artists are teachers or mentors. I also have a mentorship. I work with students all over the world to help them find their voice. It's very similar to to therapy, just working on the inner voice and and confidence and and finding the things that you know their purpose, right? So yeah, instead of teaching, I do I continue my private practice. I don't think I'll stop. It's very small. I only see a few people a week because I didn't know my art career would take off, but it did, and I'm very grateful. So,

Laura Arango Baier: 6:42

yeah, yeah, and I mean that makes sense too because you can have your private practices like now that's your side hustle almost like it's not even its purpose. Like you said, isn't even really the monetary side. It's more the fulfilling observation of wow, like these are people who they came to me with these issues, and now I'm seeing them grow and prosper, and and I agree that can be really life changing and inspiring, and very beautiful to pull into your projects. Which I actually wanted to ask you if you mind telling us a bit more about your Healing Words project.

Kate Van Doren: 7:16

Sure. So the Healing Words project is a initiative that was that started in 2020 during a national strike against femicides in Mexico, and I was asked by large large groups of women to photograph and offer protest photography for them, and over time, those photographs morphed into more conversations and stories about not just the trauma that they've been through, but how we move through trauma. So there's over 2000 women and gender expansive voices. So anyone who is biologically female or identifies as female is welcomed into the into the project. People all over the world asked to you know work with me, and I never say no. So that's how it morphed into artwork because many times photographs aren't possible because I'll work with someone in a conflict zone, so they'll send me reference photos and then we'll work together on images to create their story. The the the basis I always say for the project is when one voice heals it echoes so women and people who gender expansive people who are in the project they remain agency so they get to choose if we if we do a photograph phototherapy session they get to choose which photo is used in an exhibition or shared. They get to choose their own language that that they use, and they write their own story that's submitted with the work. So, and that's really important, especially when we work with when we work with trauma, because and and and trauma doesn't have to be. There's there's a there's a gamut of of the human the human dynamic and and women get to choose what they share, how they share it, what they write, and what and a huge part of it is picking words that are empowering for them, and so and I don't choose the words; they choose the words. I really, in my artistic practice, I really, I really take the side reins and let people tell me what they. Want to do, and it's a really beautiful collaborative process because many people decide. I mean, they all, everyone in the project decides how they want to be show up and be seen, and to rewrite a new narrative about their healing journey and what has happened to them in the past, so that their trauma doesn't have to define them, but that it makes them who they are, and they can start rewriting through their own personal writing, through photographs. Also, with the Healing Words Project, I've worked with many people over a period of time, so I've photographed specific people each year for for the last six years, and you can really see the change in the person from the first session until the you know where we are today, and that's really beautiful and really exciting, especially from an art therapy and research perspective about neuroscience and how how we heal and how images can help us reflect back on who we who we were and who we are today, and really say, "Wow, look how far I've come, you know. So many times we sit, we don't get to watch the change that occurs in our daily lives, and how much we show up every day, and we work every day, and we put in the time, and we we really grow so much, and yeah, it's it's it's a powerful it's a powerful thing photography and and painting and being able to to just to share people's people's resilience on their own terms.

Laura Arango Baier: 11:56

Yeah, that's that's beautiful, and it also makes me wonder too, because you mentioned that these women-they were asking you to photograph. When was the moment where you were maybe like taking a photograph, and then that became a conversation, and then you realized, oh, this is this is something I want to turn into a bigger thing? What what was the moment for you?

Kate Van Doren: 12:20

When when so the project began to fight against femicides in Mexico, and now the project has has widened to a global audience because there there's femicide and issues against women all over the world. So it's it's not just Mexico. However, there is a huge crisis in in the country, and women would were coming to work with me, and they wanted to bring their children. So we would have conversations together about how to keep bodies safe, what how how they want to be seen, how they want to be heard, and that's really early intervention. So working with people early on, so they, you know, I'm just listening, right? I'm just holding space while they decide how they want to be seen, and that's the early intervention part about talking about how we heal and how we heal in community is really powerful. So early on, it was it was just so heart opening for me.

Laura Arango Baier: 13:34

Yeah, yeah, and of course, having your background as an art therapist, and I'm sure it felt like familiar territory for you, and it also felt like a really good crossover. Since, as you mentioned, you'd always been an artist, and this was always something you wanted to pursue. It seems like you kind of ended up there serendipitously. Yeah. Yeah.

Kate Van Doren: 13:56

Sometimes I think. Sometimes I think. Oh, what if I just went and got my MFA? You know, where would I be now? But I think it happened exactly how it needed to be. How how it needed to happen. the The people who are in the project are not my clients. We do have a release and that we go through, and people, many people who participate in the project, they actually keep the photos and their stories to themselves. They're not always shared. It's only shared when there's a direct dialog. I never share anything without consent, and and them wanting to share a big part of the the message here is that when someone reads someone else's story, they see what's possible for themselves, and having the therapeutic background is very important when working with with trauma. You know, the most important. Important thing is that you don't. I don't really ask questions. I just hold space so that people take control over what they want to share, how they want to be seen, and that's that's really important.

Laura Arango Baier: 15:14

Absolutely, yeah, yeah. I actually wonder: is there maybe like one specific story or case that just really stuck with you after.

Kate Van Doren: 15:26

Yeah, all of them. Every single every single person I've worked with, I I hold such a deep place in my heart. I they are my greatest teachers, and I I I tear up thinking about all the people who just choose to show up and through such extreme adversity every every day. There is a woman in a family in Gaza. A woman named named Iman, and she, we have raised a lot of money to support her family. her Her mantra is her mantra is hope is what keeps us alive, and I think about her every day. I write to her every week. I think about how she, even through such extreme adversity, she's able to show up every day. I, my dear friend Michelle, and I name people because every artwork that is created, people's names go with their story. They go with their artwork, so that's why I actually name people instead of just you know writing the the the healing word as the title. I really want people's stories to follow their work. So if anything is ever published, I'm really careful that their their agency stays with with them because they're as much of the creator as I am. I give up a lot of creative license to bring the voice of the person that I'm working with, and and it's it's a teacher for me about letting go of control about what I want to make that I think might be beautiful or might you know whatever, and that I I really want to include pieces of their story into the artwork, so it's it's always a it's a it's definitely collaboration. A dear friend of mine, Michelle, I was going to say we photographed her over many years, and we do a healing a healing words project phototherapy set. with other women that she organizes through her through through her initiative in San Miguel, and that's really beautiful. So we get to work together and share healing, and her story is really powerful. And we've documented her because we do this healing week week together we document her her we've what documented her story over many years and that's been like I said really powerful to see and I'll talk about this later on my recent museum exhibition we Michelle and I decided to share her the we created a painting together, a drawing together, and multiple photos over six years, and we exhibited them together so it could show her the arc of her her healing journey. Healing is never done, of course, but it it's really powerful for others to see, and she's she's such a healer herself. She's just a really an amazing role model for for me.

Unknown: 19:09

Wow! But

Kate Van Doren: 19:10

every story, I mean, I could talk about every woman, every every single person in the project is just is just amazing. There is a and one more person I I want to mention. Their name is mr. Lady Zen, and we created a huge charcoal drawing based on photographs that we took together. And Zen is a trans masculine person, and just has the most amazing voice. And when I I also do interviews with people, the people that decide to go further in the project and we create artwork together, they we have an interview. So during Zen's interview, Zen. Said that art literally saved their life, and that really has always stuck with me because art is such a way that we translate the world. And if Zen and Zen's an incredible singer-songwriter, very prolific, incredible, just this deep gospel, amazing voice that I've just learned so much from, and when Zen said that to me, it was just really powerful because there are so many people who, like myself included, I resonated with this where I I pushed that part of my life down, and I did get sick, and Zen talks about talked about the same thing where when Zen didn't create Zen Zen was not in a good place and when they came back to their their creative journey their creative outlet their life started to flow again and that's that's you know part of trauma is that when we live in trauma and we live in a hard place, we can't work from creative mode. That's the neuroscience part of of the healing, and it's really important that artists work on themselves and their self care so that they can create so that they don't so that they don't get sick. So that was, that was a a really beautiful message that I just I wanted also just to share to other artists who are are listening. Yeah. Yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 21:33

and it's a beautiful message, and it actually just brought to mind you know how how funny it is that you know like Zen said that art can save your life, and it's interesting because if you think about it, if your life is in danger, right? That is, it's in a state of destruction, and then of course art is a state of creation. So it's almost like you have to reverse things in order to be able to, you know, go from a destructive path into a creative path, and that of course will always save someone because there's it's like the the transmuting of that negativity into something more useful, more positive. So that's what came to mind when you mentioned Zen. But yeah, it's it's a it's fascinating because you've mentioned so, you touched on so many things there that I'm like, of course, you know, just observing someone healing across time and being able to heal through telling their story, like you're saying. What I'm also curious about is the fact that people choose their own words, they choose their own mantras. Do you mind walking us through like what that process is for them? Do you ask them questions and then they come up with something, or how does that work?

Kate Van Doren: 22:50

Yeah. Before the phototherapy session, we sit down together and talk about their life, where they've been, where they're going, where they want to go, and sometimes we we will make a thought bubble, just words that come to them that are making sense in their life. Many people though have healing words that they've that have carried them through their whole life. Many people have, especially as a young child, like I can do it, you know. I'm beautiful. There are affirmations, right? We know that affirmations. What we know now about the science about affirmations and what it does when we practice them, but it is a daily practice again and again. So, for some people, it's easier than others, and some people have a sentence or a phrase. We've written. We've we've we've included entire paragraphs on people before. Usually, I work with a mother, a mother and a daughter, or or two friends, and so it's it's beautiful because when they want to include the the writing on their skin, they will write it. They will they will create it. So I'm just kind of holding space in the witness, which is which is really which is really inspiring. So so everyone so everyone picks their own words. I have nothing to do with it, and they're all unique and different, and it's beautiful.

Laura Arango Baier: 24:27

Yeah. If you've been enjoying the podcast and also want to ask our guest live questions, then you might want to join our monthly webinar, the Faso Show, where our guest artists discuss marketing tips, share inspiring stories, and answer your burning questions in real time, whether you're a seasoned painter or just starting your creative journey, this is your chance to connect, learn, and spark new ideas. And whether you're stuck on a canvas or building your creative business, this is where breakthroughs happen. Don't miss out. Ignite your passion and transform your art practice by joining us. Our next Faso Show webinar is coming up on the 10th of September with. Our special guest Daniel Gerharts. You can find the sign up link in the show notes. Yeah, and then I think also what's really cool about what you just mentioned is you kind of like you said you ask like oh where are you now where do you want to go like and then what's the bridge between those two things and I think just in general, you know, for our listeners too, if they're going through something or they, you know, it helps a lot to talk to someone, or it helps a lot to write down, you know, just answer those questions for yourself as well, whether or not you've been through really serious trauma, because I think it's easier to get to where you want to go if you know where you are. If that makes sense, and

Kate Van Doren: 25:46

some people don't know where they are, and that's okay. And some people are, are their words are not just to be clear. Sometimes their words aren't positive. Sometimes it's just reclaiming agency about what's happened. Don't touch me, you know. I'm enough. There, it doesn't have to be positive, completely positive to shift. It's whatever the woman wants to. Some some people are still in fight mode, and that's that's part of the process.

Laura Arango Baier: 26:19

Definitely, yeah,

Kate Van Doren: 26:21

and a huge part and something that I I find so powerful, and I literally cry every time a woman submits or a person submits the the their story to me. After the photos, they look at all the photos and then they write their story and they send it send it to me, and it's just remarkable what people have been through, and and many people write about what has worked in their life. It's a teaching tool, so people can read about, oh, this person went through all of these things, and they did X, Y, Z. Maybe, maybe if they did it, then I can do it too.

Laura Arango Baier: 27:04

Absolutely, I think that's the other really beautiful takeaway is how it has a domino effect on people who might also be experiencing a similar situation and might feel like, you know, they're in a dark tunnel and there's no way out. Having that sight of seeing someone else overcome things and remain resilient, and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel, I think makes a huge echoing, you know, difference. Which actually reminded me a bit of your show. Do you mind telling us more about your museum show and how it went?

Kate Van Doren: 27:38

Yes, it was. It was a dream. I had a solo exhibition in the Museum of Queretaro, which is a city, a beautiful city outside of Mexico City, in Mexico, and it was it it was in a colonial, almost castle building. So it was very dreamy. It looked like a Spanish hossi, and not even ha. I can't even explain. It was just this beautiful space. So I was just, I felt so lucky to be there. And the director of the museum, he just had so much faith in in me, and and it gave me confidence to be able to pull off what I pulled off. There were over 1000 pieces of photographs, videos, paintings, and drawings. Did I say videos and and video

Laura Arango Baier: 28:44

interviews

Kate Van Doren: 28:44

of women and each artwork came or was displayed with a QR code and the information about the painting, and the QR code went to my FASO website and on the Faso website, it directly links to the artwork of the participant, the collaboration artwork, and their own personal healing journey, and it was written in English and Spanish, so it was completely bilingual. So it was a very interactive, a very interactive exhibit. I also had a metal sculpture, which was probably my favorite because it was highly interactive. My husband is a metal metal worker, and we have a metal art school here in San Miguel, and he helped me design a very, very large, very large metal sculpture that had metal ribbons that went like this, and and there was a space where people wrote down their own healing words on a. Ribbon, and then tied it to the ribbon. And when we first installed the sculpture, I put a couple just to get people started. And by the end of the three months, there were 1000s. There were over 20,000 visitors that came, and I went every week to just visit and talk to people, we had lots of talks, and I did lots of tours. And I just sometimes I would just be like a anonymous observer, and I would watch people find themselves and and take time for themselves and be introspective and write and the ribbons now I mean there's there's 1000s and it's just this beautiful documentation of people also choosing themselves and and and it's called collective voices voces colectivos And I love that because you know the world is going through a lot of pain. There's a lot going on in the world right now, and it was so beautiful to see so many people having similarities within their words and written, and but it to be anonymous and that we are all so connected, so it was really that was probably like the most, and also the thing that brought me the most joy about the exhibition was that each many of the women that because the project started in San Miguel, in Mexico, many women got to see their portraits or their artwork in the museum, and to be able to see the the faces of these women that I love be in a museum and feel so proud, that just was incredible to me. So it was very it was very community-based, and it really was testimony about how we do heal in community. We don't heal alone, and yeah. And also, I have to I have to mention my dear friend Nadia Rashid, who is the ambassador of Palestine in Mexico, who is doing incredible humanitarian work right now for her people, and she opened and she she introduced the project, and we painted her For the museum exhibition, and we were able to raise quite a bit of funds for the the charity that she chose, which is the Nor Foundation for Orphans in in in Palestine. I do want to mention this didn't come up, but the artworks that I create with participants, each artwork a percentage goes to a charity that the person who I work with chooses, and I realize that many artists aren't able to do this. I a couple years ago I wasn't able to, and now I I have been able to raise funds. So it's a giving back process of reciprocity and mutual aid. So not only do women get to say whatever they want and express themselves, but they get to give back. We all get we we get to give back, and it's um it's a it's a really um I don't know. It's just it it it brings me joy that I'm able to do this, and I and I and I want to acknowledge the artists who, it's a daily struggle just to pay rent, and I was there. And it's the project has become so large that it's it's become more of a foundation for to help. So it is possible. It just takes time.

Laura Arango Baier: 34:21

Yes, and very well said. Because it absolutely yes is possible, and it just takes, like you said, time, patience, and just you know, working. I think a lot of people they get easily discouraged because, of course, it takes time, but you just got to keep moving forward and doing what you can, and then eventually, you know, it is inevitable that there will there will be a breakthrough, as long as you're also, you know, marketing a little bit, you know, putting yourself out there, talking to people. You can't. Really exist in a vacuum, even if your work is absolutely gorgeous. I mean, if no one sees it and you don't show it to anyone, no one's gonna know. You know, so that actually brings me to my next question, which is in terms of marketing, what have been the most useful ways for you to have shown people this project or draw more attention to your work.

Kate Van Doren: 35:24

Yeah, I hate to mention social media, but and many artists just can't stand it. And I think it's a practice of of learning how to use your own voice and and your confidence, and and it is important to take one day a week to schedule out what you want to share. It doesn't have to be perfect. It's really important that you just you just start formulating your voice and practicing, even when no one's watching. And eventually, eventually, people will. Instagram has been a wonderful way to connect. I've been able to not only share the work but connect with with people all over the world for the project in different countries and conflict zones. So that's been an amazing tool. I also I want to acknowledge how important it is to make connections with other artists that you trust and to really share their work. I think many times there is a limited but mindset, like if I share somebody else's work, they're going to get the attention or something like that. And when we share, the world opens up. A woman I I worked with many years ago, a cancer survivor, Jenna Ben Schersher, who has a program called Twist Out Cancer that works with cancer survivors to share their stories and help heal, she said that she said when when you share the world opens up, and I really truly believe that not just for yourself but for other people, really celebrating others Others' accomplishments and successes because, and I have been really grateful. I also think, as an artist, you have to have your own art therapist, and what I mean by that is not an actual art therapist, but have a mentor that you really trust and who's really got your back? I have worked with Nadine Robinson. I need to make a shout out to her because she is an incredible. Not only is she just the most badass painter in the world, I think, but she's become a dear friend and a confidant and someone who I talk about the struggles of, you know, clients or you know commission work, or she helps me if I'm like my eyeball is off. Like, what am I doing? Just to have another set of eyes of someone who has been in the bids a long time and can can and and really relate to the the artist's struggle because it is hard to show up every day. So finding a mentor that you can work with is really really important. Nadine is also a figurative painter, and you should go. Everyone should go check out her work. And I also love Substack. I just started Substack, and it is my newsletter source. And I have really connected with amazing artists and writers. I think it's important as artists that we find ways to communicate not just visually, but through our through language, because it is so powerful, and it is a and and really talking about the work the work that you do and even journaling you don't have to share everything but journaling and really journaling out your thoughts because the way the brain works is we get these great ideas, and then we're like, "I'm going to do this, and then you get the day gets ahead of you, and then you don't act on this beautiful download that I I call the download from the universe. And it's important that that people and and you can with social media, it can Feel really hard because you can spread yourself thin. So make a schedule for yourself, and don't use each platform the same way. Substack, I share stories and healing and art therapy tools and. Resources Instagram is more of a art gallery, so collectors and other people can see the work. I really dislike TikTok, but you know TikTok is is also a platform. I find that sharing more behind-the-scenes work on TikTok is more fun. Choose how you want to. Pinterest is wonderful for not only to share your work but to share ideas. Share to share ideas, and people like to see behind the scenes of maybe what you're working on, so you know I I think it's it's important just to organize yourself and just do it, just like you show up in your studio. Don't paint or draw or photograph when when the inspiration strikes. Have a daily practice that you just show up every day. You might not have the best, you know, work day, but you're showing up every day, and the work the work happens when you show up every day. Just to have us have ceremony around it, you know, light a candle in the morning, drink your coffee, write write some journaling. Write some you know a few a few social media ideas, and then get to work and block out a five hour period of time every day if you can. It doesn't have to be painting or drawing or doing the actual fine artwork, but you got to work every day to to if if you if you it doesn't it doesn't just happen you know.

Laura Arango Baier: 41:49

Yes yes yes yes. Very beautifully said. I'm actually one of those people who's starting out that routine. So hearing it from me was like, of course, yes, I should do that. Five hours sounds fair, because it's true. Like you can't if you don't have a routine. You know, I actually recently heard motivation is the least reliable source of energy. Just because it, you know, sometimes you're motivated, sometimes you're not. The only thing you can really rely on his routine, and just you know, doing it even if you don't want to, or tricking yourself. You know, like oh, they'll just do five minutes, and then before you know it, you're in there for 234, hours, and you're like, oh wow, I thought I wouldn't work this long, but it I did. So sometimes it can feel like oh, I don't really feel like painting today, and then when you actually get into it just a little bit, it turns out your mood doesn't matter.

Kate Van Doren: 42:49

And scheduling in your marketing and social media is a it's it's just necessary, and you don't have to do it a ton, but a couple hours a week, and it's done, and you can move on to the fun stuff, but when we procrastinate and put it off, I'm a big list maker, and when we procrastinate, it feels bigger and more emotional, and you know, just get it done. One of one of my colleagues, she gets the yucky stuff done first, so it's just out of the way, and then she can have the whole. She's like, let me get this done, and then she has the whole week to just just to do the actual painting, which I love.

Laura Arango Baier: 43:30

Yes, getting the hard stuff out of the way, the stuff you don't want to do, is so smart because I don't know, like in in obviously it's important to get to know yourself as well. Like, when are my energy levels the highest? When am I sharpest? For me, obviously, I mean it's the morning. I'm just like go go go in the morning, and then by the afternoon, I'm just like I don't want to deal with any intense things. Probably because I'm hungry. Probably you know because mental exhaustion, but that's like the best time. Where it's like I just get up and do the hard stuff, and then it does feel easier.

Kate Van Doren: 44:09

Absolutely, absolutely, and I also when I get into the studio, I have a little ceremony. I I mean I'm a total hippie, but I burn sage, I pull a few tarot cards. I burn a candle. I put on meditation music. I put on the same morning song just to kind of get me started. I also I also meditate. I think self care self care is a huge part about being an artist, and meditation is is something that I do every day without fail. Before I before I get up in the morning, I meditate, and it is a way to cultivate new ideas. It's it slows the brain down, and it helps. Create work from creative mode instead of this fast-paced society that we're being forced into, which is really not what we're what our brain is equipped for.

Laura Arango Baier: 45:13

Totally, totally, yes. Meditate, and it doesn't. You

Kate Van Doren: 45:17

don't have to, you know, meditation. You don't have to be perfect at it. I think you know, as artists, we're so type A. Sometimes we want everything to be perfect, and just showing up for yourself with your art practice, with your meditation, with your self care, with your exercise, with the the the words that you speak to yourself, the the kindness that you show up the way that you show up for yourself, it directly shows up in the artwork that you create, and that energy-it's just energy flow. And the more that you take care of yourselves, the more the energy comes back to you and your artwork, and the more money you make. I firmly believe in that. I mean, it's all manifesting stuff, but it's really it's really important that every time you go into your studio, you don't say, "Oh, it's crap, because then you're you're cutting that that beautiful mechanism, which is which is creation.

Laura Arango Baier: 46:18

Absolutely, I'm

Kate Van Doren: 46:20

done with my TED talk.

Laura Arango Baier: 46:21

Oh no! I love it. I'm totally with you. I'm totally with you. But yeah, and then do you mind telling us about? Do you have plans to travel with your Healing Words project, or do you have anything else coming up?

Kate Van Doren: 46:35

Yeah, absolutely. So the the exhibition or the Healing Words Project will travel. It's in the works right now, to to be in another museum. I'm not going to say which one yet, but I have several scheduled, But it is a the Healing Words project is a constant evolving work. So and the photographs I don't sell the photographs; they're just too personal. So the photographs will remain constant within the project, and the paintings and drawings evolve. They rotate as as we create new works together, because you know we want to raise money for for more more mutual aid foundations. So, so each each exhibition will be slightly different, but yeah. And then I have a beautiful exhibition at the end of next month, which the James Baird Gallery in Pouch Cove, which I'm very excited about. It's a woman show, and one of my dear dear painter friends, Diana Carolina, who, who I is also in in the Healing Words Project, she's there right now doing a residency, and I'm very excited to spend time with her. She's just been such an amazing support to me, and such a great friend. So, I'm really looking forward to something different. And then I have a TED Talk coming up in January. Yeah,

Laura Arango Baier: 48:23

my God, exciting!

Kate Van Doren: 48:25

So I'm I'm I'm nervous, but I'm I'm very grateful to be able to share more about healing because that's that's so important to me. That's

Laura Arango Baier: 48:35

very exciting. And then if someone wants to you know see more of your work and then also keep up with what you're up to and all of your events. Where can they go?

Kate Van Doren: 48:45

Yeah, so I have two websites. KateVandoran. com is primarily the fine artwork, and then HealingWordsProject. com both are FASO websites, and I want to just put a plug in about the Faso websites. It was integral to my museum show, and it is integral to the project. So each woman's story is within the websites. So it also works as a portal for people to read about healing journeys, and it's almost like a therapy session. You can go in and read many people's stories about healing and learn what's possible, and see the artwork that is is that accompanies it. So that's huge, and then I have a Substack, which is just Kate Van Dorn on Substack, and you can sign up for my newsletter right through the Faso my Faso websites, and then I'm Kate Van Dorn underscore Art on Instagram, and I. And then I

Laura Arango Baier: 50:00

will.

Kate Van Doren: 50:02

I have one thing I I wanted to mention for

artists: 50:07

link tree or having a link to all of your links and all your social media on on your Instagram and on your website is really important. And I do have that. You can look at all the other. I have other social socials as well. Those are the main ones.

Laura Arango Baier: 50:24

Perfect. I'll definitely include your main ones on our links in the show notes. But yeah, thank you so much, Kate, for the chat and for the inspiration. And I hope our listeners also find your website and go check it out, and maybe they can start their own healing or get inspired by it.

Kate Van Doren: 50:45

Thank you. I forgot one link, which is on YouTube. That is where we share the interviews about the people in the project. So please go there too. It's just Kate Vandor, and I think Kate Vandoran art. Yeah. Thank you so much, Laura, for your time. And you know, I love your work as well. And it's been really lovely to get to know you through this process. And I really appreciate being here. And I really appreciate Faso. I really appreciate just all of the many tools And amazing services that you provide for artists, and I can't, I can't, I can't thank you guys enough.

Laura Arango Baier: 51:29

Thank you so much. Thank you to everyone out there for listening to the podcast. Your continued support means a lot to us. If you've enjoyed the episode, please leave a review for the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or leave us a comment on YouTube. This helps us reach others who might also benefit from the excellent advice that our guests provide. Thank you.