Today we’d like to introduce you to Jane Boutwell.
Hi Jane, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been an artist. As long as I can remember, I’ve been creating, whether it was elaborate mud pies in the back yard or decorating the walls of my childhood home (much to my mother’s chagrin). I’ve always loved to invite others in to the joy of creativity. I’ve also always had an interest in healing. I love to share the things I’ve learned with others. I love to share things that will bring people more life and health and wholeness. I have a deep well of empathy and that ability to feel the pain of others has driven me to want to invite people towards things that will bring beauty and goodness into their life.
After growing up in Macon, Ga I went to Auburn University to pursue a BFA in studio art (my focus was divided between painting & ceramics… I have always been multi-passionate). I married my husband Andrew after graduation and we moved to Atlanta for his work. After teaching art for a few years at Heritage Preparatory School in the Morningside area I had our first child and stayed home to care for him. During the years while our four children were very young I mostly created for myself and for friends and I worked with textiles: fabric and yarn. Quilting and knitting provided a creative outlet that I could work on right next to my little ones without much fear of chemicals or paint spilled messes! I loved being a part of the rich history of women expressing themselves through these textile mediums with their children underfoot.
After a sewage flood in our basement caused my creative workspace to be renovated and reinvented I picked back up with my painting and experimented with bringing fabric and stitching into the mixed media pieces. I also set up a ceramic studio and got a kiln so that I could once again get my hands back into clay.
As the pandemic hit, I had just created a website and been in the process of launching my online studio shop… I began sharing a few art lessons online for students I had been teaching. In August of 2020 those beginnings of online teaching grew into the Growing Creative Fellowship: a membership program I created to send boxes of supplies & inspiration, online tutorials and zooms gatherings – all to nurture and empower folks to pursue their creative calling. I knew that the pandemic was causing so much stress and grief for everyone. Self-expression through creativity is such valuable way to work through heartache… and beauty brings healing, so empowering others to bring the beauty of their creativity into the world in the midst of these trying times felt so important!
Most recently the Growing Creative Podcast has been launched… a place to freely share inspiration and an invitation for everyone to re-engage their own unique creativity.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
As I came back to my painting, I realized that the inner critic voice in my head was stealing the joy of creating… I had sense that there was a deeper issue driving this self-criticism. The personal inner healing journey that I began in pursuit of creative freedom has been life changing. So much of what I am teaching through the membership program and the Growing Creative Fellowship flows out of what I am learning on this journey. It is my passion to help others re-engage their creative imagination and lean into the healing that comes along with that.
To me, ‘growing creative’ means living life more alive with vitality… having a warrior heart that won’t let fear dictate, having the courage to engage hurting places with compassion instead of numbing and shutting down. We each have a unique way of bringing our creativity to life- whether your medium is spreadsheets, culinary, vocabulary, or paint. My passion is to guide others to the joy of deeper holistic creativity in all its forms!
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I am a multi-passionate creative with a wide range of creative mediums… I create paintings on canvas as well as unique mixed media pieces that include fabric and stitching as well as paint. I love creating functional ceramic art that can act as an invitation into an experience- whether that is the experience of honoring and acknowledging the journey of breast cancer or breast feeding through my Nurture bowls, or using one of my Small Cup collection to remind yourself that you need to rest and replenish. Since the pandemic hit I’ve been dabbling more and more with the technology of film and now using a podcast to share ideas.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I love that Atlanta has so many cultural opportunities and such diversity. My least favorite part of Atlanta is the traffic!
Contact Info:
- Email: hello@Janeboutwellstudio.com
- Website: www.Janeboutwellstudio.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/janeboutwellstudio/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/janeboutwellstudio/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuwbNMAVhtDFADWI5qT71jw
- Other: https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/ab5c449d-fb64-40aa-8649-bac9dc9249b2/growing-creative-podcast
Image Credits
Barry Collins
