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February 14, 2018

Happy Self Love Valentine’s Day!

By Tamara Laporte  |   in love notes   

Hello beautiful you! :)

Here is a special message to YOU on this Valentine’s Day. :)

On V-day each year I like to change the focus a little bit from the love for and of “other” to the love for and of your beautiful glorious self.

I like to invite you this year to buy chocolates and flowers NOT ONLY for other people but ALSO for yourself.

Not only that, I would love to encourage you to deepen your self-love/ self-care/ self-compassion practices (or to start a self-lovepractice if you don’t have one yet)! Sounds good? :-)

:) Absolutely go tell your beautiful loved ones how much you love them (do that every day, not just today), but DON’T leave your beautiful self out of this practice! :)

(And by self love I don’t mean: egotism or self-glorification/ absorption, I mean: treating & loving yourself the same way you might treat your child or sister, friend or mother, a person you love dearly – eg: with kindness, gentleness, forgiveness, softness. Self love also means; working on stabilising your confidence and esteem; realising you are good enough, worthy, that you matter as much as anyone else… that sorta thing! :))

More and more do I realise how so many of us suffer from selfjudgement, self rejection, low self esteem, low self worth. I’ve come to believe that it’s one of the BIGGEST things that stands in the way of growth, abundance, love, light, beauty, living our dreams and yes yes, even: world peace. (Low self worth can cause depression and pain – hurt people, hurt people, right?).

So today, on V-day I encourage you to start practising more self love more self compassion, more ‘sitting with the wholeness and fullness of you’, allowing your feelings to be, allowing you to experience all that you experience, forgiving yourself, asking for help, letting go of shame and guilt, saying no more, saying yes more, stop blaming yourself, being gentle and kind with yourself, seeing your worth, noticing the amazing impact and difference you make in this world.

I made a printable poster for you that you can print out and hang up to remind you how to practise self love:

Download the high resolution version of this poster here. You can print out for personal use. Feel free to forward to friends. <3 Download it by right-clicking on the image above and choose ‘save target as’ or download from this link:
GuidelinestoSelfLove.jpg

If no one told you that yet today; you are loved! <3

Have a wonderful V-day everyone, may it inspire you to more self-love, less self-blame and an awe and complete acceptance of the wholeness and fullness of beautiful amazing YOU.

xoox
Tam x

PS. If you want to work more on self love & self acceptance AND develop your creative skills whilst having tons of fun, please consider joining Life Book 2018. We started in January but you can absolutely still join us!

Life Book has been joined by over 19,500+ people since it first began in 2012. It’s had roaring success through teaching participants creativity and personal development skills.

People send us daily message expressing their gratitude and how much Life Book has helped them both creatively and personally. :) I feel so blessed to be able to host such a powerful and life-enriching course each year! This year has started with an incredible BANG and YOU can still join now problem. :) It’s not too late, you get access to all previous content, get life long access AND you can download everything too, so you have the content for year to come! :) Hope to see you there!
xoox

You may also like:

  • 50% off Valentine Sale + GIVE AWAY! :D

  • Simple Steps to Self Empathy <3 Love note #17

  • Happy Self Love Valentine’s Day!

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Tamara Laporte

willowing

4,845 48,243

Mixed media artist, teacher and author. I don’t see all IG msgs. For enq pls email hello@willowing.org - Join Creating Cuties:

“I cry glitter.” ✨
A lyrical quote from a song by Antony and the Johnsons (now Anohni and the Johnsons), whose music I was utterly obsessed with; so vulnerable, poetic, and soul-baring. One of my favourites, Bird Guhl, is from their hauntingly beautiful album I Am a Bird Now. Anohni’s is one of my favourites; full of ache, truth, and beauty.
This painting, also titled Bird Guhl, was part of my early Paint Over Collage series published in Somerset Studio (2013). I enlarged it in photoshop today and was struck by the wild abandon in the marks I made back then; loose, expressive, instinctive.
It reminded me of beginner’s mind; that freedom we have when we start creating, before perfectionism creeps in. Funny how we spend years striving to “improve,” only to realise that joy lives in the unlearning. As Picasso said:
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
I often feel torn between the illustrator and the painter in me; one seeks polish, the other freedom. But I’m learning that spontaneity has its own kind of perfection.
Thanks for reading. 💗
I’d love to hear if you’ve ever tried to return to that playful, messy, beautiful beginner’s mind in your own creative journey.
#BirdGuhl #Anohni #MixedMediaArt #BeginnerMind #ExpressiveArt #CollageArt #ArtMusings #Willowing #arthealing This is day 6 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

Open
“I cry glitter.” ✨
A lyrical quote from a song by Antony and the Johnsons (now Anohni and the Johnsons), whose music I was utterly obsessed with; so vulnerable, poetic, and soul-baring. One of my favourites, Bird Guhl, is from their hauntingly beautiful album I Am a Bird Now. Anohni’s is one of my favourites; full of ache, truth, and beauty.
This painting, also titled Bird Guhl, was part of my early Paint Over Collage series published in Somerset Studio (2013). I enlarged it in photoshop today and was struck by the wild abandon in the marks I made back then; loose, expressive, instinctive.
It reminded me of beginner’s mind; that freedom we have when we start creating, before perfectionism creeps in. Funny how we spend years striving to “improve,” only to realise that joy lives in the unlearning. As Picasso said:
“It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”
I often feel torn between the illustrator and the painter in me; one seeks polish, the other freedom. But I’m learning that spontaneity has its own kind of perfection.
Thanks for reading. 💗
I’d love to hear if you’ve ever tried to return to that playful, messy, beautiful beginner’s mind in your own creative journey.
#BirdGuhl #Anohni #MixedMediaArt #BeginnerMind #ExpressiveArt #CollageArt #ArtMusings #Willowing #arthealing This is day 6 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

Indeed! 😂😁😆

Open
Indeed! 😂😁😆

Blessing your timeline with this cutie sketch. 🐶🐾💕

Open
Blessing your timeline with this cutie sketch. 🐶🐾💕

Healing Hands. ❤️‍🩹🙌 This painting was created in 2014 for my very first free course, Art, Heart & Healing.

Unlike what marketing gurus preach these days, I didn’t make this free course as a “lead magnet” or a “low-barrier offer to increase conversions.” I created it because, after running my very first paid course (World of Whimsy – more about this in days to come), I received an email from someone who told me her daughter was living in her attic, struggling with deep depression. She believed my art course could really help her, but they simply couldn’t afford it.

That broke my heart a lot and her email stuck with me. So I decided to offer something for free; not as a tactic, but as a gift to those who truly needed it. There was no sales funnel, no hidden agenda. The only thing I asked what that participants share the course on social media if they felt moved to, but that was it.

Art, Heart & Healing was born out of love, compassion, and the belief that art can be healing and accessible to everyone.

The course attracted a lot of people and introduced many people to the healing power of art.

This course also planted the seed for Life Book (my year long art and healing course I ran for 13 years, more about that soon).

This angel painting is close to my heart. I love the simple colour scheme and gentle expression on her face. I used a lot of extra mixed media supplies in this painting too, which was so fun. It includes texture paste, collage and even glitter! I love the hearts on her hands, like healing hands. Or hands that send out love, like mine. I always hoped that the art my hands created, sent out love the world, one way or another.

Thank you for being here with me today frens.

Happy Sunday.

This is day 5 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

Open
Healing Hands. ❤️‍🩹🙌 This painting was created in 2014 for my very first free course, Art, Heart & Healing.

Unlike what marketing gurus preach these days, I didn’t make this free course as a “lead magnet” or a “low-barrier offer to increase conversions.” I created it because, after running my very first paid course (World of Whimsy – more about this in days to come), I received an email from someone who told me her daughter was living in her attic, struggling with deep depression. She believed my art course could really help her, but they simply couldn’t afford it.

That broke my heart a lot and her email stuck with me. So I decided to offer something for free; not as a tactic, but as a gift to those who truly needed it. There was no sales funnel, no hidden agenda. The only thing I asked what that participants share the course on social media if they felt moved to, but that was it.

Art, Heart & Healing was born out of love, compassion, and the belief that art can be healing and accessible to everyone.

The course attracted a lot of people and introduced many people to the healing power of art. 

This course also planted the seed for Life Book (my year long art and healing course I ran for 13 years, more about that soon). 

This angel painting is close to my heart. I love the simple colour scheme and gentle expression on her face. I used a lot of extra mixed media supplies in this painting too, which was so fun. It includes texture paste, collage and even glitter! I love the hearts on her hands, like healing hands. Or hands that send out love, like mine. I always hoped that the art my hands created, sent out love the world, one way or another. 

Thank you for being here with me today frens. 

Happy Sunday. 

This is day 5 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

🌸 Day 4 of A Gentle Return 🌸
As I sat down to post today, Damien Rice was singing a lullaby and I felt stuck.
Should I write about capitalism and despair? Or Elliot’s gorgeous lashes and the tiny frogs hopping through our garden? Or maybe just lie in bed reading City of Gods & Monsters and eating cheese?

But then I realised—maybe the stuckness itself is the story.
Because right now, I’m a layered mix of exhausted rage, sadness, awe, love, hope, and deep gratitude. That’s the truth. That’s the Tam-bag. 💫

This painting is from 2013. See the stars and hearts? They`ve always been there—tiny beacons whispering: “You’re still here. It’ll be okay.”

This piece marked a shift: I wanted more than pretty portraits. I wanted mystery. Symbolism. Story.
A bird’s nest on a head, an elephant in a crown, a hand stitched into clothing. Art that asks questions more than it gives answers.

What happens for you when you see it? (This is a condensed caption of a longer more in depth post due to the character limit on Instagram, follow me on Facebook if you`d like to read the full post: https://bit.ly/3INLsTc ) link also on my linktree via bio.

Open
🌸 Day 4 of A Gentle Return 🌸
As I sat down to post today, Damien Rice was singing a lullaby and I felt stuck.
Should I write about capitalism and despair? Or Elliot’s gorgeous lashes and the tiny frogs hopping through our garden? Or maybe just lie in bed reading City of Gods & Monsters and eating cheese?

But then I realised—maybe the stuckness itself is the story.
Because right now, I’m a layered mix of exhausted rage, sadness, awe, love, hope, and deep gratitude. That’s the truth. That’s the Tam-bag. 💫

This painting is from 2013. See the stars and hearts? They've always been there—tiny beacons whispering: “You’re still here. It’ll be okay.”

This piece marked a shift: I wanted more than pretty portraits. I wanted mystery. Symbolism. Story.
A bird’s nest on a head, an elephant in a crown, a hand stitched into clothing. Art that asks questions more than it gives answers.

What happens for you when you see it? (This is a condensed caption of a longer more in depth post due to the character limit on Instagram, follow me on Facebook if you'd like to read the full post: https://bit.ly/3INLsTc ) link also on my linktree via bio.
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