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Tamara Laporte

willowing

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

I bristled recently when I heard a prominent psychologist claim that empathy can be a bad quality in people. I half-chuckled, half felt bile rise in my throat, wanting to throw up at the notion.

Now, I get that I must first define the term in order defend that response. Empathy is not lenience. It’s not passivity, or tolerance for harm. True empathy doesn’t excuse; it understands. It gets close. And from that place of understanding, love, connection, repair, restoration, and justice can flow. 💕

As a child, I was often told that kindness was a weak, even foolish quality. The world, I was taught, required ruthlessness, cunning, efficiency; cut-throat ambition. But my little soul disagreed. I longed for softness, gentleness, warmth. I felt safe around true kindness. Even then, I bristled at the suggestion that love and compassion were naive or useless.

Years later, I met Andy (my beautiful soulmate) and he introduced me to the work of Marshall Rosenberg and Nonviolent Communication. It was a profound homecoming. Rosenberg`s work validated what I had felt all along: that empathy and compassion are not just lovely ideas; they are powerful tools for healing trauma, transforming conflict, and creating a more just and loving world.

This is why love, compassion, and empathy are such central themes in my art. Today I’m sharing one of the first paintings I created with this focus, back in 2014. It’s whimsical and folk-arty, simple but strong in message. I still love it.

Let this be a reminder: kindness is not weakness. Empathy is not indulgence. These qualities are fierce and world-changing when we let them guide us.

This is day 8 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

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I bristled recently when I heard a prominent psychologist claim that empathy can be a bad quality in people. I half-chuckled, half felt bile rise in my throat, wanting to throw up at the notion. Now, I get that I must first define the term in order defend that response. Empathy is not lenience. It’s not passivity, or tolerance for harm. True empathy doesn’t excuse; it understands. It gets close. And from that place of understanding, love, connection, repair, restoration, and justice can flow. 💕 As a child, I was often told that kindness was a weak, even foolish quality. The world, I was taught, required ruthlessness, cunning, efficiency; cut-throat ambition. But my little soul disagreed. I longed for softness, gentleness, warmth. I felt safe around true kindness. Even then, I bristled at the suggestion that love and compassion were naive or useless. Years later, I met Andy (my beautiful soulmate) and he introduced me to the work of Marshall Rosenberg and Nonviolent Communication. It was a profound homecoming. Rosenberg's work validated what I had felt all along: that empathy and compassion are not just lovely ideas; they are powerful tools for healing trauma, transforming conflict, and creating a more just and loving world. This is why love, compassion, and empathy are such central themes in my art. Today I’m sharing one of the first paintings I created with this focus, back in 2014. It’s whimsical and folk-arty, simple but strong in message. I still love it. Let this be a reminder: kindness is not weakness. Empathy is not indulgence. These qualities are fierce and world-changing when we let them guide us. This is day 8 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

25% Off Early Bird Ending Soon!
Hey friends, I wanted to remind you that the 25% off early bird price for my new course Creating Cuties ends soon! Be sure to join soon if you want to grab it at the lower price!
Sometimes… the world feels too loud, too fast, too much.
That’s when I turn to cute art — to soften the edges and reconnect with calm. 🎨🕊️
Creating Cuties is an online art course for your soul.

Together we’ll paint sweet, soft-hearted animals — like little kitten in a woolly jumper (sweater) or a gentle dog with a butterfly on her nose.
💖 Let this be your moment to:

🌸 Slow down and reconnect
🎨 Create soothing, happy art
🐾 Paint 7 beautiful characters with my step-by-step support
🎁 Save 25% (or £22 / $30) with early bird
📥 Lifetime access + PDFs + traceables
Feel better through brushstrokes. 💗

Join us here: https://bit.ly/CreatingCuties (or link in my bio/ link tree/ stories) xoox

Open
25% Off Early Bird Ending Soon! Hey friends, I wanted to remind you that the 25% off early bird price for my new course Creating Cuties ends soon! Be sure to join soon if you want to grab it at the lower price! Sometimes… the world feels too loud, too fast, too much. That’s when I turn to cute art — to soften the edges and reconnect with calm. 🎨🕊️ Creating Cuties is an online art course for your soul. Together we’ll paint sweet, soft-hearted animals — like little kitten in a woolly jumper (sweater) or a gentle dog with a butterfly on her nose. 💖 Let this be your moment to: 🌸 Slow down and reconnect 🎨 Create soothing, happy art 🐾 Paint 7 beautiful characters with my step-by-step support 🎁 Save 25% (or £22 / $30) with early bird 📥 Lifetime access + PDFs + traceables Feel better through brushstrokes. 💗 Join us here: https://bit.ly/CreatingCuties (or link in my bio/ link tree/ stories) xoox

Facts. ♥️♥️♥️

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Facts. ♥️♥️♥️

Just leaving this little guy here on my timeline here for your moment of serotonin release. It`s the boy version of the other kitten I did the other day. He has such a sweet quality to him! 😍😍😍 - Make this painting with me? --> https://bit.ly/CreatingCuties (or link in bio/ link tree). ♥️♥️♥️

Open
Just leaving this little guy here on my timeline here for your moment of serotonin release. It's the boy version of the other kitten I did the other day. He has such a sweet quality to him! 😍😍😍 - Make this painting with me? --> https://bit.ly/CreatingCuties (or link in bio/ link tree). ♥️♥️♥️

"Kitty Love & Whimsy" - I ran my very first online art course in early 2009. It was called World of Whimsy, and I think I had around 100 sign-ups, which felt absolutely amazing at the time!

I was pregnant with my first son Dylan and had just left a job in market research to follow this new path. Back then, hardly anyone was running online art classes. Online events with video were still rare. YouTube was just starting to become known, and the idea of watching anything online felt brand new and exciting.

Compare that to how things are now with so many people doing this kind of work! Crazy how things change!

What drew me to running online classes was how they brought together so many of the things I loved and was (sort of) good at: teaching, making art, editing video, Photoshopping, building website. I’ve always enjoyed tech, which is unusual for an artist! Just two years before that, I had been teaching art, music, and drama at a British international school in Sri Lanka. And beyond all that, I loved that I could support people’s mental health through creativity, it was a win-win-win-win-win kind of thing for me haha. 😊

The painting I’m sharing today was the promotional image for World of Whimsy, the course. It has that sweet, quirky charm I loved at the time that helped me so much to get reconnected to that inner child space and heal some of the trauma wounds that were still lingering.

I was enchanted by the idea of a cat-like creature walking its pet mouse on a leash. And if you’re wondering about the words in the background; they’re the lyrics to “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat” from The Aristocats. 🐾🎶

This is day 7 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱

Open
"Kitty Love & Whimsy" - I ran my very first online art course in early 2009. It was called World of Whimsy, and I think I had around 100 sign-ups, which felt absolutely amazing at the time! I was pregnant with my first son Dylan and had just left a job in market research to follow this new path. Back then, hardly anyone was running online art classes. Online events with video were still rare. YouTube was just starting to become known, and the idea of watching anything online felt brand new and exciting. Compare that to how things are now with so many people doing this kind of work! Crazy how things change! What drew me to running online classes was how they brought together so many of the things I loved and was (sort of) good at: teaching, making art, editing video, Photoshopping, building website. I’ve always enjoyed tech, which is unusual for an artist! Just two years before that, I had been teaching art, music, and drama at a British international school in Sri Lanka. And beyond all that, I loved that I could support people’s mental health through creativity, it was a win-win-win-win-win kind of thing for me haha. 😊 The painting I’m sharing today was the promotional image for World of Whimsy, the course. It has that sweet, quirky charm I loved at the time that helped me so much to get reconnected to that inner child space and heal some of the trauma wounds that were still lingering. I was enchanted by the idea of a cat-like creature walking its pet mouse on a leash. And if you’re wondering about the words in the background; they’re the lyrics to “Everybody Wants to Be a Cat” from The Aristocats. 🐾🎶 This is day 7 of a ‘gentle return to social media’ read more about this practice here: http://bit.ly/3IHFxir 🌱
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