Happy Father’s Day!
On this special day I wanted to create a tribute to my dad to celebrate all the things I’ve learned from him.

My dad, Joseph Hollick, is an engineer. I grew up watching him design, build and construct things using his creative and logical mind.

When I started creating art, he taught me how to turn my imagination into reality. He instilled in me the necessity to use both the right and the left brain. I learned early on that if I wanted to create something it had to work both logistically and creatively.

Laura Hollick with her Dad, Joseph Hollick creating dragon sculpture. Photo by Sabrina Armani.

I often go to my dad with a sketch of one of my wild ideas and say:
“Can you help me build this?”
and he always says: “Yes”

I think he enjoys the challenge.

Every sculpture I’ve ever created has been influenced by my dad. Whether he was there building it with me or not, all of my construction knowledge comes directly from him.

Laura Hollick creating dragon sculpture with her dad, Joseph Hollick. Photo by Sabrina Armani.

During the creative process I can get a bit…..uhmmm…..crazy! (you know what I mean)
My dad always stays level headed and helps find a solution that fits.

Dragon sculpture framework, created by Laura Hollick with the engineering guidance of Joseph Hollick. Photo by Sabrina Armani.

This dragon sculpture would probably still be a pile of sticks if it weren’t for my dad.
When I was out hiking I discovered all these glorious sticks. I could see knees, legs and a head in them, but I wasn’t sure how to get it to stand up securely.

Dragon sculpture. Photo by Diana Wiggins.

It was a real engineering feat (and to be honest a complete experiment) to discover the dragon sculpture could withstand the Canadian elements. This sculpture was created for an outdoor exhibition I had at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario. It was during the summer that had many torrential downpours. This photo was taken on one of the very few sunny days that summer.

Pink Dragon. Photo by Kevin Thom.

This dragon has seen many transformations, as have I. But because it has a solid foundation it can continue to grow and evolve. This is such a metaphor to me. Growing up with my dad has given me such a solid foundation, I know I can be and do anything!

Thanks Dad!

To listen to an interview with artist Jamie Brick click here

I’ve been a big fan of Jamie Brick for years. His work is stunningly beautiful and he manages to capture a magical quality in everything he creates. I recently had the opportunity to meet him and be a model for one of his sculptures.  Here is an image of Jamie’s sculpture using a cast from my body.

Laura Hollick by Jamie Brick. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Jamie works out of his studio in Kingston Ontario, which he calls ‘Bear Bottom studio’.  His current work involves taking casts of people’s bodies and transforming them into fantasy characters from his imagination.

Jamie Brick in his studio. Photos by Kevin Thom

I volunteered to be one of his models, curious to experience his creative process and eager to see how he would transform me into one of his magical creatures.

The process of having a cast done is quite intense. I was covered with a purple goop then layered with a cast material. It takes about half an hour to dry, which meant I was standing there naked for half an hour unable to move. There was a big lesson in patience and stillness during this experience. Here are some of the pictures from the process:

Jamie Brick creating a cast of Laura Hollick. Photos by Kevin Thom.

I’m endlessly fascinated by the creative process. Everyone has their own unique way of entering ‘the zone’ where magic flows. Being part of Jamie’s creative process was inspiring. I interviewed him after we had gone through the process to dig deeper into his journey as an artist and understand where it all comes from.

To listen to an interview with Canadian sculpture Jamie Brick click here
To learn more about Jamie Brick visit www.jamiebrick.com

All of my art and ideas come from the same place.  They come from channeling spirit.

When I’m in nature I often get visions and flashes of ideas that put me in direct communication with spirit. To honour these experiences I do what I can to make the visions a reality.

I had a vision of merging my body with a bird body, which is the basis of the ‘Red Bird Body Painting’ piece.  I approached body painter and makeup artist Sue Upton to see if she would collaborate with me on this project. She is a powerful creative force, so I knew that we could come up with a way to make this happen.

Here are some of the preliminary sketches as we try to figure out how this idea is going to become a reality…

Once we figured out a pose and a composition for the piece, we had to figure out what the bird would look like. Here are some of the sketches showing the various birds that were considered before finally deciding on the final one.

Here is the final bird painting…

This is a life size canvas bird painting, which serves as the backdrop for the body painting.

Although I am a painter myself, I felt it was important for Sue Upton to paint the bird so that it would match her body painting style.  She did an excellent job.

Creating this piece was a two day job.

There was a lot of preliminary work involved in figuring out the details for this piece.  The actual photoshoot was quick considering all the prep. time.  The final image was photographed by Kevin Thom.

Here I am as the Red Bird….

‘Laura Hollick as Red Bird’. Photographed by Kevin Thom. Painting& body painting by Sue Upton.

Body Painting is a unique creative process where the body becomes the canvas and the ground for an idea to take shape.  There is a quote by Henry Miller, that I’ve really taken literally:

“Whoever uses the spirit that is in them creatively is an artist. To make living itself the art, that is the goal.”

To me, this means that the true art is to become a living breathing expression of your spirit.  Body painting is one of the ways that allows me to become the art.

Do you want to see more body painting pieces I’ve been part of?

Check out when I was transformed into a tree with birds CLICK HERE

See how I was transformed into a blue forest CLICK HERE

One of the questions I get asked a lot is: How do I come up with this stuff?

Join me as I take you up the ladder of truth to tell you where all of my art and ideas come from….

To learn more about the upcoming LAUNCH Soul Art Workshop CLICK HERE
There are only a few spaces remaining in this workshop. Reserve your spot today!

Learn about the upcoming LAUNCH Soul Art workshop HERE
Soul Art studio is busy getting ready for the upcoming LAUNCH Soul Art workshop happening on January 30-31st 2010.

Did you know Soul Art studio was founded in 1999?

Over the past decade Soul Art studio has been facilitating creativity workshops and transformational experiences and ‘Launching’ 100’s of students to greater depths and new heights.

Check out this video featuring students’ Soul Art.

LAUNCH your own creative journey this year, join us in the upcoming Soul Art workshop, get all the details HERE

This video features the Soul Art of:  Katie West, Alison Braithwaite, Inga Bertelmann, Aprille Janes, Sabrina Armani, Anna Marson, Laura Doucette, Shara Ross, Wendy Vervoort and Becky Nada Rajah

Here are some of the faces of the Soul Art tribe

These are some of the magnificent people who courageously explore and express their creative spirit through Soul Art:
Katie West, April Severin, Erin-Blythe Reddie, Inga Bertelmann, Heather Fraser, Tara Wilkinson,(myself with) Joan Nathanson,  Tasha Hakeem, Lorraine Roy, Pamela Crechiola, Frances Campbell, Susan Kyle, Elizabeth Moonturtle, Sabrina Armani, Aprille Janes, Sally Cooper, Sharon Simpson

Laura Hollick is transformed by body painter Cherie Pia Grassa to become one with the Blue Forest.

I had no idea being blue would be so much fun!

In the forest with body painter Cherie Pia Grassa and hairstylist Mario Grassa. Photo by Kevin Thom

To see the final image of the Blue Forest CLICK HERE

My experience of the creative process feels like a Divine Love Affair. There is a passion that overtakes me as my spirit receives inspired ideas and births them into reality.

In order for there to be a creative birth, there needs to be a coming together of different energies.  I call this the ‘Union of Opposites’.

'Union of Opposites' Laura Hollick with Ken MacDonnell. Photo by Stephanie Bell

I believe the job of a Soul Artist is to make the invisible world of soul visible;  make the intangible  tangible;  and birth ideas into reality. This is the Divine Love Affair, this is the union of opposites.

The idea for this photo came to me while I was hiking in the snow last year.  Everything felt so magical I thought it would be a perfect way to illustrate the tingling feeling of the union of opposites.  Of course it is not real snow  (it is actually white flour).

I approached photographer Stephanie Bell about doing this shoot and she was into it and did a phenomenal job (even better than I imagined!).  Ken MacDonnell is the model along with me, he is a total delight to work with.

The exhibition ‘Birth Your Dreams’ is getting closer!

I’m busy working on the Pink Dragon in my Soul Art studio.
See behind the scenes as I create one of my sculptures.
Looking forward to showing you the completed piece at the opening on August 7th at 7pm at the Carnegie Gallery, 10 King st. West., Dundas.

Ever notice how life keeps changing and evolving?

It is easy to embrace change when it feels better than where you were before. But when you feel uncertain as to whether the change is better or not, it is easy to resist it.

For enjoyable change there are two main ingredients:

CLEAR DIRECTION & WILLINGNESS TO STRETCH BEYOND WHAT YOU CURRENTLY ARE

‘Clear direction’ happens when you know what you want. When you know what you want you can direct everything about yourself towards it. So even when things seem to be going wrong, it is easy to get things back on track when you know where you ultimately want to go.

This can be comparable to goal setting, although I view it a bit differently. To me, ‘Clear Direction’ is about having your intention solidly in place.

To find out if your intention is solidly in place, ask yourself this question:

What is the essence of what I want?

To be able to answer this question, you first need to know what you want, and then you need to be able to identify the emotion underneath it. This means, you need to know what you believe you would feel if you got what you wanted.

For example, if I say “I want a new haircut”, and I believe that if I get the new haircut I will feel more
stylish, than the essence of what I want is to feel stylish.

So, what is the essence of what you want?

If you can answer this question your direction will feel clear. If you can’t answer this question just yet, I invite you to ponder on it further, as it will reveal itself to you if you keep asking.

As you are changing and evolving in your life:
Be kind with yourself
Be conscious
Have fun!