I have!

When I worked as a truck driver I felt like I was wearing a mask pretending to be someone I wasn’t. It was so frustrating to keep my true self in hiding.

If you’ve ever worn a mask and felt like your true self was hiding this video is made for you!

Learn why we wear masks and how to peel them off.

(Video: Watch this video on the post page)

If you find yourself wearing a constrictive mask that is concealing your true self  here are…

5 Tips to Peel off the Masks that Constrict You

1. Recognize that you are wearing a mask.

2. Ask yourself: Is this mask expanding me or constricting me?

3. Ask yourself: What am I afraid of?

4. Ask yourself: How can I bring more love into the areas where I am afraid?

5. Practice being your expanded self!

Not all masks are bad. Some masks expand us into the person we dream of being.

Here is an image of some of my masks both expanding and constricting.

‘Mask Family Portrait’, Laura Hollick in various masks. Hand mask painting/ hair/makeup Sue Upton. Photo by Kevin Thom.

I would love to hear about your masks!
How would you describe your expanding masks and how would you describe your constricting masks?

Creating inner wealth is like tending the garden of your spirit. Every time you connect within and express yourself creatively, you deepen the roots of your inner wealth garden and nourish your being.

Inner wealth is the foundation for outer wealth. If you want to grow a magnificent life, start within and tend to your sacred inner garden.

Creative Expression is one of the best ways to create and grow inner wealth.

‘Inner Wealth Garden’ Laura Hollick in her Inner Wealth Garden. Hair/makeup Sue Upton. Photo by Kevin Thom.

Nourish your Inner wealth garden with a Creativity Cleanse

My ideas usually come to me while I’m hiking in the forest. Once I have an idea, I start playing with it to figure out how I can turn it into reality. Here is one of the initial sketches for the Rainbow Tree photoshoot.

As the seasons are changing from Fall to Winter the landscape in the forest is quite mono-tone. I thought it would look so beautiful to have a tree glowing with rainbow amongst all the other sleeping trees.

To bring the Rainbow Tree image to life I gathered my team and we started to work on the  idea.

I worked with Sue Upton to do my hair and makeup with rainbow accents.

My hair was braided with the same wool and fabrics that were used to wrap the tree.

I worked with photographer Kevin Thom to bring the image to life.

The location for the Rainbow Tree was a bit of a hike in from the road so we used a cart to bring loads of fabric, the ladder and camera equipment to the location.

Then we went to work!

It took over 3 hours to wrap the trees. Once everything was wrapped I changed into my Rainbow dress and we snapped the shot. I always giggle at how fast the photo is compared to the hours that go into making that moment happen.  Kevin studied the composition while I was wrapping the trees so it was easy to put me in position and get the shot.

Here is the final image of the Rainbow Tree.

Rainbow Trees, Laura Hollick. Photographed by Kevin Thom.

Click to watch the video of the making the Rainbow Trees.

‘nü Native Earth’ Laura Hollick photographed by Kevin Thom.

‘nü Native Air’ Laura Hollick photographed by Kevin Thom.

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What to see the behind the scenes creative process for these images?

Click here to see behind the scenes

Listen to the 11 nü paradigm secrets to living your legend
Click here to listen.

The 11 nü paradigm secrets to living your legend audio mentions the nü Business Mentorship Program with Laura Hollick. The nü Business Mentorship Program is currently SOLD OUT!

Want to see behind the scenes of this video and photoshoot?

Click here to see Behind the Scenes of the nü Native photoshoot.

nü Native Air and nü Native Earth were created with a team of creative people.  I worked with photographer Kevin Thom, bodypainter Sue Upton and designer Lissa Hill.

Like most of my ideas, the idea for this shoot came to me while I was hiking in nature.  I had already created the bean headpiece for last week’s photo and I knew I wanted to do more with it to pull out the rich browns and earthy colors. I was walking in Canterbury Hills in Ancaster, and I saw the tall grasses swaying in the wind. I thought this would be the perfect setting for another bean headpiece creation.

I started sketching possibilities.

I had extra bean pieces and created fingers that attached on to my own fingers.

The rust colored dress with black velvet leaf patterns was something Lissa Hill and I worked on together the year before. I had never really used the dress. It felt as if it was waiting for this shoot!

In order to pull the dress and the head piece together there needed to be some kind of body painting or tribal touch to make it feel earthy rather than too glamourous. I worked with Sue Upton to create the bodypainting to match the leaf pattern on the dress and echo some of the bean shapes.

Kevin Thom and I drove out to Canterbury Hills. It was a very cold day with strong winds that made the bean headpiece sound like a rattle every time the wind blew by.

We created a video from this shoot. You can watch the video here.

We also created 2 images.

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‘The Legend of nü’ Laura Hollick photographed by Kevin Thom. Makeup by Sue Upton.

Behind the Scenes creating The Legend of nü photo

It started on a fabric shopping adventure where I found the most beautiful magenta fabric with black poka-dots. It instantly reminded me of the nü symbol for the nü Business Mentorship Program.

I knew I wanted to created something with it so I started sketching possibilities. I never really know how something is going to turn out. I just dive into the creative process and let the process lead me and teach me what its message is.

I worked with designer Lissa Hill to bring my design to life. I’m great at imagining things, but not so great at tailoring. Lissa is a dream to work with, she started her design journey as a coutour Wedding Designer so she is masterful at making elaborate outfits fit seamlessly.

While on a hike one day I discovered dark brown bean-like shapes that had fallen from the tree. I instantly got the vision to use the beans to make Medusa-like hair. I collected them up and laid them out to figure out how I could transform them into hair.

I used a glue gun to attach the beans onto a hat form. The hat was then secured to my head using my hair. I love how they create a storm of aliveness!

Sue Upton created the magenta mask to match the magenta dress.

I wanted a mask to bring focus to the eyes. When we are creating the nü paradigm so much of the journey is about how we look at things and how we perceive our reality. I wanted to show that we can see the world the way we want.

Of course I needed to do some laundry before heading out to do the photoshoot! Being a Creative Spiritual Entrepreneur is about blending and balancing all aspects of life into one thriving ecosystem!

This photo was created in collaboration with photographer Kevin Thom. He is my creative soul mate. We have created dozens of photos and videos together. He totally gets my vision and evolves it to another level. I’m always blown away by what we create together!

Kevin and I scouted out the perfect location to do this shoot and we discovered this calm beach in Burlington Ontario.  These are test photos to get the lighting set up.

I love how the final image creates the appearance of a pending storm. I feel the nü paradigm is like a storm, but a storm of our own creation. When we perceive our reality in the way we desire we can view the storm as generating the energy needed to create the life we desire.

To watch a video from this photoshoot  click here

To learn more about the nü Business Mentorship Program

The set of Soul Art TV Season 2 is filled with paper cranes made from my old journal pages where I spent years exploring what it takes to THRIVE as a Creative Spiritual Entrepreneur.

For Season 2 we have gathered the Leading Creative Spiritual Entrepreneurs of 2011 to uncover what they do to thrive in their life and business and how you can too!

What does THRIVING mean to you?

Soul Art TV Season 2 launches on October 4th!

Photo of Laura Hollick by Kevin Thom.

Get ready to be inspired!

3 Steps to Making Money as a Creative Spiritual Person

1. Foundation

If you want to make money as a Creative Spiritual Person you must have a solid inner foundation.  Your inner foundation is about your connection with your creative spirit.  Without this, you’ll feel lost, frustrated and you’ll feel like your efforts to make money are not working.  You can strengthen your inner foundation through creative expression, journalling, meditation, and anything that allows you to hear your inner voice.
I personally recommend the Creativity Cleanse to build a solid inner foundation.

2. Structure Offers

Your solid foundation gives you the platform to start developing your business structures and offers. This is where you give tangible form to your unique creative spirit essence and package it in ways that can be shared and presented to others.

3. Connect with People

When you have a solid inner foundation and clear structures for offering your unique gifts with the world you are ready to connect with people and make your offers. This is where money comes into the picture. Money comes when you circulate your energy with people.  The most important piece for this step is to be clear about who you are and the people you want to connect with. Money lives in the connection and circulation of energy.

Strengthen your foundation with a 21 Day Creativity Cleanse.

I have just completed Day 7 of my 21 Day Creativity Cleanse.

Here are some examples of what I’ve been doing during the first week of my Creativity Cleanse…

Creativity Cleanse Day 3, watercolor journal sketches.

Creativity Cleanse Day 6, watercolor stencil patterns.

Creativity Cleanse Day 7, Rainbow Meditation. Laura Hollick in painted rainbow circle with photo by Kevin Thom.

Start your 21 Day Creativity Cleanse today!

Your life transforms into art when you listen to your inner guidance and follow your dreams.

7 Steps to Transforming your life into art

1. Pause and create the space to connect with yourself.
2. Let go of who you think you should be.
3. Ask yourself some deep reflective questions like: Who am I? Who do I want to be? What do I want may life to stand for?
4. Listen for your answers from your inner guidance.
5. Let your inner guidance create a delicious dream for you. What would be happening? Where would you be? Who would be there?
6. Feed the dream by taking action. Do something to give the dream life.
7. Follow your dreams.

I’d love to hear your experience about creating your life as art!
Share your thoughts in the space below.

Video credits: Laura Hollick as the Field Fairy. Costume created by Laura Hollick. Hair and makeup by Sue Upton. Music from www.stockmusic.net. Location Rock Chapel Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Video filming and editing by Kevin Thom.