Hello, lovely Rebooters!
It’s the end of the month again, and we have a fabulous episode for you today – we’re chatting with the wonderful Merry Moonhawk, artist extraordinaire over at WaterHorse Artistry. She joined us from her beautiful studio in Bedfordshire (I have some serious interior design envy!) and we put the world to rights in a magical manner!
Meet Merry
Nature-inspired, pagan, scuba diver and animal person, artist Merry chose her name, Meredith Moonhawk, to reflect who she is and what she loves and what’s important to her – which we think is wonderful. There’s a nod to the family nickname and listen for the squeak from Carla when alter egos pop up…
What we talk about
Names, both given & chosen. Alter egos, personas and finding different facets of you. Merry’s creative journey and beginnings, and some unexpected turns in her work (we can probably all identify with those).
Day jobs and finding the balance between pay, enjoyment, progression and liking the people you work with. Whether that elusive perfect balance is actually even possible.
Horses (briefly)! A common thread which links lots of our guests and lots of creatives together.
Making your passion your work and the fears that go with that. Fears and doubts about actually running a business. Making the leap… and the multiple steps and leaps involved.
Going back to studying, going to the next level and finding the right course as a mature student (Sarah has some good experience here too!) – with a good dose of serendipity and making decisions when they feel right! Folklore and myth and magic, and the joy of studying a degree where you can go off and explore your own interests as part of it.
Seeing and creating differently and how doing what you really want to do changes everything. Silly questions people ask us, as students and as creatives.
Standing up and saying “this is what I want to do”. Following your gut & intuition, (we love when this stuff comes up!) Confidence.
Finding routines & trusting our own capabilities, making things work. Night owling, being excited to get into our workspace, and the guilt that can sneak in uninvited.
Energy and how to manage it so we get the best out of ourselves, working on our own schedules and the weird expectations people have about time. (Episode Energy is helpful about this too!)
Making decisions and following them wholeheartedly. That sneaky fear that having made the Big Decision, what if you hate it? (spoiler alert – none of us have, it’s been the best decision ever!)
Support networks, because this is always an intriguing question with wonderfully varied answers. Honest but quirky people (we love this!!) and being surrounded by people who encourage you to follow your heart and dreams. People finding their way into your life just at the right time.
Sparking conversation and the opposite effect – weird things that people worry about on our behalf, even when we’re really fine with it.
Intriguing jobs – road sign design and CD production and all the jobs in the creative sector which exist but which you don’t think about, or even necessarily know exist.
Making creative professions more mainstream/acceptable as an option. Creativity naturally asserting itself outwards in a way you can’t ignore, and the strength of problem-solving which creatives usually have.
Ludicrously long to-do lists, not beating yourself up for not having enough hours in the day – this one is super relatable. Making the most of whatever mood you’re in and doing the things which suit that mood.
Balancing creative joy work and creative commission work. Running your business, working on your business, and making sure you’re also doing the creative thing which was the reason you started your business and filling the well too.
Allowing new things to enter your creative process – and some really good advice from Merry!
A small note – this episode was recorded in the middle of 2020’s UK heatwave and we are all sweltering while talking!
Get more Merry in your life
Find Merry and her wild, whimsical art at WaterHorse Artistry
She’s open for commissions – pet portraits, illustrations and all sorts of weird and wonderful things – and she can work from your imagination to make it come alive!
Follow her on Instagram
Find her on Facebook
And sneak a peek at her TikTok videos (we’re hoping these will go on Insta Reels too soon!)
And we’ll add those classes & retreat details when they’re ready – in the meantime hop on her email list for news!
And finally…
As ever, we’d love for you to share this with your likeminded friends, rate us, review us, subscribe, let us know what you think… and one day we’ll get this bit word perfect at the end 😀