The Exuberant Artist Podcast

In this episode of the Deep Rooted Healing podcast, I share how I discovered slow stitching, how I create my fabric meditation books full of stitches out of repurposed fabrics and textiles including dish towels, sweaters, shirts, shower curtains, napkins and curtains. In addition to stitching, I add textile and fiber collage to the book pages. I find inspiration in Japanese Boro textiles and Indian Kantha blankets, the hidden layers within stitches and textiles that I wonder about and how healing and meditative stitching is for me.  I hand stitch with cotton sewing threads, Japanese sashiko threads, and Japanese Kogin embroidery threads. 

You can see examples of the fabric meditation books I make here: www.deep-rooted-healing.com/art-projects.

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Emma Freeman is a queer mixed media artist who works with textiles, fibers, collage, printmaking, book making, drawing, and cyanotype. Her art process is experimental, playful, meditative, and contemplative. She makes abstract art full of texture, color, pattern and movement. You can see her art at www.emmafreemandesigns.com. She is based in Wisconsin in the United States. 

Today on the Deep Rooted Healing podcast, I share reflections on all of the ways that my art practice and I shifted throughout 2020 and how I am thinking about this year, what I am carrying forward with me and what I am leaving behind. 

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online creative classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠

Website: ⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠

Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠

Facebook: ⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠

YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing

Today on the Deep Rooted Healing podcast, I am sharing a beautiful poem I read this morning at my art table after a night of dreams full of worry and anxiety. When I read it to myself, I cried and something released. I thought I would read it to you and see if it releases something within you too. 

I am finding so much solace in poetry during this pandemic and find myself seeking it out to be a light and give me some guidance and hope in different moments. 

"A Morning Offering" by John O'Donohue from his wonderful book, To Bless the Space Between Us. 

I bless the night that nourished my heart
To set the ghosts of longing free
Into the flow and figure of dream
That went to harvest from the dark
Bread for the hunger no one sees.

All that is eternal in me
Welcomes the wonder of this day,
The field of brightness it creates
Offering time for each thing
To arise and illuminate.

I place on the altar of dawn:
The quiet loyalty of breath,
The tent of thought where I shelter,
Waves of desire I am shore to
And all beauty drawn to the eye.

May my mind come alive today
To the invisible geography
That invites me to new frontiers,
To break the dead shell of yesterdays,
To risk being disturbed and changed.

May I have the courage today
To live the life that I would love,
To postpone my dream no longer
But do at last what I came here for
And waste my heart on fear no more.

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online creative classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠

Website: ⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠

Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠

Facebook: ⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠

YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing

In this interview, I talk with the amazing human and environmental artist, Natalie Koffman.  Natalie Koffman is a wise, deep, contemplative dreamer. In this conversation, we talk about Natalie’s incredible project, 1 Seed 1,000 Dreams: The Artist Woods, a dream to buy land in the UK where she lives and plant trees to create a woodland that would be protected forever. She imagines having artists of all kinds participating in this project and dreams of creating artist residency opportunities on the land and inviting many kinds of creative collaborations with nature there. We also talk about her storytelling project called, “Inverted Ark” which had me completely captivated. I felt like I was listening to a magical children’s story that has a powerful call to action for the environment. Natalie talks about her artistic and creative path through exploring photography, a Masters degree in Social Sculpture, working in mental health and some of the challenges she has found along the way. Natalie lives and works in London. I really hope you enjoy this conversation. 

This was my first interview with another artist and I was nervous and met an edge within myself by doing it but I am glad I did. 

You can learn more about and support her woodland artist project at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-artists-woods.  Her website is www.nataliekoffman.com and you can find her on Instagram at www.instagram.com/1seed1000dreams/. 

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online art and writing classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠

Website: ⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠

Instagram: ⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠

Facebook: ⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠

YouTube: ⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing

In this episode, I share how circles have been showing up in my art practice, on my body as a tattoo and in my spiritual practice. I talk about enso practices in Zen Buddhism and Zen Philosophy, some of the many meanings of circles, how I have been exploring them spiritually and reflections I am having on them lately. 

I share two wonderful books, Enso: Zen Cirlces of Enlightment by Audrey Yoshiko Seo and Zen and the Art of Photography: A Guide to Mindfulness in Creativity by Douglas Beasley. 

I also open up about a deep visual meditation that I did with Lacy Phillip's (www.tobemagnetic.com) work and the powerful healing experience it was for me when I walked into my subconscious and met a circle of younger and older versions of myself. 

I have this quote on my art table that connects so beautifully to circles and their role in my life and art:  "Flow down and down in always widening rings of being." -Rumi

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online art and writing classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing⁠

In this episode, I read two poems by John O'Donohue called "For the Time of Necessary Decision" and "For Courage" from his amazing book, To Bless the Space Between Us.  I also share some reflections on some difficult things that have happened to me during the pandemic and what shifts and openings have emerged in my life and art practice.  

I share two artists who are inspiring me right now: Amy T. Won, an amazing painter and soulful, spiritual human who made a deck of meditation cards called "A Deck for Wonder Walking" to invite enchantment and wonder and deeper creativity in our lives. You can learn more about her at www.amytwon.com.  Also, Yarrow Magdalena, who wrote a magical book during the pandemic that I just finished called,  Rituals: simple and radical practices for enchantment in times of crisis. Yarrow also has two podcasts that I love, "Daydreaming Wolves: A Podcast about art, healing and ritual" and "DIY Small Business Podcast". You can learn more about Yarrow at www.yarrowmagdalena.com.  

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online art and writing classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing⁠

In this episode, I open up and share my experiences with having an obsessive compulsive mind throughout my life, the damage it has done in different parts of my life and the gifts it has given me within my art making and teaching practice. I talk about struggling through an eating disorder, my relationship with alcohol, how this obsessive compulsive energy has shown up in relationships and how it has helped me to delve deeply into so many different artistic mediums and creative realms throughout my life. 

I mention a class I took with Myree Morsi called, "Sacred Sensitivity" for highly sensitive people. Myree is a spiritual healer, trauma therapist and incredible person. You can learn more about her and the classes she offers here: https://myree.com.au/. 

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online art and writing classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing⁠

Today, I am reading one of my favorite poems by Mary Oliver called, "Sleeping in the Forest" and sharing some reflections on my connection to poetry during the pandemic and how nature is grounding me in my art practice. 

Sleeping in the Forest by Mary Oliver, written in 1978

I thought the earth remembered me,

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online art and writing classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing⁠

In this episode, I read John O'Donohue's beautiful poem called, "For Light" from his book, To Bless the Space Between Us. on the eve of the presidential election in the United States, which has the air feeling so tense, anxious, full of fear and worry about what will happen. This poem is some medicine for me tonight so I wanted to share it with you. I read it by candlelight while sitting at my little art table.  John O'Dononue was an Irish poet, philosopher and spiritual leader. 

"For Light" by John O'Donohue 

Light cannot see inside things. 

That is what the dark is for: Minding the interior, 

Nurturing the draw of growth 

Through places where death In its own way turns into life. 

In the glare of neon times, 

Let our eyes not be worn By surfaces that shine 

With hunger made attractive. 

That our thoughts may be true light, 

Finding their way into words 

Which have the weight of shadow 

To hold the layers of truth. 

That we never place our trust In minds claimed by empty light, 

Where one-sided certainties 

Are driven by false desire. 

When we look into the heart, 

May our eyes have the kindness 

And reverence of candlelight. 

That the searching of our minds 

Be equal to the oblique 

Crevices and corners where 

The mystery continues to dwell, 

Glimmering in fugitive light. 

When we are confined inside 

The dark house of suffering 

That moonlight might find a window. 

When we become false and lost 

That the severe noon-light 

Would cast our shadow clear. 

When we love, that dawn-light 

Would lighten our feet 

Upon the waters. 

As we grow old, that twilight 

Would illuminate treasure 

In the fields of memory. 

And when we come to search for God, 

Let us first be robed in night, 

Put on the mind of morning 

To feel the rush of light 

Spread slowly inside 

The color and stillness 

Of a found world. 

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online art and writing classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing⁠

In this episode I share how I developed my sketchbook practices and how they help me develop my drawing, collage and mixed media skills and style within each of those mediums. 

I talk about taking Lisa Congdon's drawing classes on Creative Bug which really helped expand my drawing practice and skills within my sketchbooks. You can find all of her classes here: https://lisacongdon.com/pages/classes.

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Emma Freeman is an artist, writer, poet, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Practitioner. She teaches online art and writing classes at www.deep-rooted-healing.com. She is a sober and a highly sensitive person. She lives in Wisconsin. 

Online creative classes: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com/classes⁠⁠

Website: ⁠⁠www.deep-rooted-healing.com⁠⁠

Instagram: ⁠⁠www.instagram.com/deeprootedhealing⁠⁠

Facebook: ⁠⁠www.facebook.com/deeprootedhealings⁠⁠

YouTube: ⁠⁠www.youtube.com/@deeprootedhealing⁠