E9-Jane Bell Lassiter - interview
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[00:00:00] Silence.
Hello, my creative friends. As I promised you in the trailer of the podcast, I will be bringing in my creative friends to talk to you about creativity from other perspectives rather than just my own. And today I'm bringing in one of my favorite students from my visionary ensemble. saga group. Her name is Jane Bell Lasseter and she is someone who intrigued me with the creativity that we discussed during our one on ones together.
So I couldn't help but bring her back in and have [00:01:00] her talk with you today. So please welcome Jane Bell Lasseter to the Create Today podcast.
Welcome.
Thanks, Beth. I'm just so excited to be here. I am honored that you asked me to speak with you today.
I consider myself a multi passionate creative. For short, I tend to say artist, but I'm also an instructor. I am a published coloring book author, and I'm a certified creativity coach.
But I still work full time. I'm a project manager for the federal government. I have a very, very interesting job working with the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. And that's part of the bigger parent organization of the Department of Health and Human Services. And the organization that's responsible for all the crisis care in the United States is SAMHSA.
Stands for Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. So that's my day [00:02:00] job, but I really am a passionate creative. And so I'm excited to be here today to talk to you about that. And I guess to give you a little bit of a background of like who I am. It's, it's really important to sort of start where I began.
I grew up an army brat. My dad was. I was a career army officer,.
We live a bit of a nomadic life often moving. It could be every 2 to 3 years my case. I was on a plane when I was 9 days old . So I lived all over the US and also was very fortunate to live in Germany. I went to junior high and high school in Germany
so as I like to talk about a military upbringing and lifestyle, it's really unconventional for a lot of people.
And we in the military community, we tend to kind of. have this delineation. There's the civilian kids and then there's us. And I, I'm convinced it made, you know, indelible imprint on my life. Because I was exposed [00:03:00] to different cultures, different food, different languages different lifestyles, and it really, at a very, very young age opened my eyes and opened my heart and it was something my parents also reinforced.
But it really made me curious and it, It made me brave in ways that I don't think I knew about until I was much, much older. I, I find I'm extraordinarily compassionate and tolerant and understanding. April is military kid month, but we our flower is the dandelion because you bloom wherever you go. And that's really, truly is the truth. However, in my case, I had a dad who was this big army guy, very type A, very intense. Just, you know, he would take all the, all the air in the room as we used to like to say in our family.
He was also alcoholic when I was young. And that would sometimes bring chaos and unpredictability into our [00:04:00] life. He served in Vietnam, so he ended up having pretty bad PTSD. Before, people really knew what it was. And so that was, that was hard. But life got better. He went into recovery.
And you know, he was a very, very fascinating man, full of life lessons. And I, I like, I still joke with, with friends and say. Well, don't forget Bell's number one rule of life. And that is why go if you can't have fun. And that's really how, you know, he was that way. And he was funny. Some people said he looked like Jerry Lewis, but he was a real joker and storyteller.
And I I'd like to think I got some of my traits from my dad. And sadly, we lost him in 2020 to terminal brain cancer, and he had been my mom's caregiver because she had Alzheimer's. And my mom on the opposite end military wife never knew when her husband was going to be gone or coming home. She had to be extraordinarily independent.
[00:05:00] Super intuitive, very, she was on the quiet side and yet she was really resourceful. And that is the creative powerhouse in our family. And moving around like we did my mom always made sure the house was unpacked. The art was on the walls. And if you can imagine growing up in military quarters, our walls were always white.
We were not allowed to paint. Walls that you just didn't do that some places wouldn't even let you put stuff on the walls It we had so many rules and regulations. She just could take the most chaotic time and just bring everybody back down to earth
I've picked up a lot of my mom's traits and you know, she 1000 percent taught my brother and I do the best you can. That's all it's asked of you live and let live. Just if they're not bothering you, don't bother them and by all means, be kind and that was fascinating because that even stayed with her throughout [00:06:00] her journey on her Alzheimer's disease.
And we all learn our parents are people and they just had their upbringings that they brought to the world. Just like they imparted with us. And my brother, on the other hand, while I'm much more of an extrovert, my brother was very much an introvert.
He's six foot eight. I'm five feet tall. He was a healthy genius. I was always sick. And, you know, above average, but just trying to make my way and we struggled in and didn't learn to appreciate our differences until much, much later in life. And, and, you know, we still had bumps like siblings do. He had kids.
I had a career. . But I really think, you know, knowing how military life impacted me and it actually brought me my husband actually.
I also see how it impacted my brother. And I've been able to take all of my attributes and form him into my career. Professionally and [00:07:00] In my artwork as well. And so it's, it's been really, really interesting. And and as I said, I'm married to a wonderful guy who of all crazy things, we went to high school together in Germany and we reconnected or met at our 20th high school reunion, which get this, our high schools in Germany.
I lived in Chicago. He lived in Virginia and our reunion was in New Orleans. So draw that map. That's crazy. And so Daryl and I met that weekend down in New Orleans and pretty much hit it off. From the get go. And so, as I said, he lived out here in Northern Virginia. I was in the Chicago area.
He used to visit me. And every visit, Beth, it snowed. Every single time he visited. And it was one of those conversations one day that was like, if this is going to go anywhere, you're coming this way. Because I'm not living in snow.[00:08:00]
And so I knew right then I was like, yeah, this is a good call.
I moved out here and I thought, I'm going to work at a museum. I'm going to take this as a career. Change, let's see how I can do this.
And so I had this fantasy I was going to take the summer off, hit the museums. And about a week and a half later I was employed as a project manager. And so I went straight to work. Supporting the government as a contractor,
we were less than 4 miles from the Pentagon the day 9 11 happened. And even scarier, so we were less than a mile from the Capitol and knowing that that was probably going to be the fourth target that day.
My husband and I both worked in the same building. We were at NASA headquarters and he ran down the hall. I ran down the hall. We kind of met in the middle and we're like. Is this what we think it is? Yeah, it's a terrorist attack. And as military kids during the cold war in [00:09:00] Germany, we had a lot of training and a lot of stuff that most kids didn't grow up with, you know, bomb threats.
we both looked at each other and said, okay, we got to go get our teams out. We have to evacuate. We're not waiting for permission or anything. So we did everybody. We got everybody out because it was pure chaos here.
We did not know what was happening that day, and phones went down, and all kinds of chaos happened, and life changed out here.
We built a really pretty house about 40 miles outside of D. C. and. I hate to say it, but we call it we're outside of the blast zone, because that's how the language became after 9 11 was how close are you to targets and things like that.
Working as a contractor, was a lot of work. I worked 70 hours a week. On average, and so I had an opportunity to join the federal government back in 2010 and pretty much went back to like a 40 hour job said to my husband one day.
I'm like. What am I gonna do? I have all this spare time
And he walked me into my room and was [00:10:00] like Jane meet your craft room craft room meet Jane And so I started I started just exploring and kind of remembering Things I had done as I grew up.
And as I said, my mom was super creative. She taught me to sew at a very early age. She did beautiful needlework and taught me how to do it. We didn't have a ton of means growing up with my dad in the army and sometimes where we lived, we didn't have all the greatest of resources. So. My mom would just make it up.
And so I, I think I inherited a lot of that from her. And so I just started dabbling. I started in paper. doing like cards and then I moved into a little bit of scrapbooking and then I was like something told me I wanted to paint so I started with very very little like four by four canvases flat not even canvases but a flat canvas board [00:11:00] and then I discovered online art classes.
And it was off to the races at that point, but I really as much as I would like to decorate our home and sometimes I joke, I decorate myself. I like my jewelry. I like my crazy clogs and my socks. I have always had an interest in interior design, even in art. But my dad wouldn't let me get a degree in art.
I wanted one so bad and he was like, no way you are never going to make a living. No, no, no. You're going to business school or whatever school, but I was going to get a practical degree. So, I did, and I will say late in his life, it was quite funny when he was like, yeah, and look at you now.
You're an artist. And I was like, see if you go to art school, but we had, we had lots of jokes about it, but we did lose my mom mid last year to Alzheimer's. And so, you know, here I am kind of coming back into myself. And it's been a really, really [00:12:00] tough. Obviously we've all gone through the pandemic and what that meant to all of us, but taking care of two parents in hospice at one time, and then being largely responsible for my mom for three and a half years after my dad died I did not realize the toll it took on me, and I had lost my way in my art making, and so this is a really, really Fascinating time, I'm, I'm coming out of the dark.
And so it's been , really fun to see things much more clearly. I have. You know, a lot of stress has been lifted off my shoulders and and so now I'm getting back into what what it means to be, you know, Jane the creative and still doing a full time job. So it's really exciting. That's a little bit about who I am.
Yeah. Well, that's great. You can see creativity. And it was part of [00:13:00] you from the very beginning and just how you looked at your world in your different parts of the world, and then how it caught up with you you know, as an adult, so, and for anyone that is listening to us on audio, which is most of the Create Today audience, Jane is here on YouTube, and behind her is one of her gorgeous paintings, she does a lot of Amazing abstract paintings where you just feel the emotions she was walking in during the time she was making that painting.
So I know that when creativity caught up with you, it was like a gale force. It was just like, here I am, . Let's do the dance, right? So, Jane what I want to cover right now is something that we talk about is the fact that everyone is creative. And some of us knew that from the very beginning, like I feel like I'm an artist, and then I know I have a lot of the listening audience that[00:14:00] is nervous about saying they are even creative, let alone an artist.
So when, we're looking at creativity, can you talk to us about success and creativity we talk that Success doesn't mean that every single piece of art or projects that you create are sellable, are going to be at a craft show, or are going to be something that you're going to hang on the wall.
That creativity is not the end result. Creativity is the journey that you're having. So can you tell us a little bit about just how has that impacted in your life? How you've seen creativity be part of your journey. And then, yeah, just how that might have ended up being some really great outcomes like this painting behind you or card that I got in the mail from you a while back.
So just how does that interact with you? What does that look like? It's such a fun. Those are fun questions. I think where [00:15:00] You know, I do think a lot of us just do not resonate with that word creative. We just like, no, I'm not, I'm not. And I learned that, when I became a creativity coach, I would run up against people that were like, I can't paint.
I can't draw a stick figure. You know, you hear that a lot. Not a lot. That is everywhere. That's the phrase, right? And, and so my comeback often is, and I even hear it on the day job too, where somebody will comment on my background, my background or something. And. And I'm like, no, you're creative. And no, I'm not.
So I have a very broad definition. First and foremost, I think we all are creative. If you cook, if you, coordinate your clothes, if you work on cars, if you, you know, whatever you do maybe you sing. Maybe you write there's a lot of secret poets out there. I know they're out there. There's people writing their poetry because it just makes them [00:16:00] feel good.
You snap photos with your phone. we are all creative beings. I think it is an innate part of us from birth. And some of us lose it very early on because someone makes fun of you or tells you you can't draw . And, and I'll tell you I was walking into the house. Last week through our garage and I hang up my keys on this little bitty wooden key hook that I found in my parents house and I think it's from second grade and it was a blue block of wood and It's actually the first drawing I really can remember making in grade school.
Maybe I was in first grade. I don't even remember. And I drew a flower, but I made like four corners, like as if it was like pasted in a old, old school, like photo album.
It was, it is like the most amateurish, first grader kind of drawing. And the teacher Deco, posh it on the [00:17:00] block of wood and had like three hooks put in and hung a little hanger on the back. It was like a Mother's Day gift that all the kids made in, in our art class that year.
But I found it. It's hanging there. That's where I hang my keys and every time I come in the house I smile. 'cause I'm like, wow. I really, I've been drawing since I was little. And I know Beth, you and I have talked, I am famous for saying, oh, I don't draw. I'm an abstract artist. I don't draw until I discovered procreate.
Of course, of course. But even that, I was like drawn to abstraction because Jane doesn't draw but does she? It got me thinking where all have I had creativity in my life and even having a corporate job and marketing research and then moving into this government space, if you will.
I am passionate about making things. Good if, and really what it boils down to, whether I'm designing software, [00:18:00] building a website for a government agency I could be writing a report to Congress.
I could be writing an email.
And I get a lot of recognition for being, a really good communicator, but I, I think it really comes back to how I view the world. And I like pretty things there. I said it.
I like pretty things.
Things that are easy to understand, look nice and can just make life a little bit easier.
But when you have had someone break your spirit, potentially, which, like I said, we've all had, you know, that art teacher , say something hurtful or a sibling or somebody you shut all that down.
I've even had it. In my art career, I've, I've had a couple of art mentors and I had a very unfortunate experience with one of them. And yet that workshop in person, five day intensive, we did cool [00:19:00] things, you know, we walked on hot coals, we walked on broken glass, you know,
things that were very liberating, even though that art mentor didn't think I had any talent in the world. And and I met some of the most amazing women that I'm still in touch with and I didn't give up because I knew there was more to me and there was, it's just part of me.
I kind of faltered for a little bit. And then I met another mentor. And I had a really wonderful experience her name's Ardeth Goodwin. She's extraordinarily talented artists and she broke something wide open in me.
And I know that's what has helped me believe in myself and realize. My creativity is in me, whether I want it there or not, it's going to be there.
I've been able to also, leverage my creativity. With my mom on her Alzheimer's journey.
She was a bedridden for four and a half years. And you can only imagine when [00:20:00] you're confined to a bed, you have boredom
you can only watch so much TV.
And so I realized a way to reach her was with art
She couldn't paint or draw per se, but she sure could. Do scribbles Her name was Katie and I was like, you know, mom, one of these days I'm going to sell these, they're going to be Katie's creations. And she would get the biggest.
it was a way for us to talk and to, to get her brain engaged.
And so we, you know, I used to do that and then she eventually went blind But then I, I turned to music. And I'm not musically inclined, nor was she.
And I would work through the different genres of music to try to see if I could open up maybe some old memories.
And it was so cool, Beth, because Occasionally, I
And I find something from the fifties and sixties, and that would have been when she was coming up and, and [00:21:00] so, and then we would sing along and things like that. And. It was fascinating almost until the end, she could still occasionally come up with lyrics to some of those old songs because as I say with Alzheimer's that way back machine, those met those long term memories are buried in there, but she'd tell me stories.
I don't know if they were all true or not, but she would tell stories and we would talk and talk and talk. And then we would laugh on how badly we sung.
So, but yeah, I just think, you know, there's so many ways we can apply creativity. And I think maybe there's a secret to it. Don't call it that. Just live and. You know, look for beautiful things and and make your surroundings beautiful. There's a lot of dark in the world. And so I think there's ways, but not super big on labels.
And so maybe just don't call it that. And that's how it works.
when we're looking at creativity, I think that, you know, [00:22:00] that is, something that is worthy of. Discovery. And then once you find that in yourself, then that's worthy of nurturing. And that's what I think this podcast is all about is helping people to see that you don't have to paint like a master painter.
You don't have to sing like a virtuoso. You don't have to write books , like your favorite author. All you have to do is find something that when you do it, it just makes you happy. that it's something that you also cannot wait to get back to
Those are the things that are going to help you release it. whatever it is that is causing you burdens. So with your mom, it was time to be with you and it was time for her to get away from the fact that she was locked in her bed or locked within the darkness of her eyesight.
You brought a little, that creative sunshine into her and it was a way to communicate between the two of you. So [00:23:00] creativity, I think it's the quietest thing in the world, but it is the strongest thing in the world. It is a bond that helps us find how to create those relationships that we so badly need.
And the goodness that it does with your brain with it , Setting up good feelings and setting up better habits that it's going to make you that happier, healthier, creative that we talk about so much with every episode, and yet it's not hard to do, and some of the best creativity you can do is something that is not taxing to your brain, so you're not writing the next great American novel, you're not trying to learn opera music by heart,
you're just doing something that when you do this, it is easy and it allows you just a fine release, right? . Absolutely. It is so, true. What I discovered is it actually brought back [00:24:00] memories even for myself. So just a quick little story. There's The a ladybug is is something that's very meaningful.
To my mom and I and I have a very early memory of going shopping. She was going to make me a dress and I picked out ladybug buttons. She was like, come look at the patterns. Come look at that. I want these buttons. She made me an outfit all because of these ladybug buttons.
Two years ago, I found ribbon because I would always make a wreath for her bedroom door.
And I found ribbon that had ladybugs on it. And I made a wreath with like red and white flowers. And she first thought they were polka dots. And that's how I kind of knew her vision was starting to go.
And then I said, they're ladybugs. She perked up and went ladybugs. And she didn't know who I was the last three plus years. And she was like, Jane, oh, and I was like, Oh my God, [00:25:00] how'd she do that?
It just like all of a sudden, these old memories started flooding back and , that was amazing for me, even I'd forgotten about some of those things.
There is so much. We don't know about the brain and I'm extraordinarily fascinated having both parents having, brain diseases.
I'm just really, really fascinated by it. And. We have to nurture it, and I think you're right on, we have to just explore. That's the thing, you know, you're talking about is, you find the thing that lights you up.
And, having published a coloring book years ago with a bunch of my creativity coaches and We made a goal for that coloring book to have like larger spaces on the artwork, because at the time, a lot of the coloring books were really intricate and hard, to color because they were so busy.
and we also put a, on 1 page, we had like a mantra or an intention, and then it corresponded with the artwork and [00:26:00] I have given my coloring book out to people who are going through stressful periods and then I'll gift them my coloring book, with a set of colored pencils, and I'm like, hey, find a quiet corner and, go color, and I've had some funny looks.
They're like, coloring's for kids, and I'm like, Trust me on this.
So here's something else I want to chat with you about today.
With the creatives that I talked to one of the things I see in them when I ask them, tell me what you want to talk about.
Creative confidence is. Almost always number one. And these, these are our, artists that are coming to me that want to be professional artists and .
Creative confidence is one of the top things we talk about.
I know, I don't know a single creative that I have spoken with that doesn't have that as looming over them as , I feel like I shouldn't be in this space or that I'm taking up space that others should have, [00:27:00] or I can't get into the space because I don't think what I'm doing is worthy of where I think I want to go.
So, how do you look at confidence and your creativity? How are you incorporating those things together? And do you have any advice for anyone that might be listening today?
Yeah, that's that's a really good question. I think I do go back to, first and foremost, my absolute favorite hashtag is Art Heals.
I very, very much believe that whether you think you need healing or not, I think of it as just a healing tool. The thing that I think creativity has given me.
It gives me the confidence that I can solve problems, literally, I can solve any problem. I believe if you borrow Marie Forleo's term. Everything's figureoutable. And I say it at work all the time, and people are like, oh, there goes crazy Jane.
You know, she's talking about, we can solve this whatever problem,[00:28:00] if you can slow down, if you can calm down, if you can get quiet, and I'm a big meditator, I believe in meditation Because I have a busy brain. And so getting quiet, even for just five, seven, 10 minutes.
I don't believe in failure. I don't think it exists.
They're all opportunities for growth. And so I turn that around and I don't know, I, I'm not a big. Follower of Bob Ross, but I hear, I think he makes a statement about, you know, there's happy accidents or something like that.
There's you know, Maya Angelou's expression to like about creativity. It's like, the more you use it, the more you have those types of things and. I have proven myself over and over and over, when I've taken a hiatus, when I've had to stop because, you know, life got to be too much. I've had moments where I'm like, yeah, I'm done.
I'm done. All my good paintings are behind me. [00:29:00] And then I'm just like, ten minutes, Jane. Just ten minutes in the studio. You, you got ten minutes.
I have a few paintings. They're twelve by twelve on, , plywood. Literally, Beth, they were 10 minute paintings and they have been extraordinarily successful and people are like, I want to buy that.
And I was like, that was 10 minutes.
you realize, like, Oh, you don't have to make it as hard as you're making it. And so I've, I've literally seen my confidence expand when I, some, I, I challenged myself limiting beliefs.
I challenged that imposter syndrome and I'm sorry, I think it's also part of just who we are. And. Listening to your podcasts, listening to other podcasts. I just see and hear. I'm like, oh, we really are all the same. We're all the same. And, you know, the, the thing that I, I learned that I would. offer as advice to anybody is something that [00:30:00] the woman who I took my creativity coaching through, her name's Whitney Freya.
She's an amazing human, almost like a unicorn. She's incredible. Part of my training was to take a canvas, and you paint over and over and over and over up to 27, 28, 30 paintings.
And so I use with my clients and myself, I use a list of prompts and, okay, go paint a sunflower, take a day or two, next. You're going to paint over that. And what it teaches you is. And you build your confidence as well is. You can do it again.
It teaches you to let go. and it teaches you not to take everything so preciously. And at the time I was doing my training, I was posting on Instagram I still get people occasionally that go down my Instagram,
Hey, do you still have this? I'd like to buy [00:31:00] this. Sunflower. And I'm like, no. I painted over that like 29 times.
And that, that painting I think I finished it with like 28 layers, and it was very textured and very bumpy and, you know, I equate texture. to just how complex and layered our lives are.
That ended up being a really pretty floral painting, kind of like flunky flowers. And a friend of mine actually bought it for her granddaughter's nursery. So that painting is hanging somewhere in someone's house. If they ever put the big ol fancy microscope on it someday, they would see all of the layers of paintings underneath it.
And, and I think that lesson alone changed. And opened it so much for me is that, Hey, I made the most amazing sunflower, but who says I can't make another, another amazing sunflower. And so I really think that's where I [00:32:00] started to build my confidence in terms of do it, do it again.
You have to put in the work. And that's where I do think most of us. And I think that's one of the things that makes us fail ourselves in that regard is we stopped. Yeah, we put it down because it's not Oh, it's not good. So taking away the self judgment, taking away those types of things, and it's hard.
It's hard sometimes, but I can't even tell you how many bad paintings I've made. I've made way more bad paintings than I've made good ones.
We, you've touched on so many things that we've talked about in the podcast, which is like creativity is more about quantity than quality when you're doing creativity.
Again, it is not about the perfect outcome. It is just about doing the thing, going on the journey, and then just making a lot of it. And every now and again, you lift up your head and you go, what the heck that looks, I just look what I just did. And those are those. Happy accidents.
And you, you take those and that's what you show people. This is what I do, [00:33:00] but they don't have to see the 200 pieces of what you think is just not worthy of human consumption.
and the other thing I wanted to point out that you had mentioned is that you know, you, you have those moments where you're like 10 more minutes in the studio.
Right? When you are doing something that is either new or you feel like you're tired and you don't want to do the work, you do it anyway.
And it feels uncomfortable. What you want to note is that feeling of feeling uncomfortable. And then you need to know that when you're feeling it, that's an okay thing and that you should almost enjoy the fact that you've pushed yourself to what you think is either a limit or a place you shouldn't be.
Because if you stay there long enough, it will become your new space. But if you don't push yourself, you'll never get better. It's like, [00:34:00] if you're exercising and you do the same thing every day, you're exercising, but you're not getting better. It is when you push yourself to that point where you feel like you've lost your breath.
Or the next day you feel muscles that are sore and you're getting stronger and you're getting healthier. And that is the same thing with creativity. It is telling you 10 more minutes in the studio, Jane. And I am doing something that I feel like I may be an imposter here, but if you stay there long enough, you will own that
space.
. Absolutely. And I was just thinking too, like, what about people that cook? Not every dish is going to be the best dish they make. I can remember sewing a bridesmaid's dress years ago, being rushed, not paying attention. I sewed it inside out and then I ironed it later after I fixed it and I burned it.
and you know, it was like, slow down, [00:35:00] take your time. You can fix the dress. The dress was smashing by the time it was done. It was probably three dresses by the time I was doneBut that's just it. And those things teach us to go through it. And I know there's an expression about being in your comfort zone, right? Your comfort zone will kill you. And I think there's a lot of truth to that. But we go often on autopilot.
And I get that. I am not judging anyone. I spent a lot of the past four years numbing out because life was hard. Life was hard. there were days I didn't want to go to the studio.
that's why I get really jazzed when I think about giving advice to people on like, where do you start? Cause that's what I hear a lot.
You know, and I'm like, Oh, you want to talk about that?
And so we've, you know, we've actually talked about how they can start and how you, how you can start, just
exploring.
If anyone's interested in figuring out how to start a creative passion, go [00:36:00] back to the first episode of this podcast, because I talked about that, like, if you are thinking, what is my passion?
Basically, all you need to do is start a list of things that you are interested in exploring. Find those areas where you can just go and, and just immerse yourself into it. And if you go home going, Oh my gosh, that was amazing.
then there's probably something you can do personally with that.
So making that list and then figuring out how you can go about just exploring that and then take it from there. Okay. Is there someone who could teach me how to do that?
It mentioned online classes, Jane. It's such a great way to dabble and find out. And a lot of online classes the Create Today community is that way. You're going to not only be able to learn what you might be interested in, but you will meet other people that are just as excited about your passion as you are.
So that is what I encourage. If we could all [00:37:00] find where our passion lies and go explore that and meet the people who have that same passion and we can share the goodness that comes from just immersing yourself in that thing. When you're done doing whatever your passion is, don't you just feel like you radiate joy for a little while, right?
Oh my gosh. Yeah.
Yeah. And you just touched on something that I've been thinking a lot about lately which is connection and community. And some of that is because of my day job and you know. I don't answer the phones on the crisis lines, but we we're dealing with a very tough topic of, suicide and crisis and the nation is going through a lot of , mental health challenges.
I myself have had some in the past with some suicidal ideation. Oh, you know, I'm a military kid. I have issues with belonging and finding community because of the way I'm, you know, everybody moved.
so I [00:38:00] tend to, , Long for community and, you know, and then the pandemic just threw everybody sideways.
we were just at the Washington, D.
C. auto show recently, there was a whole section that was art in motion. It was a whole area set up and they had 4 or 5 artists. Now I was grumpy because they were all guys, but regardless they were painting cars. I went up to each of the guys and I was chatting with them about how do they get into painting cars I've caught myself talking to each one of these gentlemen with some unconscious biases.
You know, like, Oh, you know, he doesn't quite look like me And I joked with one of the guys, cause he's a muralist in DC and he's in the black and brown community. And so I was like, Hey, you know, where, where can I see some of your murals? we started talking and I just forgot that I was, this government employee, you know, lady from the suburbs kind of person.
And, and so we were talking and he [00:39:00] stopped what he was painting. And he looked at me and he was like, you want to do a mural someday? And I'm like yeah. And I said, but and then, of course, I put all my own biases on it.
I said, you'd want to do a mural with some silly old white lady from the suburbs. And he looks at my husband and he was like, dude, would you just tell her art is art?
He put me in my place
and then all of a sudden I started thinking like, well, why can't I paint a car? I can paint a car. I seen crazy painted cars in Europe. Why not?
I think what you've done there is, you know, that whole people often think why me and that they think why me for like something that's happening to them or something they shouldn't do because they're not capable. And I think we should turn that on its head and say, why not me?
Right. So when your thought was, this is so cool, where are the women? [00:40:00] Yes. , where are the women get in there as a creative community? If we keep cultivating ourselves I think creativity is going to go from, oh, I, I'm not creative. I can't draw a stick figure too. Oh. Let's talk about my creative passion.
Here it is. This is what I do. And whether that's painting cars or you're cooking or you are like, my husband builds bikes in the basement. Everyone has their thing. And if we can think about. What everyone does uniquely to themselves, and we appreciate that, and we communicate our respect and admiration, there's room for everyone to have that passion so that we can bring it into our lives.
I think this is a really great place for us to wrap up. Let's, let's just hop over to how can people find you if they are interested in learning more about what you do and
who you are. Oh, hey. [00:41:00] So I always first and foremost say find me on Instagram.
My handle is at Jane Bell Lassiter. All one word that does include three L's. It's a little funny. I have a Facebook page. That's Jane Bell Lassiter dash artist. My website is Jane Bell studio dot com. I am going through a redesign. So forgive me, but you can find some of my work out there and I'm stepping back into doing workshops.
I've had a really fun time and very serendipitous opportunities to teach virtually. I'm in a, one of the communities that are kind of like a paid community with a friend of mine down in New Zealand, and I taught a Word of the Year workshop. So how to find your word, how to connect with it. And I'm gonna be paint doing a three hour painting workshop where I'll take people through taking their word to a whole new level and making a piece of art.
And then just recently [00:42:00] I was asked to be a guest instructor. With a woman who's running a program, I think in March or April, the dates up in the air and her community is called healing with arts. And so, but it's out of Australia and I'll be teaching a virtual workshop probably about an hour and a half, two hours long.
I'll be recording that very soon. And I do hope to start getting back into in person workshops because I get a lot of energy. working with people in small settings and I need to start exploring that, dabbling into some of the local areas around here. We have a couple of art communities and you know, while my world contracted, while I took care of my mom, I'm starting to expand and seeing where, you know, what's, what's next for, for Jane.
And so that's where I'll be doing. I have to get a mailing list hooked up to my website, which should be coming in the next month or so. I'll have that going. But yeah, so just
follow me on Instagram. That's where I'll
be announcing [00:43:00] everything as as they roll out. So thank you for this opportunity today, Beth.
This has been so exciting.
Well, it's been a joy having you here. I knew when I started my podcast that there were people I was going to be reaching out to because of some just interesting conversations we had. And for you the fact that you have such an interesting job and I see that creativity has got to be an integral part of how you communicate to people who need to hear what I do.
is
conveyed. Communication is so key with that. So having someone like you in that commission has got to be just a wonderful thing.
I knew bringing you in here today was going to help people who are listening to this podcast, trying to figure out just where their creativity is and how they can get it up and running and running smoothly for them so they can [00:44:00] become a healthier and happier and more productive and successful.
Creative. So I thank you for your time today. You have been a joy to talk to. Thank you. So creative friends get out there and find out what your passion is. Enjoy your time. Keep creating, keep finding where you want to go next. Remember, just keep that motion going. Get up, get creative, get creating.
And I will see you later. And until next time, stay creative, my friend.
