The EarthWise Way
Creative process and soul connection to nature
What is the EarthWise Way?
The EarthWise Way is a guided, year long, online, creative experience of deep soul connection with the earth. It's a sacred gift of time and community designed to help you birth personal, spiritual, and creative growth using art as a transformative process and nature as your guide.
You'll be traveling with other creative women, while cultivating your connection to the earth, and honoring your authentic self. Monthly themes, inspiring materials and creative art invitations will gently guide you in nurturing a sacred connection to the earth, celebrating the season, and attuning your inner and outer worlds to the rhythms and cycles of nature.
If your inner world feels out of sync with the outer world and you long for a deeper spiritual connection to the earth, The EarthWise Way is perfect for you. You will learn to use many techniques, approaches and tools to bring your inner life into balance and alignment with the rhythms and cycles of the earth. The Wheel of the Year, the cycle of the seasons, the waxing and waning of the moon, the dark and light halves of the year, times for planting intentions, incubating creative ideas, tending and watering your soul, and pulling out weeds that cling and hold you back are all part of the journey.
Does it seem impossible, in your busy life, to carve out time for creativity? Are you unsure how to begin making art? Does your inner critic keep you from embracing yourself as an artist or incorporating the creative process into your life?
Do you want more creativity in your life? Is nature your sacred space?
The EarthWise Way will show you how to overcome those struggles. I have so many easy and wonderful art making techniques to share with you. It begins with the simplest process of all, gathering found images and using them for collage. This is powerful work which everyone can do. But you'll learn much, much more about using art materials and techniques so you can create personal, symbolic art that forms a complete body of work expressed in your own unique visual language.
If you feel isolated, and don't know anyone else whose heart leaps at the thought of quiet solitude in nature or whose spirit lights up at the thought of creating art you will find an inspiring, supportive community of kindred spirits in The EarthWise Way.
You will travel for a year with other women, and together by sharing the journey you will inspire one another as you live your year with intention through art and nature.
What does The EarthWise Way encompass?
Curated Materials & Thematic Art Invitations
The EarthWise Way will include curated materials for inspiration and enrichment, along with thematic art invitations that you can personalize and create in your own unique way. There will be powerful conversations about our soul connection to nature, an exploration of the Earth Mother archetype throughout the seasons, deep questions to guide your own personal inner journey of healing and growth, cross pollination of ideas and imagery from other creative women in the EarthWise Way, and a warm, supportive place where you can be fully present and your creative and spiritual journey, along with the unfolding story of you, can be fully heard and witnessed.
An Experiential Process
As an experiential process you'll use visual art, writing, music and movement to delve into the mythic landscapes and folklore of our ancestors, and to discover their ancient earth wisdom. These deeply held, time honored truths can be applied to your life in the here and now to activate healing and gather to yourself inner calm, beauty, wholeness and a rich sense of communion and connection to the natural world.
Private Community
A secret Facebook group only for EarthWise Way members, will provide a safe, welcoming space for you to gather with others and share conversations, art, writing, photography and life.
Easy-to-Navigate Online Space
The EarthWise Way, including all videos, downloadable materials, and recordings will be held in a private hosted online space so you have access to everything, all the time, no searching emails, or computer files, to find something you need.
Hello, I'm Jan Blencowe and I want to tell you how I become a certified Creative Depth Coach. I found this deep, transformative work during a time of grief, loss and transition.
About Me
I think my story will resonate with you, as it does with so many women. For many years I had been sorting through and reevaluating my beliefs, my children had grown up, and I felt a constant tug to switch directions in my career. Then I turned fifty, a powerful age that I believe is an important moment of transition and initiation in a woman's life. If you're coming up on this milestone or have passed it already you may sense this too.
My familiar life was beginning to unravel and the threads in the fabric of my identity were fraying at the edges, becoming fuzzy and leaving me without a clear picture of who I was. A major challenge came when my mom began her decline into dementia. Over then next few years we walked that terrifying road together and the upside down world of parent-turned child and child-turned mother set in. I know many of you have walked this confusing time of grief and loss too.
During this time I decided to leave the world of visual arts. After a long career of creating art for others I deeply desired to use my art making skills for myself, creating work that was strictly personal and meaningful to me. While my personal identity was in question, my professional identity changed also, and deeply held spiritual beliefs were being challenged.
Uncertainty, confusion and painful moments left me feeling depleted and overwhelmed emotionally. I had no way to process everything that was happening let alone work with it in a way that helped me find meaning, clarity and a way forward. That's when I found creative depth work, and I took my first mythos journey. Weaving my deep connection to nature into the creative process, and using mythic and symbolic language gave me a way to understand and work with everything that was going on in my inner life. That's why I love to call this work, soul work, because it heals you from the inside out. It gives you ways to process and move energy, express emotions at the deepest level, clear what's blocking you and allow for the free flow of inner growth and transformation.
I found this work to be so important and transformative in my life that I became a licensed JourneyCircles™ Facilitator and a Certified Creative Depth Coach through JourneyPath Institute. Over the last several years I have been leading retreats using the JourneyCircles™process and nature journaling as a spiritual practice in my home state of Connecticut.
I've always been a techie, enthusiastically adopting the newest tools on the internet and that makes bringing creative depth work to you, wherever you are in the world easy.
The EarthWise Way guided group process is an extraordinary opportunity for you to connect with me and an amazing group of women using online tools that bring us together, face to face, as if the miles between us had disappeared. We will create and share as a community using our virtual space. The same is true for individual coaching, we can meet online and talk "in person", and even have time for creative process during your sessions just as you would if you were in my studio.
From the moment I found creative depth work I knew that I had found the work that would carry me forward, becoming my greatest life's work. Guiding you through this process is a great honor for me and the most valuable gift I could give to you.
Is EarthWise Way a good fit for me?
This Group Is For You If...
You need The EarthWise Way if...
You know that nature and creativity have always called to you, and nourished your soul.
You long to be part of a community of likeminded creative women who explore a spiritual connection to nature, and earth wisdom, through art, creativity, myth and metaphor.
You want to be an Artist of Life creatively dealing with everything that arises in the here and now.
You’re willing to dive deep into yourself using art and Mother Earth as your guide.
You know that experiencing creative process, making art and time in nature would enrich your life and heal your soul.
You know that the dizzying pace of your life needs the counterbalance found in solitude and time in nature.
You want to be more spiritually-oriented in your life, and tap into the earth wisdom our ancestors knew.
Connecting with a community of amazing women committed to designing their lives around nature's rhythms and cycles appeals to you.
Thinking about being in tune with the earth and creating art that deeply reflects that connection sparks your imagination and resonates with your soul.
How do I know if it's not right?
This Group Isn't a Good Fit If...
You shouldn't do The EarthWise Way if...
You just want art lessons.
You're only looking to learn art techniques.
You have no interest in deepening your relationship with your self or growing at a deep soul level.
Nature and myth don't interest or inspire you.
You don't have a reliable internet connection that will allow you to participate in the monthly video calls and access the videos and other materials. This, unfortunately will make the being in the program very frustrating for you.
How does The EarthWise Way guided year work?
Guided Meditations
You'll also receive a monthly, recorded, guided meditation that will lead you into the creative process with beautiful and imaginative earth based imagery. These gentle guided meditations will help you move into a relaxed right-brain creative state and enhance your ability to activate your creative flow.
Monthly Art Invitations
Monthly art invitations may include mixed media techniques, collage, book arts, art journaling, JourneyCircels™, SoulCollage®, poetry, nature journaling, herb craft, contemplative photography and embodied practices such as walking meditations, and sacred listening.
Videos & Art-Making Techniques
Each month there will be a special video demonstrating an art-making technique that will help you expand your own creative knowledge, and deepen your powers of creative self-expression.
Frequently Asked Questions
You need a device ( desktop computer MAC or PC, , laptop, tablet, smart-phone) with reliable internet connection, a reasonably recent browser (one to two years old), a webcam with audio is best but you can also use phone or computer audio. Most laptops, tablets and smart-phones have audio/video capability, but if you're using your desktop computer and don't have a webcam I recommend this inexpensive one Logitech Webcam which simply plugs into your computer. You also need to provide an email address as materials, information and reminders are sent via email.
No worries all the calls are recorded and you will get access to them so you can listen when it's convenient. Calls are scheduled at various times and days to accommodate different time zones.
Yes, our secret group is where you'll be sharing and interacting with each other during the month.
No. You'll certainly learn a lot of art making techniques during the year but all you need to begin are old magazines or books, scissors, a glue stick and something to glue your images on.
Yes. This type of deep, transformative work requires time to unfold and grow. Traveling together for a year provides a rich, nourishing experience and allows you to experience the flow of a yearly cycle in your inner work. Less time would diminish the process and leave you with a sense of incompletion.
The EarthWise Way as a process touches all areas of your life. Busy times are met with simply an awareness and intention, and you don't need to feel pressured to create art, perhaps a relaxing bath with scented oils will be your art and ritual one week. Remember self care is sacred care. Your life journey will rise to meet you and everything in your life counts as part of your EarthWise Way journey. This is about living real life with creativity and deep awareness of your inner life. Some months you may have time and spaciousness to create a lot, other months much less. There will always be creative techniques and choices available, many that can be done in very short amounts of time, with little mess or fuss. The journey is yours and it's ebb and flow will always be the perfect amount for you at that moment.
No. If you already create with SoulCollage® that's a perfect modality to bring into the EarthWise Way with you. But if you don't even know what SoulCollage® is that's fine, there will be many other art modalities offered. I am a licensed JourneyCircles™ facilitator and I will offer JourneyCircles™ process at various times in the year as something you might choose to use.
No. You'll need old magazines, books and junk mail to gather images from. A scissor, and glue sticks are easy tools you'll need to start with. I love up-cycling, so pizza or cake rounds, file folders, paper plates, scrap mat board or cardboard, old game boards work well as surfaces to hold art. Acrylic craft paint, and markers are fun to have. Make use of what you have or use inexpensive craft store supplies in the beginning.
Yes. Coaching packages along with the EarthWise Way are a perfect way to have more personalized support, accomplish deeper work and activate powerful growth and transformation. Bundling coaching with The EarthWise Way allows you to take advantage of special pricing and coaching packages.
No. You are committing to personal and creative growth within a community over the course of a year. The energy and sacredness of the community is compromised if members come and go before the year is done. If your circumstances radically change during the year please contact me and we will work together to see what can be done.
Registration Closed Until Spring 2019
Join the Waiting List Now!
Want to be a part of the EarthWise Way 2019? Join the waiting list to be the first to know when we open the doors for the next season of art, nature, and soul work.