Georgie McNee's Personal Review of Flourish with Painting & Creativity
I’m so delighted to introduce you to Georgie McNee, who generously shared her review of Flourish on a call with me, while her children were busy being looked after in the next room.
Georgie said that in the first weeks of enroling in Flourish, she began painting and expressing her creativity in new ways. She has cultivated more bravery in other areas of her life too (family and work) and is listening to her inner voice and following her heart more. Plus, she learnt how to paint paintings she actually likes!
It’s My Absolute Pleasure to Introduce you to Georgie McNee!
In this video, Georgie shares her thoughts about Flourish in her own words. Click play to listen in (or read the transcript below) and discover how Flourish has supported her to carve out time for herself amidst her already very full and productive life as a mother and working professional.
If you would like to nurture your creativity, learn how to paint and flourish in your creative life, I invite you to check out my online year-long creativity school. It is packed FULL of inspiration, support and guidance to help you make next year your most creative year to date. I’d be so honoured if you’d like to join us.
Flourish: The Art of Creative Living is Now Open for Early Bird Enrolments!
Check out the full program and discover what bonus goodies you will receive as an early-bird member here — Flourish: The Art of Creative Living – A Year-Long Creativity School.
I’d love to paint with you!!!!
With love,
Nicola xx
PS. If you enjoyed this video, please feel free to use the sharing tools on this page to share it with your friends, or send them the link to this page directly! I’d be so grateful to spread the word about how we can all nurture our creativity and how it supports our well-being, health and overall life.
If you missed Fran Simon’s Creative Story you can view it by clicking here.
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Gorgie’s Creative Story Transcript
Nicola: Thank you so much for joining us. I’m here with Georgie McNee, and she’s had beautiful results with Flourish. So, I’m super excited to get to dive in and explore what she was able to create and express from the course, and how she’s been able to nurture her creativity.
Nicola: So, thank you, Georgie, so much for being here, getting up and getting through your morning routine over there in the UK to meet with me. I’m so thrilled to be talking with you about the results that you’ve experienced.
Georgie: Of course, of course.
Nicola: So, let’s dive in. Would you mind telling us a little bit about who you are, where you’re from, and what you do?
Georgie: Okay. I’m Australian. I came to London many years ago, like 15 years ago, and I’ve met my husband here. He’s also Australian, but we have stayed here, and we’ve had our children here. We have two children.
Georgie: I am a finance professional, so chartered accountant, and then at the moment I’m an FD, but I’ve always had a creative side to me, and I loved doing creativity at school, so I did lots of art, and textiles, and design, and I miss that in my corporate world.
Georgie: I wanted to bring that back into my life more, and as we made changes moving back to Australia, we’re actually moving to Hong Kong soon, I wanted to actually foster creativity in my life so I could use that to make those changes, and to also make decisions in my life. And when I saw the Flourish course I thought it was the perfect course for me.
Nicola: What was it about the course that sort of pulled to you, or called to you, it felt like it was the right thing?
Georgie: I felt the … I’m a complete beginner at art, so I’ve done lots of interior design, and lots of fashion design, and things like that, but actually painting I’d never had a go at. So, I wanted to have a go at actually painting on a canvas, and I didn’t know how to do that, or to start it, or what to buy.
Georgie: Nicola very perfectly helped me through exactly what I needed to do at the right steps, and gave me ideas of what to do, and when I’m standing in front of a canvas, actually how to approach it, and to foster that love of color, and the color that really brings out things in a painting.
Georgie: I like abstract, so I don’t feel like I necessarily need to paint a scene or a particular person. I feel like that’s something that is a journey for me, and maybe I’ll get into that in the future, but to actually just paint things with beautiful color, and to just know how to do oil and acrylics, was … Flourish was perfect to give me that start.
Nicola: Awesome. And I actually found that was my journey, was I started with abstracts, and then I went into more figurative stuff, and working from photographs, and then I came back around to abstracts again, so it’s interesting you say that, yeah. And-
Georgie: My favorite part of the course was when you said actually to become an artist, or even to get better at it, it takes seven years. I was like, well, I’m just beginning the journey, so no matter how many bad pictures I do, then plenty more to be in the future. It’s really, like … it’s something for life, that you are fostering for life, isn’t it?
Nicola: I love that. That’s awesome. So, before you joined the course, what was it that your creative life looked like? Was there anything happening, or you were pretty much stuck in with your business and your family, work and family?
Georgie: Yeah, so, I try and do small creative things, like, I might write every now and again, or I do try and keep a journal, or just do some drawing, or do artwork with my kids. But I felt like that wasn’t really enough, and that was more for them, and it wasn’t actually for me. And yeah, I felt like there was something missing that I needed to explore more.
Nicola: Having it for yourself is different, isn’t it, than …
Georgie: Yeah, very different, very different from doing it from someone else, or doing it with someone sitting on your knee, and then you drawing something, and them drawing all over it.
Nicola: Yeah, totally. I’ve had that experience with my cousins. And what would you say your creative life is like now, after the program?
Georgie: Yeah, so, it’s up and down. So, I feel like I need to go with the rhythm of my lifestyle, and the time that I have. But I … The course was great, because it gave me a period of time where I had compulsory time. I had to block my nights on Mondays, which meant that I always didn’t get through all the course material, but I got to watch things, and I got to learn a lot. And then, on the weekend sometimes, I would have to say to my husband, “Can you give me a couple of hours? Because I just want to do some painting.”
Georgie: And now that it’s finished I still have to make the time for it. So, when … I just kind of try and go with the rhythm of what I’ve got on, and when I feel like it. So, sometimes I’m not up to it, and that’s fine, I’ll just give myself a time to do that.
Georgie: And then, when I do feel like it … I mean, I was at the shops yesterday, I bought a new canvas, and there was no small ones in the shop, so I bought a big one because I was like actually let’s just go for it. Let’s just-
Georgie: … do a big canvas. And just making that commitment was me saying I just need some time, again, to do some more creative work.
Nicola: Beautiful. And many of us, when we’re looking to start something new, or join an online course, might feel some hesitations, or a little bit nervous. Did you have anything pop up for you before you joined?
Georgie: Loads, actually, because I did have a few attempts at painting and it was awful. It was really awful. And now, sometimes … You’ve kind of given me the outline of what I need to do, and how I need to structure things so that I can improve and get better, and now some of the work I’m seeing is much better.
Georgie: But in the beginning, when I first painted, I just found it frustrating, because I wasn’t kind of stepping into areas that were the best to start with. I was trying to maybe draw a picture or scene which I’m, like, not up to that yet, yeah.
Nicola: Yeah, yeah, it’s interesting building our confidence through little creative successes along the way, and not setting the bar too high, so, lowering it.
Georgie: I suppose I felt … I quite like Flourish because it wasn’t just … it was paintings, but it was oil, and it was acrylic, and it was at my time, as in I didn’t have to turn up somewhere on a Thursday at 10:00, actually I could do it … if I missed my Monday night session that I set for myself then I could do it at another time.
Georgie: And it did lots of other things, like poetry, and creativity in nature, and meditation, and things like that, that all appeal to me. So, it was actually well rounded.
Georgie: And in the beginning, to make the decision to do it … yeah, I suppose I just felt nervous that I wouldn’t be able to create the time for it, and that I wouldn’t be able to do it, or that I wouldn’t be able to get to shops, or find all the things that I needed. I mean, I had lots of … everything that possibly could come across my mind came across it as to why I shouldn’t do it.
Georgie: And then I felt like your emails and encouragements kind of pushed me past that. At one stage I was like, I’m just going to close my eyes, and sign up, and see what happens.
Nicola: Bravely step into the unknown, hope for the best. That’s awesome. I’m so glad. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know you, so selfishly I’m really glad you joined!
Nicola: And how long did it take before you started to see results from the program, whether it was in your creative confidence, in your mindsets or perhaps, your practical skills?
Georgie: I would say all the way along, so even … I remember having … a couple of sessions in, and I’m sitting on the tube going to work, and I looked out and I was like, actually, that brick wall, the colors are gorgeous, and you could paint that in a certain way, or actually I would take inspiration from those colors. And then I was in the park with my kids and I was like, oh, that duck’s got a very long neck.
Georgie: Like, I just started noticing more things in my life, and they’re just, I suppose, creative things, and colors, and whatever, but I felt like actually, I was more observant of things right from the beginning, because all of a sudden you’re looking for inspiration when you have to sit there and think, what will I paint? Well, you’re looking for inspiration around you to see what comes to you, and what you would like to do.
Georgie: So, it was actually quite cool, because I was noticing that I was picking up on things, and … Yeah, beautiful colors of cherries over the summer, I was like, wow, this red is so red, it would be wonderful to see it in a painting.
Nicola: Wow. It’s like a hidden hack to mindfulness.
Georgie: Yeah. Yes, very much so, very much so.
Nicola: Yeah, bring you into the present.
Georgie: Yeah, yeah.
Nicola: I still experience that, but I remember in the early days when I started painting, it was very much like that. It was like all my senses were heightened, and everything sparkled, and it felt like … particularly landscapes, in my case, were like, oh, I just want to get back into the studio, and paint…
Georgie: Yeah, yeah.
Nicola: Were there any other positive experiences, or unexpected results you’ve had from the program?
Georgie: Just considering things differently in my life. So, if I can’t do something that I thought was going to happen, possibly, with my career or with my kids, that actually there’s many different ways to do it, and just to give other things a go. And if you do make a decision and kind of messed it up slightly, that you can have another go at things, or that you could maybe look at it in a different way, or go on a journey with it, and …
Nicola: Taking the pressure off everything to have to work out every time, yeah.
Georgie: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Nicola: And what would you say has been your biggest takeaway after going through Flourish?
Georgie: Biggest … I mean, there’s lots of different things.
Nicola: Well, you can say more than one.
Georgie: Yeah. I would say taking your love of painting, and the way you present things, and the beautiful examples that you’ve given, and just using those in my life. So, it means that I can take a canvas, or maybe I don’t want to work with a big canvas, maybe it’s a small one, or maybe I want to do something with layered mediums, or just write in a journal, or keep some things to put them together into a collage. Yeah, just bringing creativity into my life, and making sure that it’s there, and making sure I create time for it.
Georgie: I love it that you have said that, actually, the course is open, so we can go back and have a look at some things. And even since, I mean, I didn’t get fully through the last modules, and then I just went back and had a look, and I could do that at any time because it’s online and it was in my own time, so whenever I have a minute I can actually go there.
Georgie: And the fact that you constantly send us emails to remind us about creativity, and the Facebook page is open, it’s really nice, because actually it’s a community, and it’s things that keep you inspired, and keep you interested. Other people post what they do, and it’s good to see. Like, sometimes I’m like, oh, I didn’t like their colors, or I like their colors, or wow, they’ve done an amazing job. Yeah, so it’s really good to have that community support.
Nicola: Yeah, fantastic. That’s really awesome. And what would you have liked to have known, that you know now, when you were considering the program?
Georgie: I feel like the value for money. So, Nicola knows that I went along most of the course and I didn’t realize that there was all the studio dates at the bottom of the page, I didn’t scroll down far enough. So, I got halfway through thinking actually this is a great course, and then I found out that I’d missed half of it, so it was double what I thought that I had got.
Nicola: I love that, because that’s actually all the practical painting-
Georgie: All the practical … Yeah.
Nicola: … facts are all down in the second half of the page.
Georgie: Yes, so then I was like, wow, this is a whole new world. So, I thought that actually there was … there’s so much to offer, so … that there was … Yeah, before I started I would have loved to have known that actually it’s so much value. And the inspiration, the way that you just go about doing, everything has beautiful colors and is done in a beautiful way, it inspires you to kind of set things out in the same way, and that really appealed to me as well. Yes, so much inspiration.
Nicola: Oh, that’s wonderful, thank you. Thank you, Georgie. And finally, what would you say to somebody who is considering joining Flourish?
Georgie: I would say there’s nothing to lose. If you’re creative, and you want to be creative, and foster it in your life, and with work, and with personal adventures, and just look at the world in a different way, I think you’ve really got nothing to lose, only things to gain.
Nicola: Oh, wonderful, thank you. Well, for everyone watching, I’m sure you can see that Georgie is gorgeous, and she … I just love listening to you speak. Thank you so much for making time in your busy motherhood schedule over there in UK in the early morning to share with us about your experience. I really, really appreciate it, and I wish you all the very best. I look forward to staying in touch in the program.
Georgie: Yeah, great. Thank you.