Live Interviews with some of my Tribe Sisters - sharing their awesome stories! || The Social Easel

This will work, right?

I don't know. All right, I hit the go live button, so we are live on Facebook. So, um, for those of you that are just joining, my name is Christie Hawkins and I am the owner of The Social Easel, and I have got, um, two special guests with me today. And this is Janice in the upper corner— I think that's how it's showing on your screen— and then Becky, um, down below. And both of these ladies are Tribe Sisters, which is what we call ourselves inside my inner tribe, and they wanted to hop on with me today. I am going to pull you guys up here so I can make sure I see comments. I can't look at my computer screen to see them. Hang on just a second. But these ladies are going to share their stories with you, and Becky just shared a little bit of extra stuff that I didn't even know right before we went live that I am going to have her share as well. And so, Janice, I want to start with you. And if you can just tell, tell the women that are watching, like, what made you join the Inner Tribe and where were you at when you did join?

Great. Yes.

Hi.

So I had only painted twice before I joined the tribe. So one of the classes was with Christie Renee Hawkins, and then another was with another local paint party, and I had always been very intrigued by painting and, you know, those classes, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. But there was something more about it, and I just, I was really drawn into it. Well, I heard about Christie's Tribe because of one of my friends. She is a part of, she's part of the tribe, and she was one of the OGs, the original members.

She interviewed with me last night. Yes.

So there was a little bit of sense of security there because I trust Debbie, and then, and I You know, was really intrigued on as far as, you know, if she joined this and why she joined it. And she, you know, was having a great time. And, you know, I had kind of had some questions and she helped answer those questions. I was just like, don't look back, just join. Don't, don't even think twice about it. This is something you should try. But one of my concerns was I'm so busy and I, you know, right now I'm traveling on business and, you know, don't have time to paint this week. But there's just, you know, such a love and draw to, to enjoy having some me time when I can, if it's 10 o'clock at night or 6 in the morning. But I really wanted to try it out. And so it started out more of just, I'm just curious and sure, I'll do this for myself. And I kind of got obsessed right at the get-go and had my media pad and just did as many as I could. And then I got super busy and had to take a break. And I tell you, that break just tore me up. And I was, I was really missing, I was really missing it. And I even messaged Christie Renee Hawkins and I said, I miss the tribe. I haven't been able to paint, and I just— something's— I miss you guys. And I almost felt like I, you know, kind of withdrew a little bit. And then I was like, this is silly, just keep going, keep looking. And when I'm, when I'm able to paint and I can get back in there, I'm going to do it. And about a month later, it's like it kicked back in again. And I was just— it's like, this is my time. There's no guilt, there's no pressure. You don't have to complete a painting from start to finish. So it just really worked around my schedule. And then I found out how much I loved it. You know, it's like we don't make enough time for ourselves and to enjoy hobbies. And, and this just has become one of my biggest passions. And I didn't realize that. I didn't know that. Who would have thought that a year ago that I would be doing as much as I'm doing and enjoying it as much as I'm enjoying it?

So that's so awesome. And I think it's so important what you said about us. We're all busy. You know, we're busy moms, wives, everything. We're constantly going and we're constantly serving other people and taking care of other people. But we don't take care of ourselves. And we tell ourselves that something like this is extra. Like, I don't really need that. I don't deserve that. I don't have time for that. But it is so important. And just like you said, so important to take care of yourself because when you take care of you and do something for you, you're better to everyone else around you, right?

Exactly. Exactly. I mean, it's, and it's fun because there's been several times I didn't share this with you, but there's been several times in the house where my kids are like, I miss you when you paint. And, you know, you should start painting again. And I'm like, why? I always felt like it was me taking time away from them, but they really enjoyed who I was when I was painting, watching me, you know, pull something together. Then they come into the kitchen, they're like, wow, that's neat. And I'm just like, it's just, it's, it's just incredible. It's definitely has built such a something deep down in my soul, and I love it.

That's so awesome. And I think it's so awesome for them to see you create because it puts that— they're going to remember that. They're going to remember that when they're older, and it may spark their interests in being creative too. And we talk a lot about kids and how they're just not getting enough art these days, right? So exactly, I think that's really, really important also. Sorry, will you hang on just a second? Will you tell them what else has happened since you came back and break and you were able to come back and invest a little time in it and what that actually turned into for you.

Yes, absolutely. I'd love to share. So since I've taken some time off and then gotten back into it, you know, again, what's great is I was able to go back from some of the basic techniques and everything to learn to kind of— it's like riding a bike. You know, you can jump back on the bike and you can, you can do it again, but you need to have a little bit more practice. You might be a little wobbly at first. So I needed to take some time to kind of, you know, work out the wobbles in my paintbrush and figure it out again. But it happened very quickly. It all came back very quickly. And then it's just like we just started just to grow into, you know, something more and more. And it was just burning inside me. And then I had seen— I stumbled on it because I was on Facebook, you know, for a few moments. And I stumbled across you talking about, hey, there's, you know, the opportunity for you guys to take this and start, you know, teaching this to the— to your, you know, people, your groups, your, you know, and doing paint parties live or paint parties in person. And it was just like, it hit me so quickly. I was just like, am I, am I capable of doing that? Can I do that? Is this something that— is this, is this what path God has laid before me? And does this make sense? And, and the biggest thing I remember is just saying, okay, don't just keep that bottled in, ask. And I asked the question and your response was just like, of course. This is a supportive, you know, group, and we are all here to help you. And do it. What's— you'll never regret, you know, trying it. You will regret, you know, not knowing what the end result. So since I started Tribe, in like the last month or so, I've actually started painting, teaching local paint parties. And I've had like 4— I've got 5 coming up this weekend, but I've taught 4 parties. And I think what's incredible is the people that you talk to. You and the people you meet, they're all in the same, same scenario that you are when you first start. You walk in, you're scared, you're like, can I do this? Am I capable of putting together something on a canvas or a palette board or, or whatever the— whatever it is that you're doing that day? And am I good enough? Can I do this? I, you know, and the answer is yes. And everybody's will look differently, and that's okay. And everybody's, you know, every time I paint something, every— you know, you say every time you paint something, it's going to look different. You're never going to make an exact— we're not copiers, but we're artists. We're God's artists. And Every time, you know, we paint, you know, have a paint party, I just love to watch, you know, the look in these women's faces when they realize after they get through a couple layers, they're like, oh my gosh, there it is. It's coming together. I'm like, I told you, just trust it. Just trust the process.

But it's amazing to see, you know, the confidence that they gain by the end. They come in nervous, they come in scared, and then by the end of the night, they're like, oh my gosh, I did that. And that's the feeling that I had all these years that I've been teaching, just what you're experiencing now. Like, that is so fulfilling to be able to give that to people. And something else that you and I talked about the other night that I was going to ask you about regarding people who start painting. So a lot of us start painting because we're like, oh, that sounds like a fun hobby. I've always wanted to learn how to do it. The people who come to the paint nights who you have, you know, gotten to teach What were you saying to me the other night about how it's much more than— it's much more than the painting? Do you know what I'm talking about?

Oh gosh, you're really quizzing me now.

No, we were talking about how for most of us, you know, we're looking for a stress relief, you know.

Yes.

Everyone has their story. Everyone has something that they're dealing with.

Yes.

That it's so much more than painting.

It's more than painting. It's, it's, it's coming together. Either it's, it's a night alone where you can decompress and get away from the stresses of life, or just needing a night alone. And, or it's the camaraderie that you build with the people around you. It's the friendships you make with the people that are in that room, which is exactly what we're doing in Tribe is we're making these friendships. I've made multiple friends and, you know, I don't even know if they're here local. Some of them are halfway across the country and some of them are in Springfield. And when I meet them in Springfield, I get So stinking excited because it's like, oh my gosh. And I've actually talked to some of them on the phone. And but it's— you build just such a community and, and the people that go to the parties and that are painting and everything, you build something, you pull something out inside you. And it's, it's just, it's so— it's something in your soul. It satisfies your soul. And I think it's just, it's so much bigger than you. And when you can have, again, that opportunity to facilitate the time and the, you know, the activity to bring people together to, you know, be able to step away from their lives and to really just kind of enjoy, enjoy themselves and to search their soul for something that they didn't realize was part of them. You know, I've had people come back and do repeat paintings because they— and they had never painted before. And it's just, it's, it's just so much bigger than us. It's so much more than painting. It's just so much more than painting, but it's so incredible what you actually can put down and create.

So, well, thank you so much for sharing. Janice is, she's at a business conference right now and she took time out to, to come and talk with us today. So thank you so much. I love your story and I'm so proud of you and excited for you of what's going to come. It's just the beginning.

Thank you, Christie. And again, I just want to reemphasize to anybody who's on the fence and like, like where I was exactly 12 months ago, You are not going to regret trying it out. You will, you know, you have regrets by not doing something. You rarely ever are going to regret, you know, trying something and be like, oh, I wish I would have never tried that because I didn't like it. No, you know now. And I am thinking like, you know, your kids, you feed them something, it is like, just try it. You won't know. For this, it is, you will walk away having learned something about yourself and more likely having joined and met people and learn a hobby that you may never have ever been able to expect that that was something that was going to be in your life. And you won't regret it. It is such a small investment in you, you know, and we can spend that money easily in Starbucks or going out to lunch 2 times or 3 times a month. And I, I would much rather paint with you and all my tribe sisters. And, you know, even if I wasn't doing paint parties, I truly, I would rather be a part of this community than, than to, you know, I can sacrifice a couple lunch dates. And so, yeah, so if you're on the fence, if anyone's out there on the fence, don't— just jump off the fence. I'll tell you exactly what Debbie told me 12 months ago. Jump off that fence and just join.

And before she joined, she messaged me privately and she was like, Christie, I don't know, I don't know, should I do this? I'm like, she was teetering back and forth and I was like, do it, you're going to love it. Like, I already knew, I already knew she was gonna love it. And, and then, and now, and now here we are. And now she's teaching paint parties, which is something than she never saw coming. So it's exciting to see where God leads us. And not that everyone that joins this is gonna start a business with it or sell things, but it starts with taking time for you and giving back to yourself and finding something that, you know, I always say that God is the original creator and he created us in his image. And so I believe that all of us have a creative side and sometimes we just need help pulling it out. And that's what the tribe is created for, is to pull that creative side out of you that you don't even know you have.

Exactly, exactly. Thank you, Christie, for all you do, and I hope to have tons of sisters come out of this.

So, hey, real quick, someone was asking the name of your business page.

Um, it's Canvas Connections. So I do— yeah, Canvas Connections.

Yeah.

All right, thank you so much. Bye.

Alright. Hi, Carla. Carla joined us. How are you doing?

Fine.

Good. And let me see if I can end— take her off of here. I think we can. There we go. And I think she'll— when she jumps off. Okay, there we go. Sorry for the little interruption. So with me is Miss Becky Walker and Carla. And Becky, let's start with you. What, what made you join TRIBE and how did you find TRIBE when you, when you came across it?

I wanted to paint door hangers and I searched the internet and I found Um, gosh, what's her name? Tamara Dormant. Tamara. Yeah, I found Tamara, and so I joined her group because I knew nothing about painting. And so I started with Tamara, and then Christie came on as a guest for Tamara and painted hydrangeas in a glass jar, and I thought, oh my God, I want to do that. So I started You didn't say your name real clearly when you were with Tamra, and I kind of had to search to find— but I finally, I found you, and I got on your waitlist, and I was in the second group to join.

When you very—

when you first started, I was the second group. So I've been with you— my very first painting was a beach scene with cattails, and nobody could believe that I could do it, including myself. And I don't want to have a business. Um, I don't want to sell paintings. I'm retired and I've always been a crafty person, and this is one thing I've never done. So it's something that I just kind of wanted to do. So I do still do some door hangers, but like, I gave all my grandkids a door hanger for Christmas for their rooms. Um, I'm working on Christmas ornaments for this year. But what is so fun is to take everybody into my spare bedroom and show them all my canvases and say, pick out what you want.

That's awesome. And just look at it and go, oh my God, I can't believe you painted that.

And I went, well, I can't believe it either, but I did it. But anyway, so I am just having a good time and I'm learning, and it's something that I never even knew that I wanted to do. But I love it, and I just— and oh, my big thing now is I went through and took all my summer paintings down and hung all my fall paintings.

That's fun to do, isn't it?

Oh, absolutely. I've never had so many decorations before in my life. It's just fun, and I love painting pumpkins, so this is my time.

Yes, yeah, this is the time. We got all kind— I'm actually going to paint these pumpkins again over on Art Shattered here in a little bit. We're going to repaint the buffalo plaid pumpkin, so if you want to paint some more pumpkins, you can join me over on Cindy's page after we get done with this interview. And so tell me, I know like your family was like so surprised and you were surprised by something that— and because I think there's a lot of women out there who may think, well, I should have done that when I was younger, or I'm too old and there's no way that I can do it now. What would you say to those ladies?

Well, first of all, I wish I had run into you all 20 years earlier because I would be all over every one of these businesses. But I'm at the stage of my life where I'm just out for me and I'm just having a good time and I'm enjoying sharing it. But I have convinced my daughter. I got her, I enrolled my grandson, my 9-year-old grandson in Christie's summer camp program for kids. And she invited all the neighborhood kids over. They put Christie's, uh, temp— or videos up, and they all sat around the table and painted. So I've been kind of egging her on, and she finally has decided to join Heidi's group, Texas Art and Soul, to learn how to have paint parties just for kids. And that's all she wants to do. She wants to do birthday parties and things like that. So I'm excited that I finally got her excited about it. And she's, she's another one that she says, I couldn't believe that turned out, but Christie said trust the process and I'll be darned, it did.

And, you know, so your daughter doing that, because we had talked a few months ago and Becky's daughter wasn't sure what she wanted to do. So in addition to her doing that for herself and starting that business, you were telling me that now that's something that the two of you share. In common too, right?

Oh, absolutely. And as a matter of fact, my daughter called me right before school started and she said, Ryan wants to know if he can come over and you all can paint a picture together. I said, of course we can.

So we—

I forget now what we even painted, but we all sat here at the table and painted one of your paintings.

That's—

and it just, uh, it was so much fun. I really enjoyed it, and he loves it. And I'm excited to see that part of him come out because he's just so interested in the, in the art and the painting.

That's so cool.

His birthday gift is going to be your, your holiday kids camp. And he's talking about that.

Did you see, did you see my sneak peek last night?

I did.

The spider.

Yes.

This cute little spider is going to be in the kids. Holiday bundle.

But now I just encourage anybody, this is a fairly inexpensive hobby. You know, I waste money all the time. I like to go to the casino, so I'm not spending money at the casinos, but I just—

it's—

canvases are cheap, the paint is cheap, it's fun, and it's It's relaxing and I'm enjoying it and I'm amazing my husband too.

I think it's awesome. I just love Becky's like also like a cheerleader inside of our group. She's in there commenting and cheering everyone on all the time. So, you know, again, just speaking to our Community, it's, it's what it's bringing to their lives, but also what it brings into the Community and they inspire each other, which is really cool to watch because You know, we'll have a lot of women post their paintings in there, and then someone's version of the painting will inspire someone else to do something different, and it's just really cool.

Well, and Christie, another thing, I don't know whether you've noticed, but I'm trying at least to transition into not making any negative comments about what I post. I post something and I'll say, I like this about it, or I'm going to try harder. And I like to do that with other people's posts. I mean, I've seen like some fabulous trees or some a beautiful path, and they might not think that much about it, but we need to quit putting in the negative part.

Absolutely. Yes, I agree 100% because we are our own worst critics. And I used to kind of like— not scold in a mean way, but like people would post that, you know, that— and I get it because we're all insecure and we're all like— it's, it's a little nerve-wracking to put a piece of your art out there. Especially for me, like in a very public platform, because, you know, sometimes there are just mean people who say not nice things when you put things out in the public. But it makes you nervous to share a piece of yourself because it's something that you created, and the Community allows you to do that in a very safe environment where when you do post it, you get nothing but positive comments back. But I was teasing the ladies because when they used to post, they're like, well, here's my truck with pumpkins, but I hate this and I don't like this. And I'm like, all right, no, no, no, no, that's not how we're posting. Yeah, we're not going to self-deprecate ourselves in, in sharing our artwork.

And even in the very worst painting, and there have been a couple that are kind of scary, but you know, you find something good about it. You don't there's no reason to say anything negative.

Exactly, exactly. There is no reason to say anything negative ever. And I think we can all find something positive and something that we like in everybody's piece of art. And people just want to be lifted up and loved on and encouraged, and all of that is going to build confidence, not just in their art but in themselves. I think the more we are a part of communities like that, that build us up, the more confidence we gain.

I think Christie, one other thing, since I'm not in the business mode, I think my perfect saying is I'm in this for the outcome, not the income.

Oh, look at you. That's good. You're going to have to post that in the tribe. Yeah.

Like I said, if it had been 20 years ago, I wouldn't have spent 30 years with FAA working. I would have been out sawing and teaching paint parties. Stuff like that.

Well, thank you so much for sharing. Carla, would you mind introducing yourself and telling them a little bit about you and kind of how you came to painting with us?

Well, I'm Carla Haggard and I live— currently live in Lebanon, Missouri. I first learned about paint night with one of your paint nights, oh, maybe about 4 years ago. A group of us from our, from my school decided to do a group thing, and we met at the Mexican restaurant, or a Mexican restaurant there. And so that was my very first time of painting at all. You know, I'd done some stuff like, you know, back in school or something like that, and I did take an art class when I went through some college classes, but no painting, you know, I didn't do anything like that. And I'd always wanted to but never thought I could. And so when the opportunity came to go on this paint night, I said, yeah, sure, that sounds fun. And it was very fun. And it was interesting to see how, you know, everybody's look at something differently. And everybody's, you know, even though we were painting the same thing, each one of them were different, kind of followed each person's personality. So that kind of got me wanting to do more painting. And then there are some things that there in Lebanon that people invited me to. And then when you posted that you were going to open an online class, I thought, hmm, that sounds like something interesting to do. And, and it just happened that when you posted that, that was when I had decided I would retire. And so when I think I finally joined in March.

Okay.

It's like I kind of went back and forth. Well, should I do it? Should I not? Am I capable? You know, things like that. And I just can't— I told my daughter, I said, I'm really wanting to do this. It's, it looks like something, I get like a creative outlet for me since I'm, since I'm leaving one profession where I had to be creative in a sense, you know, on decorating and things like that in the classroom. This would be something different. And so I finally made the jump and I went ahead and joined. And I've loved every minute of it.

Good.

I've not gotten all of the paintings done, but trying to work them in amongst the rest of my life right now. It's, it's, uh, like everybody said, it's a relaxer. It's something that can kind of take my mind off of whatever is going on. And I can just concentrate on creating whatever, you know, the painting that I've chosen to do, or whatever you're presenting. You, and you are right on, everybody's their worst critic, because once I get it, and you've, you've had us post our paintings online, and when I've done that, I've thought, 'Oh, I could have done this different,' or 'Maybe next time I'll do it again and I'll do something else different,' or, you know, it just makes me realize too what I need to work on. I haven't quite decided what I plan to do right now. I'm just enjoying and loving the painting. I see that I'm accumulating a lot of them, so I may end up trying to sell some, or I'm not sure. And I've given some away, which they've— my, one of my nieces just loved the painting that I gave her. So, you know, I'm kind of right there at that point. I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I know it's something I'm going to do with my retirement. But I'm loving it.

That's awesome.

Yeah.

And you had, you brought something up about not being quite caught up on the paintings. And, you know, I try to tell people, because when you come in to TRIBE, these ladies have been in for quite a while, and we didn't have as many paintings when they joined. You know, there were probably a few in there, but, you know, nothing like it is now because Going Tribe now, we have a vault that I call our membership hub, and it has over 45 video tutorials you can choose from.

Yeah.

And so I want people to understand, like, you know, you get 3 new paintings a month, every month with me, but it doesn't mean you have to paint those 3. You don't have to do them in that order. You don't have to be with me live. You can pick and choose whatever you want. And that's the other cool thing I think in our community is seeing what everybody is working on because it's not always the same thing. So you're constantly seeing different pieces of art pop up.

Right.

Membership.

Yeah, and you're not tied to just doing it at that moment. With the videos, it's very easy, you know, I'm a little bit slower working, so I can stop the videos, especially if I if I'm concentrating on doing something, and then I hear you say to make sure I do something else, I can stop it, back it up, and I can watch and listen to what you're saying that I didn't catch. And then I can go ahead and do it myself. But sometimes I just like to watch them first to see what we're doing. To see what's going on and to kind of plan. And then when I'm— I can sit down and be ready to paint, and at least I've got it in my mind what I do have to do. But through those troublesome spots, I can stop the videos and go back, and I can do that as many times as I need to, to be able to get the paintings done. And I laughed, told my daughter one night, one of the paintings I, I thought would not take very long ended up taking me quite a while.

I have that problem sometimes too. In my head I'm like, oh, this one's going to be so simple, and then it'll turn out being one that lasts me way longer than what I expected.

Well, with, with me, it was like I got to a point where we were doing some little brushings. And you had warned, don't do it too much or you'll just blend it all in. Well, that's what I was doing. And I thought, okay, I need to stop, let it dry, and then I'll start it over again. And I'll start that part over again. And, you know, and plus, after watching how you do the, the painting, then I could go back and redo it. So that, that's one of the things I like about it too. It's just learning in process.

Yes, definitely. Um, what would you guys— and you can take turns answering this— what would you say to someone who was maybe on the fence, or maybe they were like you were before you got started, and they just had that in their head that there's no way this is going to work for them because they've never painted before?

Well, I would say, you know, just try at least one, or, you know, try one of your— especially when you bring— when you come up with the free, um, uh, camp, uh, or, you know, painting. Um, uh, at first, when I first start joined, I decided to just do it by the month. That way I figured, well, after a couple of months, if I don't think it's really for me, or if I don't think I can do this, all I can do is unsubscribe. But I find after— what about— I think it's been about 5 or 6 months, I finally decided, no, I'm gonna go ahead and do yearly because I know this is what I want to do.

Oh, that's awesome.

And I, I know that I want to have the time. And like you said, there are a lot of paintings in the vault, and some of them, a couple of them, are very intimidating to me because they look really, really hard or really good. Uh, the Tuscan Landscape and the Monet, I really want to do those, but I'm not sure if I'm—

oh, you totally— the Tuscan Landscape was one of my, uh, and this is actually a funny story that you brought that one up. I think that was the second painting I ever did when I very first started this membership. And when I painted it, I thought, this one's pretty easy, like, because it's just a landscape. And once— and you guys know this about me now— I break everything down into little baby steps. And yes, and that painting is no different. But so anyways, in my head, I posted it and I was like, oh, they're going to be excited about it. And when I posted it, all the comments were just like, I can't do that. Like, there's no way I can paint that. Like, that's way too hard. And I was like, whoa, no, no, no. Like, I'm not trying to scare you guys. You can totally do this. So I would challenge you, Carla, because I've seen. I've seen some. Do you have any of your work that you can show people?

I can go get some. I can go get a few pieces.

Yeah, I'll let you get a few because I want you guys to see some of Carla's work. But, yes, you can totally do the Tuscan Landsc. So if that is one that you're thinking about, you should put that next on your to-do list.

That makes me feel good because that's one I thought I'm going to build up to that one. And then the other one is the Monet. I love that one too, but I kind of felt like I needed to really work on my— on techniques. Techniques.

Yeah.

Before I got there, but I'll go get a couple and, and while you talk to Becky, All right, sounds good.

So, Vicki, what about you? What would you say?

Well, what I would tell people is painting is like dancing. Those people on Dancing with the Stars aren't born knowing how to do the cha-cha or the tango or any of those things, but if you break something down and learn it step by step, you can do it. It's, it's just very simple. You're not born an artist. You're not born a singer. You're not whatever. You've got— there's learning involved in every talent. You just have to give it a try. And because it's not a contractual type of thing, if it's not for you, you can get out. But you'll never know if you don't at least try.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And you know, this is, uh, the last time the doors will be open at this price that will include everything at will for $47 a month. So, you know, if you're on the fence about it, I would say, you know, take the girls' advice. You are not stuck in, you know, I'm not holding you hostage inside my group and forcing you to love art, but you can come in and try a few paintings out and see if you like it and see if you like being a part of the community. Because it's a lot more fun to paint with a group of women than it is to do it all on your own. I have a lot of comments of people saying, well, I don't need you because I can just watch them on YouTube. And I'm like, you can, you can most definitely watch it on YouTube, but you don't have this group of awesome women to talk with and share with and encourage you. And the other part of that— and Becky, I want to talk about the sunflowers in a second— but the other part of that is when you are watching those videos on YouTube from those instructors, they are good. I've watched several, but you can't interact with them. You can't ask them questions. You can't get their feedback if you're struggling with a certain area of a painting. I am your personal instructor inside this group. And so when you guys are having problems with something, you know, like Becky and her sunflowers, and we're going to talk about that, she— they were her nemesis, and she really wanted to nail these sunflowers down and she struggled with it. But you guys, she kept trying. And then she'd post and ask me a question, and I'd say, well, maybe we get a little like this, and maybe, you know. So it's an ongoing learning process. It's not me coming in and dropping a video and disappearing. So like, I am in the group with you guys because my goal is to help you become better artists. It's not just to share the videos with you and then leave, if that makes any sense. So this is a continual thing that we work on together.

Another good thing is to see everybody's work and see how everybody does exactly the same thing totally different, right?

And I mean, they make it yours.

If you want to talk about sunflowers, I've got examples.

Yes, yes, please. Okay, this is a mixed media pad. You guys hear me talk about these? This is why you want a mixed media pad.

Okay, here's something I guess went over, but then Oh, I went the wrong way. I just have page after page after page of sunflowers.

I love it.

And I, I still don't feel good about them, but by golly, at least I've painted some.

And you know, the, the last one you did, you were like, well, I just, I just don't know if I still like it. I'm like, I don't know what you want it to look like. I'm like, it's so pretty. Like, I, I'm not seeing what she's seen.

It's not, it's not even just a sunflower, it's that folded over.

Yeah, it's, it's the folded.

I also have some, some little ones here that I've done.

Oh my gosh, hold that closer to the camera. That's so cute.

Oh my goodness, look at that, the sheep.

Oh, those are cute.

The bird's nest.

Yes. Oh, I love that one.

4-inch ones, and I just love doing these When you've got— like when I was doing this and I had all the paint out, I thought, why not go ahead and do a little one?

Exactly. And it's so fun because you guys can take these paintings that may be a 16 by 20 or 4— I paint them on all different sizes and they don't have to be the size I teach them on. You know, like I did my farm animals on an 18 by 18 because I was making those for my house specifically and I wanted a big statement piece. But you can, you could make those into, you know, 3 12x12s or whatever, and you get the templates and then you can shrink them down and print them off at different sizes so you can make them fit whatever you want to also.

Well, I even freehanded the little pickup. I mean, that wasn't anything.

Yeah. And once again, once you've done the truck enough, then it's like second nature to just do those, and they look cute on ornaments. They make good Christmas gifts. Or little fall knickknacks to give people with the fall version. So there's all kinds of fun things you can do with some of the images in here to think of like gift giving going into this holiday season as well. Miss Carla went and got some of her art, so if you want to show those pieces.

Well, let's see. I just got a bunch of them. Okay, this is one of them.

I love that one. Is that— did you bring that to the party the other night?

No, I brought, um, some, uh, palm tree.

Oh, that's right, that's right. That one's really—

somebody else brought that, but this— okay, this one, um, I brought this one the other night.

You guys, how awesome is that? Look at her palms that she did on— I love them.

Those that I Really worked it. I find that I am heavy-handed, so I, you know, when you talk about doing the light strokes, oh, that's really hard for me to do. So that's something I do need to work on. And those are things that I find out that what I need to do. But yeah, this turned out well. I like—

yeah, I was going to say, I don't think that looks heavy-handed at all. I think you practiced your brushstrokes enough and it looks great.

Let's see. And then I brought this the other night.

Yes, look at her nativity. I love that one. And that was on a piece of like a prefab wood palette you bought somewhere, wasn't it?

Yeah, and it's a rough wood, so it did— it would look— took a little more to do. But I really liked how it turned out.

Yeah, I do too. I like the rustic nature of it and how the paint catches on the wood. It looks pretty.

Yeah. And then I did get the very first painting that I did with you at, at that paint night. That's this one here.

Oh, the FolkArt tree.

Yes, and I love the FolkArt tree. So I did go ahead and in the vault. You've got the FolkArt tree for Halloween. So I did a Halloween—

oh my gosh, that one is awesome! Look at those colors on there.

And this one's the one where you— when you had us work on mixing colors, I could not find the color citrine, so I ended up mixing one and used it for this painting. So I really felt good about mixing the color that I didn't really know what it looked like, but it turned out great.

Yeah, it did. Really close to that color too. Very—

it was close enough, I felt like.

Yeah.

And then let's see. This one here is another favorite that I did from the vault.

That looks so good.

The only thing that I had problem I had with it was my little bird. Yeah, I couldn't tell, uh, see, when I put the— when I traced it on there, I couldn't tell where the wing ended. So I—

my—

its wing is a little bit longer than it's supposed to be.

Hey, that's all right.

I just figured, okay, that's the way— I mean, I'm happy with it and I'm I like it.

So yeah, you would know that, huh? Nobody would have known that unless you—

well, it's— it just jumped right out at me. That's why I said it— when you say that it's good to take a picture of your paintings, uh, that's when I noticed it. Yeah, that bird's wing is a little bit too big.

But it's also because, you know, you know, we talked about, like, you know, sometimes we're going to see things in our art when we get done, we're like, oh, I could have done that different. I could have done that different. And sometimes it's fine to go back and make adjustments to your paintings and fix those things if they're bothering you. And sometimes you can just be happy with that piece, or you can start a new one and maybe tweak some things, you know, that you learned in the process and Yeah, I think every time you do one, you kind of, you know, you learn something different and you pick up new techniques with each painting that you do that you can then apply to your, your new ones, if that makes sense.

Yes. And, you know, when I did the Halloween FolkArt tree, I did notice, you know, I had learned more, so it was a lot— went a lot faster and easier for me. Especially the little flowers to put on it. I just didn't have to take as long as I did on this.

And you know, that reminds me, and I'll probably do it again this year because it was kind of fun to see that challenge last year. Remember when people were requesting that I do the snow-covered barn? And that may have been before you were in there, Carla, but the snow-covered barn, and I tried it, the paintings that I picked for the membership, I try to make them different enough so I'm not teaching you guys the same thing again and again and again. And so the snow-covered one, I'm looking at it and I had already taught— what was it? I had already taught like a barn. I taught something that was like similar to doing a building of some sort. And then I looked at trees and I'm like, well, I taught that style of tree in this painting. And then I looked at the ground, I'm like, well, I taught how to do that in this painting. And so I gave the original painting and posted it in the group. And then I basically challenged the ladies. I was like, okay, I've technically given you all of the tools to create this painting, and then I want you to see it based on the tech, the various paintings. And they turned out awesome, and they didn't need me to show them step by step how to do it. And Becky, you did that one.

I did. I don't have it here, but that was— I was so proud of that one because I— but I mean, I put everything into play, you know. We need depth, it needs to get smaller, it needs to be darker, you know. And that was fairly early on. I'd only been in about 5 or 6 months when we did that.

Yeah, that was really— had to be before I joined because I don't remember that one.

We'll have to— yeah, when we— when you go back in the group— and by the way, that's something new that I will have for you guys that is coming, a new search tool that we're going to have. Where you guys are going to be able to take, like, type in snow-covered barn and it will literally pull up the video and pull up a pic. Like, anything where I said snow-covered barn, it will pull it up. This is a new thing that Stu, who is my, you know, mentor and business instructor, um, he created this and I have early access to it. So we are just about to, um, install that into the membership site as well, which is going to make your life much easier when there's something specific that you're looking for. So yeah, Super excited about that. Well, thank you guys so much for coming and being on here with me and sharing your stories. And I just love it because I love the ripple effect of, you know, what happens when you decide to take something for yourself and either the joy and the confidence that it brings you, or for Becky, it ends up being something that, you know, she was able to bring to her family and that they have in common now. And now her daughter's starting a business. So you just never know. Where this journey is going to take us through. And, you know, I tell people all the time, you know, this— what I'm doing right now, I never saw that in my future. So that, that was, that was God's plan. And he gave this to me. And I, you know, I obviously taught local paint nights for a long time. And the older the girls got, the harder it was for me to be away from them at night and miss their activities and all of this stuff. And, you know, all roads led to this. And I never even thought of having an online business or thought it was something possible. And now to look at it and see all the lives that it's touching and changing and the joy that it's bringing people all across the United States is so, so very cool to me. And I'm really praying that next year we can plan a big, you know, 2 to 3 day event for Tribe sisters and get some people traveling. I'm gonna make Becky travel to come see me. She's only in Oklahoma, she's one state away.

You're, you're going to Dallas, you can stop by and see me.

If I was driving, I would, but I am flying there. We have an airport. But, um, anyways, you can tell we have a lot of fun in there and We are so excited to welcome, you know, new people to this. If you guys have any questions, post them in the comments on this Facebook post and we'll go back and check those out. But thank you guys for being here, and I'll go ahead and end your videos so you guys don't have to just stick along with me, and then I'm just gonna give them a recap on everything just in case they have any questions. But thank you guys so much again.

Love you, Christie.

Love you too. Bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

All right. So I hope you guys enjoyed that and you like having these little interviews where you get to meet some of the other tribe members because I just want you to see what that community is all about in there. So real quick, I just want to recap. For those of you that may be watching this and you heard the stories, but you still don't know what all comes with the Inner Tribe, you're going to get 3 new paintings per month with me. The 4th week of the month, you're going to have a guest artist or speaker, so someone teaching you a different style of art that I don't teach, or a business coach to come in and give you business advice if you are turning it into any kind of business. There's lots of different things you can do with it. And so that is our monthly content. And then as you As soon as you sign up, you also get immediate access to our library, which has over 45 full tutorials in addition to technique videos, 16 live Q&As from our past, which are full of information. A lot of you were asking me like, well, how do you wash brushes? And it was funny because I kept redoing that one on the live Q&As because people kept asking. And finally we realized, okay, Christie's shown us 4 times how to do this. We just needed to get back to the video. And one of the tribe members actually broke down all the videos so you can go and find exactly, exactly what you're looking for if there's something specific you're wanting to know like that. But we do all kinds of bonuses and challenges inside there. We have a lot of fun. And then of course the amazing community that we have. And then anything I do extra outside of our tribe membership, which is the monthly content that I spoke about, if I do boot camps or if I do kids camps, you guys are the first to know. And you also get a discount on those things that the public does not. So that's just another added bonus to being a Tribe Sister. But all of that is only $47 a month, or you can get 2 months for free and do $470 on the annual plan. And people were asking, how does it work exactly? Can I cancel at any time? And yes, you absolutely can. What will happen is the day you sign up, whatever card you put that on, $47 will be deducted. And then every month on that same date, it will come off that same card. And then if you need to update your card or any of that information, you just contact our community manager, who's also Christie Renee Hawkins, and she will take care of that for you. So that's kind of like the logistics of how all of that works as well. So if anyone has any questions, just be sure to either put it in the comments or shoot me a message on the Social Easel page. And last but not least, this is the last time it'll be this price. So if you are on the fence and you can't decide, go back and listen to some of these interviews, read some of the comments of what is going on with these women and how much they've enjoyed it, and let that help you make the decision. But it's the last time you'll be able to get it at this price, and we will not open doors again until March of 2020. So you have Tonight and tomorrow are your last two days to join. We close the doors tomorrow night at midnight. So, and that's it for now. I am getting ready to jump over to my friend Cindy Manley's page with Art Shattered, and we are going to do those buffalo plaid pumpkins for her audience. So if that's something that you want to see and you just want to keep hanging out and painting with me today, you can jump over to Cindy's page. Art Shattered on Facebook, and we're going to be teaching that in about 30 minutes from now. So that is it. That's what I have for you guys, and I'll be back on this evening for one last interview with some of my other Tribe sisters. So I will see you guys then. Bye.