The question is not, are you an artist?
The question is how can you create a life that enables you to make your art?

What if your art was a natural, integrated part of your day to day life, and not a thing you desperately wanted to squeeze in or felt guilty or resentful for not doing?

What if you knew your own processes so well you could confidently trust yourself to make the right choices for yourself and your art?

What if those mean voices in your head when you sit down to create were not the loudest thing you could hear?

Touchstone is a course dedicated to helping you do two things:
1. answer these questions for yourself and
2. use what you learn to begin to build the artist's life you've been longing for.

Your art needs both devotion and practical knowledge. It needs heart and action. Action without a firm foundation and awareness of who you are leads to art without the essence that makes it yours. Passion and heart without action lead to no art.

Touchstone teaches you how to create your foundation and take action to make the art you came here to make, whether that’s purely for your own pleasure or to share with a wider audience. It teaches you to find clarity in all the parts of your process, so that you can make your best, most unique-to-you art with confidence and a greater level of ease.

If you struggle with any aspect of making your art, Touchstone will show you another way. A way that is clarifying, action-oriented, and most of all fits you and your life.

Whatever your stage on the journey...

if you're finding yourself coming up against the same struggles over and over
if you can't seem decipher your unique way of making art amongst all the inspiration
if you can't seem to get a rhythm going with your creative work
if you're finding progress slow going or non existent
if the mean voices are making it painful or impossible to move forward
if you're longing for a stable foundation and the confidence to make your creative work and share it with the world

...then Touchstone was created for you.

“I struggle with what Tara calls "the demons" when it comes to creating and sharing work for my business. I found so many topics covered in this course that helped reframe struggles, offering new approaches and pushing me to take action - the key change I needed with my work. I highly recommend this course for anyone struggling to take action or needing to shake things up with new perspective and experiments."
Deb Dane, innercompassdesigns.com

This course is for you if:

You're ready to start addressing the things that have been plaguing you and holding you back from making your best, truest, most satisfying creative work.
You’re open to making changes in your life to allow your creative work the space it needs {or at least a bit more of it!}
You’re curious, motivated and willing to take action, even though it’s hard sometimes
You know you’d benefit from some guidance and support - doing it by yourself has been difficult and slow progress
You’re in it for the long haul. Which really means for life. This isn’t a quick fix, but the effects can last forever.
You want to feel more confident in your creativity, and claim it as who you are.
You know that being actively and regularly creative is essential for your wellness and wellbeing, you’re just not sure how to make that happen.
You'd like to reap the benefits of knowing your own processes and ways of expressing through your art that go beyond personal fulfilment to actually sharing and selling your work.

“This course is so content rich that I know I will be going back to review many sections. Tara is a kind and encouraging teacher who gently pushes you to create as only you can create. This sounds simple, but it is actually a huge challenge when there is so much “out there” to compare yourself to. Touchstone helps you plan strategies to tackle the obstacles (real and imagined!) that get in your way of doing your own unique creative work.”
Alison Kaczmarek

Course Format

AUDIOS

A series of daily downloadable audio ‘touchstones’ {with transcripts}, each one offers an encouraging, reassuring, 'reminder-ing' and rebalancing balm that you can download and listen to whenever you reach a specific sticky point in your process, or at times that will suit you as you go about your day.

We’ll cover topics such as procrastination, self doubt, mean voices, process, your creative space, finding what will work for you with your specific desires, needs and quirks, meaning, permission, inspiration, overwhelm, sharing what you make with the world, and much more.

MANUAL OF SELF

This will be your personal Book of You - the place where everything you're learning about yourself, the way you work, what you need, how you need it, and all the other things we'll uncover will go. You'll start with a basic set of pages, and the worksheets throughout the course can be added to it to create the completed manual.

PERSONAL PROJECT

Alongside that you'll have the option to create your own art adventure! You'll devise a personal project for the duration of the course, with my support via the Facebook group. This will give you the opportunity not just to explore something that interests you that could lead to a solid body of work, but also to use the lessons to deal with that anything that comes up in real time, as you work through the course.

VIDEOS

And! There are bitesize videos to give you jumping off points when you get stuck, and be inspired to try new things.

EXTRAS

Plus plenty of extra resources that support your learning p.

You’ll learn how to recognise and work with your own process.

You’ll cultivate new perspectives and a mindset that supports you as an artist and creative, whatever that means for you.

"Tara has brought me out of a place of creative denial. Once again I feel a creative life which is rich and full. Inspirations flow, ideas come easily. This is the best ecourse I've taken and Tara is a wonderful teacher, and gives such wonderful direction and clarity. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us."

Lowri Drakley

About me and why I created this course

Ten years ago I was coming out of one of the biggest depressive breakdowns of my life. I’d moved to a new city, found a little flat I could hide in while I recuperated, and started to remember who I was before the decades of illness. I did this in two ways; I started pursuing an energetic path back to wellness, and I brought back my art.

I believe as humans we need creatively active lives, because creativity is a path to freedom. It frees us from old patterns, from limiting beliefs, from the things that make it hard to relate to others with real authenticity.

Touchstone is packed with lessons I've learned over the past nine years about living creatively in the way that suits the uniqueness of you, because I know from walking the path myself that it’s possible

You can live a life so richly and deeply creative that there is no distinction; it’s what you do, who you are, how you think and behave, how you express yourself. And it's easy. {Not without challenges, but intrinsically easy, because you are just being yourself.}

There are no quick solutions or step by step blueprints here; I’ve found they tend not to lead to anything that truly fits and lasts. But I can guide you towards a place in yourself where clarity, ease and confidence are always available to you. And once you set up home there, you’ll be able to do the creative work you came here to do, and reap the rewards of joy, purpose, and fulfilment, while offering that back out to the world in ways that feel easy and natural to you. If I can do it, you can definitely do it. :)

Embracing an inherently creative life can but doesn’t necessarily mean making a living from it. You can absolutely lead a rich, fulfilling life in which you delight in your own creativity every day in all sorts of ways for the sheer joy of it. For the way it connects you with children, with other active creatives, with yourself, with the world around you.

Touchstone is about starting to build a real and solid foundation for your creative life so you can stop trying and start thriving, in whatever way that means for you.

It’s about shifting from ‘trying to fit it in’ to making it a natural and integrated part of your life. It’s also about getting to know yourself really really well and so understanding, recognising and developing your own process and your own unique art.

It’s the course I would have liked to have taken when I was just starting to bring back my art and floundering in a sea of inspiration, not knowing what was mine, and being buffeted about by the winds of fear, doubt, procrastination, and all the other delightful challenges that come with being an actively creative person.

This course is about being more connected with life as a rich and joyful creative experience.

Note: If I’ve painted a picture that feels impossible to you right now, know that I still hear the mean voices, I still procrastinate, and I still have fears and doubts! It’s not that I’ve found some secret that eliminates all struggle; it’s simply that there is a big difference in how I respond to it now. It’s a mindset shift ultimately, not about eliminating the things we think are causing us to ‘fail’ or that ‘shouldn’t’ be happening.

"The Touchstone course was probably THE most important move toward self-improvement I made this entire year. I used to shy away from calling myself an artist, let alone calling myself creative, but Tara's kind insight and guidance (which is very intuitive), has allowed me to express myself in ways I didn't really realize were possible."

Christa Clark, buttonlove.ca

What's Included in the Course

Week 1: Laying Foundation Stones

We'll start exactly where you are and lay down some sturdy foundation stones to start building your house of creativity

Week 2: Establishing Your House of creativity

This week is all about clarity. We'll look at your creative process, your creative space, and clarify and redefine a few important words

Week 3: Demons + Superpowers

Time to recast those demons in new roles. We'll uncover some very useful tools to deal with them so you can get on with your art.

Week 4: An Artist in the World

Now that you're on a roll, we'll look at inspiration, flow, allies, and getting your art out into the world in the best way for you

Registration is currently closed.
Sign up below to hear when it reopens!

You will receive a free mini ebook exploring 3 things that hold us back from making our art,
and what to do about them.

Touchstone

20 rich and action oriented lessons over four weeks
Downloadable audio 'touchstones' with printable transcripts
Comprehensive worksheets to build your Manual of Self
An invitation to create a personal project, with support and guidance
Video minis to give you ideas
Heaps of resources, links, and recommendations
An inside view as I take a project from idea to completion
A dedicated, private Facebook community for sharing and support
Lifetime access

Join the waiting list

“I loved the combination of freedom and structure. All the aspects were open enough to fill in my own ideas and at the same time I felt as though you were alongside me with a safety net of encouragement, reminders of self kindness, and motivation. I often have tons of ideas and start acting on too many, and ending up by not finishing anything at all. The manual of self helped so much to focus, sort, tidy up my interior (mental) and exterior (crafting space) situation. ”
Nicole Meisters

Frequently Asked Questions

Is this an art course?

The course is based in creativity as a whole, and will not teach specific 'how to' techniques for painting and drawing. However, because I'm an artist and I understand the specific struggles artists go through, as well as having a wealth of ideas for developing your art in a way that's unique to you, I'm including an art component.

You could take the course as a creative non-artist and still reap the benefits of the core lessons. If you are an artist, you'll have the option of art based videos and a specific project for the duration of the course. Having this single focus will allow you to explore the more cerebral lessons in real time, as demons come up and challenges arise to be navigated.

When will the course be available?

If the course is not currently open for registration, you can sign up above to be alerted when doors next open. As soon as you're registered, you can start. You have full access to the course indefinitely, and can start whenever you're ready and take it at your own pace. The Facebook group remains open so you can take your time and know there will be others working at their own pace too that you can connect with whenever you like.

How much does it cost?

£147 / approx. $202
Click here to convert to your currency

How much time will I need for it?

The course is structured so that it can fit in with the amount of time you have or can make available. It was originally created to fit into four weeks, with the intention that it would be an ongoing process. You can just listen to the audios each day, which run to around 15 minutes {like listening to a little podcast!}. If you add in the worksheets and activities, you'll need maybe half an hour or more depending on how far you want to go with each.

The course content is designed to create a foundation and sustainable ongoing actions in your life, so although you can use the four week structure if that helps you, it's less about 'doing it all' in the four weeks, and more about laying the groundwork for gradual change.

Is there a place to share and receive feedback?

Absolutely! We may usually make our art alone but that doesn't have to mean we don't also have support and community. I always offer a Facebook group for my courses. You will receive an invitation to the group when you register.

It's important to me to be present in the classroom to offer encouragement, feedback, practical advice and make sure you have what you need. I will be in the group daily {usually several times a day} for the first month after registration. After that I will always respond when tagged. This enables me to be present for students of each new course as it opens without spreading myself too thin to give proper, effective support.

What will I need to take the course?

You won't need to buy anything specific, {unless you love any excuse to buy a new notebook or sketchbook and pen!}, so there's no materials list. All you'll need is an internet connection with a speed that will support watching videos, access to a printer to download and print off the worksheets, whatever art supplies you already own, and a curious and open minded outlook! :)

Oh, and there'll be a Facebook group for connection, support and sharing, so if you'd like to be part of that you'll need a Facebook account too. You can find out how to set that up here.

What Students Are Saying

"It has helped me so very, very much, unwinding decades of discouragement, despair, and a deep-rooted lack of self-confidence. It is taking me a long time to disempower the ‘demons’, but then, there’s a long period of negativity to clear away.

However, I already feel the freedom to enjoy my art, not automatically thinking it is a waste of time and materials, and now when someone says, ‘oh, you’re an artist’, I do not jump immediately into denial. Thank you, Tara. I am so glad I found you."

Betty Hopson

"I just want to tell you that I’m doing Touchstone at the moment and it’s absolutely what I need. It’s been such a horrendous past year for me battling (and overcoming!) cancer, and this course is causing subtle yet profound shifts for me. I really look forward to opening it up and listening to you speak. I don’t manage every day but I need to take my time and work slowly right now while I repair physically and emotionally.

I notice now how much art has had my back throughout challenges and difficult times in my life, and there’s pennies dropping all over the place right now.

Also, you’ve given me the courage to tackle something as a personal project I’ve been sniffing around for a while, but procrastinating because I didn’t have enough technical know-how. You have shown me that experiential learning is bloody brilliant and I’m having a lot of fun with the process!"

Suzie Chaney

"I am writing primarily to thank you for facilitating what I consider to be a miracle in my life. I have been doing your Touchstone online course. In one of the lessons you suggested that instead of becoming negative about why you aren’t creating, you begin to ask yourself better questions. I started to ask myself what kind of art could I create that resonated with my heart. I asked myself what kind of art could I create that would be meaningful to me. I asked myself what kind of art could I do that would give me purpose. I decided I would do a series of portraits of people who need society to stop, recognize them, consider them, and open their hearts with compassion for them.

Your Touchstone course has created an enormous breakthrough for me, it resulted in my discovering what I would do next that was motivating, inspiring and meaningful to me! I am ever so grateful to you for helping me get on this new path. "

Angie Brattan

return to taraleaver.com

The question is not, are you an artist?The question is how can you create a life that enables you to make your art?

​​

Touchstone is a course dedicated to helping you do two things: 1. answer these questions for yourself and2. use what you learn to begin to build the artist's life you've been longing for.