Welcome to the {creative practice}
A place for me to share my passions to help your build a creative life.
Hello fellow creative soul and welcome to my something extra for those of you out there who feel a connection to what I put out into the world. I tried to come up with a snazzy unique name for this supplemental edition to {slow & low}, and decided it best to call it what it will be, a creative practice.
The philosophy behind {slow & low} will carry over to this space, in that I will ease into this at a pace which supports a successful trajectory for both myself and the subscriber.
My goal is to maintain connection, be present and gently unpack my career in a way that serves any one person no matter where they are in their own creative journey.
Over the last 10-13 years as a working photographer, writer and storyteller — I have dabbled in teaching photography, offering portfolio reviews, occasional workshops, and mentorships.
Truth be told, I am not interested in teaching the technical sides of photography. Partly because there are so many wonderful teachers who I believe do a better job than I, and are more established as professional educators. Therefore, instead of trying to replicate them, I will share my favorites, directing to specific lessons and resources as they fit the content I aim to share here.
My strength is mentoring. I can hold your hand from project ideation to completion. Be your champion and support you while you push through pain points and problem solve what’s not working. I have personally experienced the best and worst parts of seeing projects of all shapes and sizes through, and do not wish for you to travel the same steep rocky roads that I have traveled.
In my past I’ve supported high school and college students with their class projects and or portfolios. I’ve worked with adults of all ages who either had a personal project or simply wished to improve how they documented their life’s moments. Additionally, I’ve supported my peers who needed a fresh set of eyes on their own portfolios (as they have done for me).
All to say, the {creative practice} will be inclusive and adaptable to the community it cultivates. You do not have to aspire to become a professional, this space is for anyone who has a wish to tell and share a visual story. I will be here to listen and share content that supports this community.
How will this work, at least in these early months of building a foundation for future growth?
It will begin in the form of a weekly inspirational newsletter {Sunday evenings} where I start by sharing my favorite resources and will eventually build to include weekly assignments, exercises, and inspiration.
As the community develops, I will bring in other Substack features. These include Podcast episodes, Discussion Treads and even a Chat feature where subscribers can pick my brain on specifics.
Once I have 10 more people committed to this journey with me, I will offer a once monthly accountability Zoom call (1-hour).
Cost: $10/month or $100/annual (2 free months). To sign up you upgrade your free Substack subscription to a paid subscription.
Because this is shiny and new, which means it needs participation and time to work out potential kinks, I would like to offer something extra special to those who will essentially help me establish its roots.
Early subscribers will very much play an important role in how this space develops. Therefore, how about a free 30 to 40 min online Zoom mentoring session with me to discuss what you would like to get out of this monthly experience? This will be limited to the first ten paid subscribers.
Lastly, this is one of three ways to receive mentorship and support for building your own creative practice from me. In addition to this platform I now offer both MINI Mentorships and Comprehensive Mentorships.
I have personally benefited from investing into and participating in similar programs. Those experiences, talking with my peers and extensive research have led to these three mentorships. I am not offering anything I have not personally invested into via other mentors I look up too. I can only hope to support you in the ways they have me! I will try!
MINI Mentorships are perfect for portfolio reviews, going over a project proposal, working through a specific pain point. All in, this is a 1-hour commitment (not including prep) that includes a live Zoom session. These are very flexible to schedule and I will accept them on a rolling basis.
Comprehensive Mentorships are just as it’s titled, comprehensive. This is intended for someone who has a big goal in mind. It’s a 6-8 month commitment, pending on the mentee’s goals. Because I plan to give these mentorships all that I have to offer and will be a sizeable time commitment, I am only onboarding ONE new mentee a month.
For me, {slow & low} and {creative practice} are long term commitments (meaning years, not months). They support my personal growth as a keeper of stories, too. While {slow & low} is my place to share my work, because I truly do need that and believer putting our art out into the world is important. The {creative practice} is where I go deep and share my passion with others, so they too can put their art into the world (or just complete a really rad family project before Christmas).
I will generously share my professional story to help you tell yours.
If you know of someone who might be interested, please share this with them. None of this is possible without participation. Albeit I will be giving this as much time as it needs to become what I imagine it to be (patience is the secret sauce to all creative projects).
Now if you have questions, please reach out to me personally, I will get back to you in a timely manner.
Thank you for this opportunity to be there for you as others have been there for me.
-Jennifer
