My guest today is the inspiring Flora Bowley, a painter, creative pioneer, gentle guide, and author of two books: Brave Intuitive Painting and Creative Revolution.

Flora blends over 20 years’ experience as a yoga teacher instructor, healer, and lifelong seeker. She passionately believes creative expression is waiting to unfold within every person who is brave enough to trust, let go, play, and explore. How good does that sound?

Flora’s soulful approach to the creative process has sparked a new holistic movement in the intuitive art world, empowering thousands of people to courageously pick up a paintbrush.

She encourages this creative expression through her intimate, in-person workshops, books, and online courses. Flora lives with her partner, Jonathan, his son, and their dog, Pearl, in Portland. Her own vibrant collection of paintings can be found in galleries, shops, and printed on unique products around the world.

Newsflash: I’m also delighted to share that Flora has VERY generously offered listeners an amazing discount on her upcoming Creative Revolution e-course happening in October, so listen in and you can apply the coupon code on her website.

Join me for this amazing conversation with Flora!

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Flora’s unconventional, winding path in life.
• Everything Flora has created in following her dreams and implementing her “out of the box” belief system.
• “A blessing in disguise”---NOT getting into the art schools she thought she wanted.
• Positive results that come from “just creating”.
• The wounding from people telling us we “aren’t good enough”.
• Healing, empowering, and practicing ways of being through creativity.
• Your soul’s calling and your creative offerings to the world.
• “Intuitive wandering” exercise and how to implement it.
• Dropping into your intuition and finding wisdom there.
• The flow that happens when you engage in the creative process.
• Simple, accessible exercises to get your creative flow going.
• Flora’s biggest inspirations.
• Staying present and being open to focus on what IS working.
• Teaching a workshop including “all the beautiful parts of myself”.
• Moving forward for Flora: collaboration with others and co-mingling their creations through workshops.

Resources:

www.florabowley.com Find Flora’s courses, workshops, videos, and products. Use the coupon code Flora shares towards the end of the episode to receive 30% off Flora’s Creative Revolution course!

I do hope you enjoyed this episode and invite you to share with a friend. For more episodes go to michellemariemcgrath.com

I would be so grateful if you would leave a rating or review on Itunes. Thank you! 

My guest today on Unclassified Woman is the fabulous Mary Reynolds, who is based in Ireland, one of my favourite places in the world. (I am 3/4 Irish so slightly biased!). 

Mary lives and breathes her work as a landscape and garden designer, teaching others how to connect with the land beneath our feet and have a nurturing relationship with it.

Her gorgeous book that is about much more than mere gardening. It's a call to action for all of us. The Garden Awakening highlights her role as “a guardian rather than a gardener.” She believes in cultivating a relationship with the land and working in harmony with Mother Nature.

She views being a gardener/land owner as someone who is like a parent guiding a child. In creating vibrant and magical spaces, she displays her creative spirit where gardens are a partnership between sensitive souls and the earth that nurtures us.

I highly recommend Dare to be Wild, a film inspired by a period in her life, when she became the youngest woman to win the gold medal at the prestigious Chelsea Flower Show. (Download after listening to this podcast on Google Play Movies). 

What you’ll hear in this episode:

• Why Mary is a “custodian of the land” and a “creature of the forest”;
• Feeling at home and strongly connected to nature;
• A strong childhood memory of a field, sunshine, and butterflies;
• Belonging to the family of plants and creatures;
• Different places, different vibrations, and unique personalities;
• Our connection with places and bodies, mirroring the earth;
• Working in harmony with the land;
• Our role as guardians and light holders of the woodlands;
• Abuse of the land reflecting the abuse of women;
• How we treat the earth with industrial farming and chemicals;
• The synchronistic system between us and the earth;
• How Mary communicates with the earth, the plants, and the creatures;
• Her advice? Find some land to work with in your community;
• The unfair distribution of land;
• “Dismantle the ego-self and create the eco-self.”
• Evolving in the future and what's next for Mary;
• How the film came about;
• Remembering what’s important and finding your way home;
• How working with the land heals your heart.
  
  Order Mary's book: here:https://www.michellemariemcgrath.com/garden-awakening-designs-nurture-land/

 To follow Mary on her journey as she works her gardens and her land, you can visit her website: http://marymary.ie

 I do hope you enjoyed this episode and would be eternally grateful if you left us a testimonial or rating on itunes. Please subscribe and share with a friend who would enjoy.

For more episodes go to michellemariemcgrath.com