When Adulthood Killed My Art — And How I Found My Way Back | Alexis Hedderson

She sold her artwork. People bought it for a hospital. And she still didn't believe she was an artist.Cleveland artist and teaching artist Alexis Hedderson joins host Sheran Ranasinghe for one of the most honest conversations on The Creative Odyssey Podcast — about the moment adulthood quietly kills your creativity, and what it actually takes to find your way back to it.Alexis spent years teaching art to preschoolers, saying yes to a mural project she had no business saying yes to, and battling the inner voice that told her none of it counted. What she discovered on the other side of all of it will make you think differently about why you stopped creating — and whether it's too late to start again. It's not.WHAT WE GET INTO: — The voice that gets in the way of every creative person — Why teaching art to 4-year-olds reveals something profound about every adult — The mural residency that finally made her believe she was an artist — Why selling your work doesn't cure imposter syndrome — How creativity heals in ways nothing else can — What a truly inclusive creative community needs to look like — Why the slow season is actually your most important creative timeTIMESTAMPS: 00:00 — Highlight Reel 01:30 — Meet Alexis Hedderson: Artist & Teaching Artist in Cleveland 03:00 — Why she walked away from traditional teaching 05:00 — What open-ended art with preschoolers teaches us about freedom 08:00 — When adulthood makes you forget what it felt like to be a kid 10:30 — The photo of herself as a little girl that stopped her in her tracks 13:20 — Sheran asks: "Were you allowed to create as a kid?" 14:40 — Picking up the brush during the hardest season of her life 16:05 — "Didn't that make you feel like an artist?" — Sheran pushes back 16:20 — Why even selling her work wasn't enough to change how she saw herself 18:00 — The mural project she almost said no to 19:20 — What happened inside her on the other side of it 20:00 — Learning to embrace the slow season as a creative 22:00 — Why setting up your studio during quiet periods is never wasted time 23:30 — "Art is healing. I've seen it heal. It's healed me." 26:00 — The courage it takes to share what you make with the world 28:00 — The inner child running the adult body 33:00 — Alexis's connection to Future Ink Graphics and the Cleveland creative community 36:00 — Her love of printmaking, lithography, and screen printing 39:00 — What it would take to build a truly inclusive creative spaceCONNECT WITH ALEXIS HEDDERSON: Instagram: @alexisheddersonABOUT THE CREATIVE ODYSSEY PODCAST: The Creative Odyssey is a podcast about the journey every creative person goes through — what it looks like, why it matters, and why you should create too. Hosted by Sheran Ranasinghe, filmed at Future Ink Graphics in Cleveland, Ohio.Instagram: @thecreativeodysseypodcast Email: [email protected] Filmed at Future Ink Graphics (FIG): @futurinkgraphics Website: www.futureinkgraphics.com Sponsored by FIG / Future Ink Graphics Produced by Odyssey House Media: @odysseyhousemediaIf this episode hit home, share it with someone who lost their creativity somewhere along the way.Send Us A Message! We'd love to hear your thoughts!Support the show