Viewfinder Lauren Sauder

Seasons are defined as divisions in the year marked by particular weather patterns and daylight hours, resulting from the earth's changing position with regard to the sun. It’s also added salt, herbs, pepper, or other spices to (food) - more on this later…
For me, a season is defined as period of time that offers the chance to lean into current circumstances, intentions, feelings, and needs. It’s a daily check-in. It’s permission to know nothing is permanent.
viewfinder is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new episodes and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Reflections
* A season should reflect me and only me.
* A season length can vary.

Resources
* Embracing Creative Seasons, blog post
* Trust Your Creative Practice, workbook
* Creative Mantas for Winter Season, blog post

Connect
If we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting - I’m Lauren Sauder, an artist, writer, and mentor. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider writing a review. Here are a few more ways you can connect with me:
* Download your viewfinder—Print it, cut it, and carry it with you.
* Download the artist mixtape—a mix of books, playlists, and residencies to provide inspiration and company in the studio.
* Receive letters from me—bi-weekly letters from me about what I’m working through in my creative practice and life.
* Enlist me as your mentor—if you are interested in unlimited support and guidance to grow your creative practice.
* Get in touch with me directly—send an email to laurensauderstudio@gmail.com.

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Knowing is defined as being done in full awareness or consciousness. The state of being aware or informed. Intentional. Sureness.
When I think about knowing, I think of my gut first. A knowing in my body, in my chest, in my mind - it’s a feeling. An internal instinct. A self-trust.
I view my knowing as a place to make decisions - as I am thinking about this it’s almost like a mentor, something guiding me towards my most honest self. Helping me stay connected to myself, fulfilled with myself.
viewfinder is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new episodes and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Reflections
* I use my foundation to help me stay grounded in my knowing.
* Being self-aware helps me stay in relationship with my knowing
* Finding and listening to my knowing requires patience.
* If I am quiet enough, I believe I hold every single answer.

Resources
* Viewfinder—find quiet and your knowing

Connect
If we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting - I’m Lauren Sauder, an artist, writer, and mentor. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider writing a review. Here are a few more ways you can connect with me:
* Download your viewfinder—Print it, cut it, and carry it with you.
* Download the artist mixtape—a mix of books, playlists, and residencies to provide inspiration and company in the studio.
* Receive letters from me—bi-weekly letters from me about what I’m working through in my creative practice and life.
* Enlist me as your mentor—if you are interested in unlimited support and guidance to grow your creative practice.
* Get in touch with me directly—send an email to laurensauderstudio@gmail.com.

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Get full access to Lauren Sauder at laurensauder.substack.com/subscribe

A foundation is defined as an underlying basis or principle. It can also mean a justification or reason. And my favorite definition is the lowest load-bearing part of a building, typically below ground level.
When I first graduated with my BFA becoming an artist seemed so flashy. Work for myself, make what I wanted, and sell it. Yet, the truth is, all of that requires so much more—and I forgot to consider myself. My human self.
I think there is incredible value in learning from other people and trying new things out
AND
I think it’s equally important to know myself and the motivations behind why I am trying something. I have to know damn well that I am considering my motivations.
Appointing a foundation establishes a place to root my creative identity and practice. It also helps support and guide my process as I grow and develop artistically.
viewfinder is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new episodes and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Reflections
Exploring my foundation; I am going to share my creative values here. Please take these as examples only. I never want to plant ideas that aren’t yours, or share blueprints for one way of doing it. But I also am aware of how beneficial examples can be. To understand what roots a value and how you can use it as a tool. And I believe in knowing my truths and sharing what has worked for me.
* Curiosity
* Process
* Intention/Reflection
* Multi-disciplinary

Resources
* Viewfinder, an audio class that literally and metaphorically explores the paper viewfinder as a tool to find your creative practice foundations
* Artist mentorship, month-to-month mentorship to explore your foundation together
* Building the House, Mary Oliver (download the essay from the artist's mixtape)

Connect
If we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting - I’m Lauren Sauder, an artist, writer, and mentor. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider writing a review. Here are a few more ways you can connect with me:
* Download your viewfinder—Print it, cut it, and carry it with you.
* Download the artist mixtape—a mix of books, playlists, and residencies to provide inspiration and company in the studio.
* Receive letters from me—bi-weekly letters from me about what I’m working through in my creative practice and life.
* Enlist me as your mentor—if you are interested in unlimited support and guidance to grow your creative practice.
* Get in touch with me directly—send an email to laurensauderstudio@gmail.com.

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Get full access to Lauren Sauder at laurensauder.substack.com/subscribe

Threshold by definition is a point of departure and transition. A place or point of entering a beginning. The outset. It can also mean your limit or boundary.
Two weeks ago, I released a new class called Process Class. Process class was an idea I had in December of last year. I gathered my notes and continued to collect new research as I filled out this creative form. I’m always quick to act on new ideas, and I find it quite easy to be in the gathering stage.
I then went idle. I couldn’t decide between creating the class as a prerecorded experience or a live one. I worked through the decision (something I will probably talk about in a later episode), recorded the class, and released it for sale.
Check, mark, done.
But then I was met with many feelings - proud, excited, tired, nervous, anxious, restless, avoidance - I wanted to close the chapter and have the next one waiting for me.
The truth is, I don’t quite have the next one waiting for me. Sure, I have projects I am working on that feel ongoing - a body of work about atmospheres, and daily writing, but nothing that felt like a sure start, end, and middle.
And I began to think - I have to quickly move onto my next idea.
Yet - my next idea isn’t ready yet. It’s still incubating. I am still reflecting on what I want from it and if it’s really for me.
I realized I am in a threshold. I am in between. And this place can be beautiful, too.
viewfinder is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new episodes and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Reflections
* I can look at thresholds as an in-between moment, much like I look at the beauty of in-between moments in daily life.
* I need to move through thresholds to make my creative process dynamic.
* I have to sustain my mindset.

Resources
* Process Class, a 90-minute class is your gateway to tune into your life, trust your curiosity, and unlock your full creative potential.
* Finding the in-between, Lauren Sauder


Connect
If we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting - I’m Lauren Sauder, an artist, writer, and mentor. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider writing a review. Here are a few more ways you can connect with me:
* Download your viewfinder—Print it, cut it, and carry it with you.
* Download the artist mixtape—a mix of books, playlists, and residencies to provide inspiration and company in the studio.
* Receive letters from me—bi-weekly letters from me about what I’m working through in my creative practice and life.
* Enlist me as your mentor—if you are interested in unlimited support and guidance to grow your creative practice.
* Get in touch with me directly—send an email to laurensauderstudio@gmail.com.

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Get full access to Lauren Sauder at laurensauder.substack.com/subscribe

The word process means a series of actions or steps taken to achieve a particular end. A natural and intentional series of changes.
Process is one of my favorite words to talk about. Because I feel like when I cracked mine—when I realized and accepted what worked for me, I felt like I achieved a superpower. A level up. A way of working that I completely trusted and had unwavering confidence in.
viewfinder is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new episodes and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Reflections
In this episode, I give an inside look at my process.
* Collect: I let myself observe and participate in imagination.
* Process/Reflect/Understand: I write, read, research, conversate, think about, and find mentors in my ideas.
* Make: I explore the creative output.

Resources
* Join the waitlist + get early bird pricing for my new class, Process, releasing next Tuesday, February 27
* Building the House, Mary Oliver (download the essay from the artist mixtape)
* Rick Rubin — Magic, Everyday Mystery, and Getting Creative, On Being

Connect
If we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting - I’m Lauren Sauder, an artist, writer, and mentor. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider writing a review. Here are a few more ways you can connect with me:
* Download your viewfinder—Print it, cut it, and carry it with you.
* Download the artist mixtape—a mix of books, playlists, and residencies to provide inspiration and company in the studio.
* Receive letters from me—bi-weekly letters from me about what I’m working through in my creative practice and life.
* Enlist me as your mentor—if you are interested in unlimited support and guidance to grow your creative practice.
* Get in touch with me directly—send an email to laurensauderstudio@gmail.com.

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Get full access to Lauren Sauder at laurensauder.substack.com/subscribe

The word mentor means a trusted guide. They typically give influence, guidance, or direction to someone with less experience in a particular topic.
I find mentorship in a lot of different places. Back in 2023, I wrote about how I don’t think we are meant to hold creativity alone. And I still think about this notion. Creativity encompasses a lot—it’s both internal and external and I find it incredibly helpful to look to others to help guide me in areas I feel less sure about.
This looks different in any given season—depending on my current circumstances and what I need. I ebb and flow and move in and out of looking to mentors for support and guidance.
viewfinder is a listener-supported podcast. To receive new episodes and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Reflections
* I search for mentors to guide me in how to BE.
* I find mentors in different seasons, depending on what I need.
* My mentors don’t have to be physically present and in conversation.

Resources
* We aren’t meant to hold creativity alone
* Artist Study

Connect
If we haven’t had the pleasure of meeting - I’m Lauren Sauder, an artist, writer, and mentor. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider writing a review. Here are a few more ways you can connect with me:
* Download your viewfinder—Print it, cut it, and carry it with you.
* The artist mixtape—a mix of books, playlists, and residencies to provide inspiration and company in the studio.
* Receive letters from me—bi-weekly letters from me about what I’m working through in my creative practice and life.
* Enlist me as your mentor—if you are interested in unlimited support and guidance to grow your creative practice.
* Get in touch with me directly—send an email to laurensauderstudio@gmail.com.

Share



Get full access to Lauren Sauder at laurensauder.substack.com/subscribe