“Failure gave me access to my talents”.
Liz Melchor shared her inspiring journey of learning to be playful in her work. Liz is an artist as well as founder of Creative Monkey. Liz started by recounting an experience which reignited her urge to play and be free with art. A long time ago, Liz gave up on creating art when preconceived notions led her to believe she wasn’t talented enough. Her new perspective developed when, living in San Francisco, she started a course in which the students were told not to look at the paper (for several months!) Various activities encouraged the artists to detach from their egos and aim instead for what the teacher referred to as “the honest mark.” Liz found it hard, especially at first, but it ultimately kick-started her creativity. During this time, Liz discovered the importance of embracing failure, which helped her to learn and grow in various areas of life. In terms of her art, it had the powerful result of giving her access to her talents.
About the speaker
Liz Melchor runs Storytelling Lisboa, together with Cristian Figueroa and where others share personal stories monthly on stage. A lifelong obsession with the creative process has driven her wide interests. Currently, her focus is drawing monkeys... Previously, she spent a lot of time writing both creatively and as a journalist, publishing in The Washington Post, Marie Claire, The Guardian, and New York Magazine’s The Cut among others. She is also a National Geographic photographer—it was only one picture of a pizza and is in one of their kids’ books, but it still counts, right? She is from San Francisco, California and has graduate degrees in psychology and writing.
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