Meet Carmina
art educator.
facilitator.
creativity coach.
artist doula.
she/they
Bio
Carmina is Latinx and enjoys the use of this word for its expansive meaning. It helps to encompass the complicated relationship she has with growing up in a bi-cultural home, as well as with her/their present journey to decolonize her/their art and teaching practice.
She is an interdisciplinary artist, photography instructor, and visual storyteller. Her art uses everyday objects to communicate stories of human experience.
They have been an arts educator for over 15 years, teaching after-school art classes, community, and higher education.
They hold an MFA in Photography and are currently a photography instructor at Cabrillo College, teaching digital photography and visual storytelling.
One of my favorite places to be is sitting with an artist, an art student, an art educator/professional, or a creative person, as they talk about a project they are excited about. I watch them light up with beautiful ideas and am lit up with them. And I also watch their faces darken and their voice lower as they talk about their uncertainties. One of the most common fears I hear about is self-doubt.
Like many creative people, I experience paralyzing self-doubt. It can prevent me from feeling safe enough to share my creative practice with others. Not only that but I’ve pathologized this self-doubt. I wonder, “Why can’t I just do this? There must be something wrong with me.”
But the very boring truth is nothing is wrong with me. (Nothing is wrong with you, either, by the way.)
From the years I’ve been in community with other artists (through teaching, curating, collaborating, and being in deep conversations with the most precious of friends) I’ve learned that the creative process is a cyclical and iterative one, with physical patterns that we can recognize if we pay attention. And once we see the patterns we can be better collaborators with our own creative process.
I don’t have all the answers. I’m not trained in a specific coaching program. I can’t guarantee outcomes or a particular financial figure.
But I can be present with you as the cycles of the creative process move through you. I can hold up a mirror for your process, so you can better see your gifts and dreams. I can offer to be an intentional collaborator with you as you discover and re-discover the resources you need to be the instrument of what you create in the world. I can offer my experience as a mentor, teacher, curator, and artist.
I’m creating Luminaria to support other artists in their practices, to lend myself to a bigger and more collaborative creative process, and, if I’m being really honest, to find creative solutions to thrive in the new era that we find ourselves in.
