Intuition {Self-Portrait}

Intuitively, we gather together. We learn from each other. We share each other’s pain and life experiences as a collective.
We learn we are not so different from one another. We go beyond the surface and we create from a once guarded space deep within. We support, we grieve, we hold space, we grow, we make a mess. We are Artists. There’s no textbook that can teach this experience; this way of learning. It’s in the doing. It’s in the mistakes. It’s in our guts. We are guided by our intuition and we trust the process.
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Thank you to the women who have trusted in me and have gathered together to create in Expressive Self Portraiture. It is a gift and honor to spend time with you.♥️

The Snow Queen

Perfectionism is fear in disguise. How many times have you wanted to do something but told yourself the timing wasn't right or you didn't have enough time? Maybe if ___ happened or ____ then you could begin. Oftentimes, I find the most difficult part with something new is to begin. If we could allow ourselves to just begin, then the rest will unfold. We don't have to be experts to begin.
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I’m currently reading Julia Cameron's newest book, The Listening Path. When she teaches, she cues her students to make a list of 10 fill in the blanks. Each one begins with- If it didn't have to do it perfectly, I’d try ____.
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My very first thought was paint. I would paint. Thinking of all of the things I would do if they didn't have to be perfect was profound and gave me a lot to journal about. Think of all the things we hold back from in fear of not being good enough. We are depriving ourselves of the very things that will make us thrive!
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Let's be brave together and show up and do the work...whatever that work may be.

The Snow Fairy

An important and key part to being an artist is to practice, play, and be hands on. We learn and grow by doing.
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Begin before you feel ready to. It’s no secret, we’re going to experience failures. We’re going to make bad art. There is no exception to that. It’s a rite of passage. It happens to us all, myself included.
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We are going to fail, but we’re going to learn. Be open to the lessons of your failures. Listen to them and study them as if they were sacred secrets. Become receptive. Crack open and let the ideas flow in that are unique to your self-expression.
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It’s in the experience where the magic happens. The doing. Going into a shoot with an open mind and allowing the outcome to unfold before you is where creativity thrives.

The Apple Orchards

Everybody has a secret world inside of them. I mean everybody. All of the people in the whole world, I mean everybody — no matter how dull and boring they are on the outside. Inside them they've all got unimaginable, magnificent, wonderful, stupid, amazing worlds... Not just one world. Hundreds of them. Thousands, maybe.
Neil Gaiman
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Here is the second location from the other day. If you zoom in you’ll see my fingers are as red as the falling apple. No editing there. It was freezing! I have Raynaud’s Syndrome and normally my fingers and toes turn pure white and go numb even while being inside of my house. I reached a new level of cold that day. Does anyone else have Raynaud’s? My daughter plays ice hockey so I have an endless supply of hand and toe warmers!

Fantasy {Self-Portrait}

Fantasy is storytelling with the beguiling power to transform the impossible into the imaginable, and to reveal our own “real” world in a fresh and truth-bearing light.
Leonard S. Marcus
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In my Instagram stories I asked which location you would like to see first from a recent shoot. Here is the location with the most votes.

What’s everyone up to today? Here in NJ we are having a snow day. Is there anything more magical that newly fallen snow? ❄️

Our Stories are What Heals Us and Others

Our stories are what heals us and others. Our expression of our stories is our medicine. The process is cathartic. The outcome is freeing. 

I had no idea what I was doing the very first time I turned my camera around onto myself. Self-portraiture was a foreign concept, another language. My need for self-expression was so strong that it outweighed my fears of making bad art and using myself as the subject.

It taught me that it’s better to begin rather than spending your time planning and researching. You have to come with an open mind and be willing to mess up....a lot. You’ll find pieces of yourself you didn’t know existed in the mistakes and mishaps. You’ll see glimmers of hope and wonder in yourself.

Self-portraiture is an opportunity to tell your story, rewrite a new one, learn who you are, and are not. The camera is your tool that reveals your soul. This work strips you down to your core. It’s not easy, but the healing and self-discovery that comes out of this medium are profound and life-changing.

I am a better person than when I began this journey of self-expression. This is why I wrote and teach Expressive Self Portraiture. I know what it can do for a person, and I wanted to be able to share this experience with others.

It’s so easy to be critical and judgmental of yourself when you’re the subject. Let’s leave our judgement of ourselves and others at the door. Let’s support each other and hold a light for one another. I will guide you through the process. You just need to take the first step. Registration opens in April!

Justice

Sometimes all we need is permission. Permission to change our minds. To create what we want. To change our careers. To call ourselves artists. To write the book. To tell the truth. To share our truth. Permission to heal. To let go of our guilt. To forgive ourselves. To do the thing that scares us most.
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This is me giving you permission.
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I’m going to be opening up registration for my class, Expressive Self Portraiture, soon. I’ve made some updates to it and it will have a new price as well. If you’re looking for a place where you can fully be YOU and find new ways and tools to express yourself, look no further. I will be there to guide and support you every step of the way for 4 weeks. After that, we will continue our journey together and support each other in a private forum. I’m so excited!
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Justice {Self-Portrait}

The High Priestess

I’ve been staying small lately and it leaves me feeling unsettled. I’ve never liked change before and I’ve been faced with my fair share recently. I’m questioning my worth, my abilities, my intuition and judgement.

Self-portraiture has been my lifeline, my remedy to what ails me for several years now. When my Expressive Self Portraiture class was just a dream there weren’t many artists who focused on self-portraits. I was told there wasn’t enough need for it. The audience wasn’t large enough.

The thing is, I’m not looking for a large audience. What I do needs to be in a small space that’s safe. That’s where the magic takes place. That’s where wounds are opened and tended to in order to begin the healing process. It’s where we fall apart and unravel only to pick ourselves up whole again. Stronger. We walk the creative path together as equals.

I will soon be offering new ways to connect with me and to be a part of my updated class. Oftentimes, change is good. I will embrace the unknown and continue to create and use my voice to advocate for this type of self-expression in art. Thank you to each and every one of you who has stood by me and shown your support.

The High Priestess 🌛🌝🌜

Art as Voice: Should You Let Your Photography Speak for Itself?

Art speaks for itself. Or does it? This belief depends mostly on the expected outcome. This false belief is the misconception I have fallen under for the last several years as an artist trying to make a career.

In my earlier years of self-portraiture, I was using my images as my voice. I processed all of my feelings, emotions, and thoughts through this practice. I shared the pictures with the world to lift a heavy weight off of my chest.

I let the work speak for itself.

Were there people who connected with my self-portraits?

Yes.

But I'm sure more viewers were left confused and wanting to know more.

Sometimes I would drop the images with absolutely no context and run and hide. Other times I would add a quote that I found online. Eventually, I began writing haikus to accompany the pictures.

Once I began getting my work into galleries, I learned the importance of titling my work. For far too long, I believed a title was enough. And sure, a title is enough for a gallery and its audience. But what if a viewer wants to know more about the artist? They visit their website and find what?

With mine, they found the images with their titles, and nothing more.

Here I was seeking connection and community, yet I wasn't contributing. Part of the reason was because of false beliefs I had conjured up about not being enough or worthy. There was a fear of my voice, words, and opinions not being needed. There's enough of that out there already.

I'll drop my art right here and be on my way.

I didn't educate myself on the importance of building these connections and communities of support through email lists, newsletters, blogging, and sharing more of myself than just a self-portrait.

So while I do believe that there are a time and place for art to speak for itself, that's not what I want to practice right now. What I want to practice is sharing authentically with you, because that is of the utmost importance to me.

With that said, what is it that you would like from me? What can I offer you? Leave a comment or email me at sharoncovertphotography@gmail.com and let me know the type of content you'd like most from me and how I can best serve you.

* Sharon Covert is a teacher and mentor at The Define School. Sharon's courses, Expressive Self Portraiture and The Art of Authenticity are both available through The Define School. For more information email Sharon at sharoncovertphotography@gmail.com or visit The Define School by clicking this link. You can sign up for Sharon’s newsletter HERE to stay up to date and receive a bonus black and white editing video.

Your Relationship With Self and Art

What’s your relationship with yourself like? What about with your art?
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I work on my relationship with myself every morning when I step onto my yoga mat, every time I put pencil to paper (yes, I prefer to hand write everything and with pencil ✏️ 🙂), every time I make the conscious choice to put the time in to nourish my body and not choose the opposite, every time I pick up or listen to a book, every online class I take to further educate myself (we can never stop learning), and in so many other ways.
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The other night I shared a little BTS video in my Instagram Stories of me setting up for a self-portrait in my backyard. It was completely impromptu. I had gone outside with Linhsey (my daughter) while she played hockey in the driveway, but the fading light and woods whispered for me to come.
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I obliged.
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While I didn’t create anything magical, I embodied and relished myself in the process. I spent so much thought and time in the winter pondering why I wasn’t out there creating as much. The cold and snow had never stopped me in the past. Now I see I just needed to lean in and trust in the process. It may call at the oddest of times, or lie dormant for quite some time. I just need to trust that whatever I’m meant to create, I will.
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I needed to go through this process the other night of feeling that spark of inspiration, setting up, making the images, and taking it all down again. It’s within that process that my relationship to self grows the most.
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What about you?

A Creative Lull

Who are you right now in your art? What are you being called to create? Or are you being called to take a break and recharge? Could there possibly be something new you are interested in?
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I experienced a bit of a lull with creating art over the last year. I’m a multi-passionate person and I submersed myself in many different outlets from 2018-2019. I allowed myself the freedom to explore different interests.
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At some point I began to feel down on myself for not churning out new work as frequently as I had in the past. Instead, what I needed to do was be kind and gentle with myself. I understand and accept that people grow and change. Art is a process. It’s not made on demand. It comes from a feeling or emotion I want to express- a story I want to tell.
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In January 2019 I made the leap from Canon to Sony. Starting fresh with new equipment can feel daunting! My next few posts will feature new work that I created with my Sony a7r III. I’m currently limited to 1 lens with my Sony, but it’s an amazing lens. I do miss my Lensbaby lenses though! I am falling in love with this newfound freedom and the possibilities of creating with this amazing camera and lens.
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Now that it’s Spring here it’s time to wake up and come out of hibernation! What do you all have planned for the coming months? Leave a comment below and share ☺️

Intro- I'm Sharon Covert

I tend to forget that many of you are new followers and that you haven’t been following my journey all along. I thought I’d give you a little introduction.
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My name is Sharon Covert. Most of the work you see here is self-portraits aside from some still life from time to time and portraits of my daughter. My son is grown and in college now so he hasn’t made an appearance in quite some time. He does spend some time with me behind the scenes though. He’s in the process of putting together some BTS’s videos he filmed for me for my newsletter and an upcoming class I’m teaching. His major is video production. Lucky me 😉
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I began using self-portraiture as a way of self-expression about 6 years ago. I’m a shy introvert but thrive in expressing myself through words, art, and music. Before photography I taught piano lessons to children for many years. It was such a rewarding and challenging experience but I truly enjoyed working with children.
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I currently teach an online course, Expressive Self Portraiture, through The Define School. You could say it’s a dream come true. The women I have met online and worked with have left me speechless and in awe.
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I’m about to graduate from The Institute of Integrative Nutrition in a few short weeks. The year long program has been life-changing and the coaching skills I have learned there have begun to carry over into my photography class. I’m excited for what the future holds.
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I don’t composite or edit in photoshop. It’s not that I’m against it, I just haven’t put in the time and effort to learn the program. I really will one day, but I admit, I am completely intimidated by it! I enjoy the process of creating my self-portraits and finding ways to bring my ideas to life.
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If you’re curious about anything else, or if you’d like to tell me something about yourself, leave a comment below ⬇️! As always, thank you so very much for your support. It means so much to me! ♥️

Self Doubt

I quit 100 times a day. I quit and then I talk myself down and start once again. Every. Single. Day.
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What do I have to offer? I’m not qualified to do this. Maybe this is just an expensive hobby. Maybe I’m not meant to make a living from this. Maybe I’m missing the whole point. What is my purpose? Maybe I’m too busy trying to make this work that I’m actually missing out on enjoying my so-called “gift” to the fullest potential. Maybe I’ve lost sight of my passion and my true WHY as to why I actually do this.
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And just like that, for every negative I miraculously find a positive. This is my calling. This is my voice. Everything I’ve gone through has led me straight to this. There is nothing more fulfilling than creating, teaching, sharing what I know, supporting like-minded women, forging these intimate bonds in such a short period of time, inviting women to this safe space and earning their trust, supporting them, lifting them up, gathering in such a sacred space to let it all go and create with wild and reckless abandon. All of the masks fall away, the false beliefs and stories we convinced ourselves of no longer hold any truths, and we’re left with beautiful raw honesty in its purest form. In our vulnerability we find our strength.
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My most recent block of Expressive Self Portraiture is wrapping up this week. To all of the women who trusted in me past and present, I thank you, wholeheartedly. Thank for you showing up with open minds, open hearts, willing to do the work, in all of your brave fierceness and honesty. ♥️

Upcoming Exhibitions

My self-portrait, Love is Blind, won the Director’s award and is currently on display at A. Smith Gallery in Jonson City, Texas through February 17, 2019.

February 1 -23rd Breath will be on display at the SE Center for Photography in Greenville, South Carolina.