Introducing: Sophia Medawar

on adapting to creativity

Today’s guest is Sophia Medawar, an artistic rogue interested in the theology of storytelling, and the philosophy of art and beauty. Creativity is part of Sophia’s DNA and her work includes painting, drawing, sculpture, card making, set-design, and theater. She has been producing art for her entire life and recently took the plunge into making it her career. Join us as we explore what adapting to creativity means to Sophia in her own words.

On Creativity

The Creative Reality

If creativity were a planet, that had an atmosphere and everything, that would be where I live and the air that I breathe. And that’s not meant to sound like, “Oh I’m so much more creative than everyone else,” it’s just the work I’ve chosen. I’ve had to adopt an entirely new way of life, and it’s just about choosing to embrace reality and creativity every day.

Creativity is Boundless

In a word, I would define creativity as ‘boundless.’ Creativity is an individual’s ability to think or express themselves by exploring methods and ideas that stretch beyond the regular boundaries set in place by their ordinary life. Creativity isn’t just something people are born with, it’s a muscle you have to exercise, a discipline you incorporate into the way you live.

Advice For Creatives

Start Now

My number one piece of advice to fellow creatives is to not wait for inspiration. It doesn’t matter if it’s in writing, painting, or anything really, I don’t sit around and wait for the right thing to create or the right story to tell, I go to work and start doing something. Ninety-nine percent of the time something beautiful is born out of you just moving in your space. That 1% of the time it doesn’t happen is because I’m not believing in myself and I doubt the creative process. Don’t do that. That 1% wastes your creative time.

“Done” Over “Perfect” (At Least Sometimes)

A challenge I’ve had to overcome in my work is perfectionism. Eventually I had to just understand that sometimes it’s okay to accept something not turning out the way I wanted because there are other beautiful things that have come from it that wouldn’t have otherwise. I just had to learn that through experience-- it’s a tough lesson to learn. Sometimes ‘done’ is better than “perfect.”

Perseverance - the final product is worth it

I used to be discouraged if I didn’t like something I was working on so I’d give up and go work on something else. Often I won’t like what I’m seeing in front of me until it’s completely finished. It’s hard to not like what I’m looking at for the majority of the process, but it’s made me learn to push through and not give up, because the final product is always worth it.

Everyone has choices to make every day about the kind of person we want to become, often in spite of our circumstances. This is even true of creativity and artistic abilities. I used to be absolutely terrible at drawing human faces. I just couldn’t do it! I was great at landscapes and animals, but never people. Finally in 8th grade I decided I was going to ONLY draw human faces until I was good at it. I sucked at first, and it was embarrassing, but I disciplined my muscles to understand the face until I could find the patterns and got the hang of it. The kind of person I choose to become, and the character I choose to develop, say far more about me than whether I can draw a human face or not.

Be Proud of Your work

“I’ve been doing art under the radar,” says Sophia. People would tell her she “needed to take that next step,” but being proud of her work didn’t come easily. Committing to starting a career as an artist means “being okay with opening it up and sharing it with people.”

I’ve been learning to market myself in the “real world” as an artist in various aspects… For me, that means creating an online platform from which I can display and sell my cards, paintings, and book sculptures, as well as marketing myself on social media as a set-designer, actor, writer, musician, and director for theatre. I know it’s a lot, and I don’t pretend to be the best at any of it, but I know I’m reliable, hard working, and good enough where if someone needs a job done well, I’m the person they come to.

On Success

Making Personal Choices

My favorite quote is from Albus Dumbledore: “It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” I absolutely love this quote because it reminds me over and over again that each individual person has the responsibility (and opportunity) to shape themselves into something more than what they were given. I’m not saying I believe in the ‘self-made man,’ because I don’t.

I’m a Christian, and so my faith plays a huge part in how I define ‘success.’ In my personal life, success means I’m laying myself down every day, and constantly becoming a more loving, understanding, and compassionate person, and encouraging others to do the same.

Combining my studies in religion and philosophy with practicing art and theatre has given me the opportunity to look deeper at why humanity, at its core, needs things like stories, storytelling, and community. I’ve been able to identify many beautiful ways that art and storytelling allows us to experience our Creator in a more full and real way, as well as what it means to be created in His image, and express ourselves as creative beings

Putting Forth Love

It’s really important to me that the art I create is not actually about me. When it comes to creative projects, success honestly feels different from project to project. and it’s about putting forth love in some way, shape, or form while exploring it communally.

With each new project I ask:

What do I want people to take away after they’ve encountered this piece?
Do I see this piece accomplishing that?
Are people asking questions?
Are people seeing a new perspective?
Are people embracing and appreciating something?
Are people experiencing something beautiful? Something interesting?

All of that to me is a loving, spiritual experience, and that’s what I would consider success in my work.

In Love With Lifelong Learning

I never dreamed I would pursue [art] as a career... In fact, I began college on the pre-med track. It didn’t take me long to realize that I didn’t get the same excitement and fulfillment studying viruses in Biology that I did in doing something artsy and creative, or just doing something crafty with my hands.

This lifestyle is literally hopping from project to project and paycheck to paycheck-- nothing is promised and nothing is consistent. But it’s all about the hustle, and constantly producing more material, and constantly working on and honing the skills and services that I have to offer. But I don’t mind. The life of an artist is one of life-long learning, and THAT is what I love.

Interested in learning more?

If you are interested in seeing more of Sophia’s art you can follow her on Facebook and Instagram to see her latest albums, posts, and adventures.

Instagram: @sophiamedawar

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sophia.medawar.5

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