We were lucky to catch up with Summer Hughes recently and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Summer with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My work ethic can be seen as an admirable quality or a hindrance, depending on how you look at it. I’m a bit of a workaholic, I think. It is a great thing when I am using my drive to create and manifest my visions into reality. But, it can be deeply draining and exhausting when I bite off more than I can chew, which happens a lot. And with the failures and shortcomings of having too much on my plate, I often feel guilty for not being able to do it all. So, I push myself to do more until I come to a breaking point.
This is when I feel only a drastic change can release me from the pressure I’ve placed on my own shoulders. So, I will find moments of rest and recuperation. Moments of silence, in nature, to regain my motivation and spark my inspiration. It means for me, stepping into an untouched landscape, my phone placed on “do not disturb”. Recently, I have included some deep stretching, plant medicine, meditation, somatic movements, and music. This settles my nervous system, helps me to regain control over my flooding emotions, and provides me the time and space to find strength within myself. I then take this newfound spark back into my work and begin the high-speed drive again. And the cycle continues.
I am always working on finding balance. Seeking ways to pour my energy and my motivation into a few things rather than spreading myself thin. Prioritizing quality over quantity. It is something I am continuously being reminded of within myself and the work I create. Maybe it’s my Libra moon just trying to balance out my Gemini Sun and my Virgo Rising with all their multiple interests and chaotic ideas.
It is also a way for me to value my work more. Focusing back on connecting with my creativity and allowing my heart and soul to be expressed. It’s wildly vulnerable. Most of my work never sees the light of day let alone the eyes of someone other than me. Especially if it feels like a part of my soul has been woven into the threads of a canvas or in the fingerprints left on a piece of clay.
But it is this exact release of my inner world coming into the external world that drives me to continue. This is where my deepest motivation lies. When the sounds and colors and emotions of my inner map are able to navigate their way through my hands into the external world. It is a euphoric release. Cathartic. Like an exhale. I spend my whole life holding my breath and when I create art, in any medium, it is a way for me to lower my shoulders from my ears, and finally release my chest.
The continual build-up is what drives me to work continuously to find ways to express myself and release my inner world so it doesn’t stay so bottled up inside. I guess that’s really where my obsessive workaholic ethic stems from. It’s therapeutic to feel like I can succeed in expression. That feeling of release and the accomplishment of the process, reaching the finish line, is so addictive, I can’t help but ache for more. So I continue to create.
Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
What do I do for a living? I make stuff. And the stuff I make seems to change a lot. I keep the same themes, it’s always art and it always involves nature. Currently, I run a small business, a local ceramic studio, tucked away on a farm on an island out in the middle of the ocean. I always seem to create small businesses. Ever since I was about 15 working at a scrapbooking store and selling my handpainted cards at a local coffee shop, I have always been driven to create and put myself out there in the world. My creativity is what I have to offer so I offer it a lot and in a lot of different ways. I have had so many little start-up businesses that have been greatly successful and when I decide that they no longer inspire me, I move on to something new.
Up until somewhat recently, I would change my mind about every 6-9 months and start something new. However, for the past 2 years or so, I have been dedicating all my time and energy to a small ceramic studio set up in my in-law’s garage on their family farm. With the community that I am surrounded by, I have been able to take my little business ideas into a whole new world with all its own new challenges and growing pains. I think the fact that this current business endeavor is continuously changing and evolving is what keeps me motivated to stick with it. There’s always something new to do, some new project to create, or a new problem to solve.
I do almost everything. I have help from friends and family, but when it comes down to the late-night, unpaid hours and the gritty parts of running this show, it’s all on my shoulders. If I go down, the ship goes down with me. But I don’t know if I would have it any other way at this point. It’s still growing and the foundations are still being built so to have my full involvement in every aspect of the business is crucial at this point. Until I have created the proper working systems to make the space and the company function best, I don’t want to place too much responsibility on others. It’s wildly exhausting and often goes unnoticed and especially unpaid. But in the end, it’s my passion.
My goal with this business is really to recreate the type of environment I experienced in art school. I want artists to gather in a creative space, sharing tools and ideas, where we can express ourselves in a supportive and community-based environment.
The way I compartmentalize all of this is with three categories. I have my “current business”, my “manifestation business”, and my “personal business”. My current business, and where it’s located, has its own list of projects and duties, and goals towards expansion; where my manifestation business is my ideal scenario. This comes with its own unique list of goals and steps toward success. And between the existence of these two high-priority projects, lies my personal business, the commissions and the personal creative work I do to provide for myself. Like I said, I’m a bit of a workaholic.
What I’m working on right now, is finding a way to combine all these different points of work so that I may create more balance and space to be fluidly creative. I have this dream of creating a way to take my small ceramic studio and expand it off the farm, into a more accessible location where I can expand it into my ideal business scenario. Which I have been calling “the Art House”.
Picture this: A two-story building with a backyard and a screened-in front porch. You walk into the front door and the screened-in porch is inviting with its seating and lounges to take fresh air between projects. Through the front door lies the kitchen and the downstairs studio spaces. This is where classes can be held. Classes in all forms of art. Everything from screen-printing to life drawing can be learned here. And an open-air kitchen space to make sure our “starving artists” stay hydrated and nourished. Up the stairs, you would find the private studios. A place where simple spaces are sectioned off for individual artists to come and work on their creative projects. Back down the stairs and into the backyard, you would find a lush garden and a ceramic studio. Wheels for throwing and tables for hand-building would be in a covered open-air space, very much like the studio I have on the farm. And in the back shed would be the kiln room. I would call it The Art House. A liminal space for creative minds to collaborate or work independently, to learn and grow in their own craft and creation.
It’s a big idea for me. Much bigger than all the various little small businesses I have done in the past. It pushes me into a world of business and creativity that is both inspiring and wildly frightening. But I am giving myself time to flesh out all the ideas before stepping foot into that arena.
There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?
My biggest advice for any person, artist or not, is always leave room for yourself to grow. Allow yourself the fluidity to evolve as time goes on. Because as you venture into the worlds of internal and external exploration, you are bound to discover new ideas and concepts that will challenge your most foundational beliefs.
In my short 27 years, I have completely been rattled to my core on various accounts. Everything I ever think I know is always being challenged. As soon as I settle myself too deeply into an idea, whether about myself or the world around me, it is immediately shaken, not stirred. This theme of intentionality within the detachment is what allows me to give grace to myself, the work I create, and the people around me. Change, truly is the only constant. So we must make room for it.
Now, this doesn’t mean to not hold value for all that we say, do, and create. I still pour my heart and soul into everything I do. But I do so for the process of expression, not the outcome. Because the outcome is always subject to change. It’s the journey of this wild ride that we are shooting for. It’s a growing experience, we are the editor of ourselves and we have the freedom to rewrite, underline, and erase.
The way I visualize it, I have inside myself a library. Within me is a multitude of books that hold their own chapters, and storylines filled with their own characters and dialogue. I am not just the writer and the subject matter of my continual autobiography, but I am also the keeper of the texts. I decide what stays and what gets burned in the fireplace. What I lock away and what I put on display. It is mine to own and mine to unravel. This is the only way I can fully commit to ideas and beliefs without being attached to them. Because I own them, they do not own me.
What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?
I’m always battling the feeling of being overwhelmed. That either makes me a great person to give advice or not, I’m not quite sure. I struggle with being overwhelmed a lot which means I have a massive and constantly growing toolbox of strategies I use to combat it.
The first is, don’t fight the feeling. Register that energy within your body. Acknowledge it. Because, as all the ancients knew, when you can name your demons, you gain power over them. The first step is always recognizing and naming the sensations when you are being overwhelmed or overstimulated.
Next, you have to dissect what it is that’s causing you to be overwhelmed. Is it simply your body’s call to be cared for? Have you eaten? Have you had enough water? Or are you just surviving off coffee and the adrenaline rush of starvation? Your feelings are always valid but that doesn’t mean they can’t be helped in a very physical sense.
If you think your body is being taken care of but you still feel overwhelmed, then look for the place in your body where you find that sensation. Perhaps it’s hiding in the ball joint of your right hip or in the restricted rise and fall of your chest. Maybe your eyes need to close. Shut off the receiving and just sit within your body for a moment. It’s called grounding and it can be done in a variety of ways. By placing your bare feet on the soil and disconnecting from the hustle and bustle of this world and stepping into the real one that exists amongst the birds and the trees. Usually, this is all I need to release the weight on my chest.
Now, with your feet firmly rooted in the earth, go through the list of things that could be causing your floodgates to open in your life. Where is your energy going? What are you focusing on? What are you neglecting? Take time for this. Write it down even. So that you can then plan your attack. Assess then address. Of course, this is only possible AFTER you have calmed your nervous system. I argue that this is the most important step.
Some ways I do this include, breathwork, meditation, movement, deep stretching, and changing my environment. Sometimes a simple change in scenery can give us the perspective we need to step out of the wave of thoughts and emotions that take over.
A book I recommend to everyone is The Body Keep the Score by Bessel van Der Kolk. Our experiences, large and small affect us in a very physical way. We keep a record within the vessel that holds our soul. This is part of our library. This book dives into the ways we can navigate this.
Contact Info:
- Website: earthenwarekauai.com
- Instagram: summrhues
Image Credits
Images were taken by myself and Lizzy from @little_red_photos
