I do a one-woman show based on my book Dancing in Combat Boots, but few people know that the show actually started out as a fundraising effort for a local theater, and I performed it with several actresses. As we were back stage prepping before the show, one of the actresses was running some of her...
Author: Teresa Funke
Does the Whole World Think Like You?
We’ve had an unusually cool and rainy summer in Colorado. The other day, my friend was complaining about the weather, fully expecting me to agree with her, as I’m sure most people have. “Oh, I’ve loved this summer,” I said. “I hate being hot, plus I’ve hardly had to water.” She stared at me in...
What Does Your Inner Critic Sound Like?
I used to think if I had an inner critic, it wasn’t very strong. I don’t hear voices in my head telling me I’m stupid or incompetent or ugly, so I thought I was safe. Turns out, our inner critics speak to us in different ways, and some are more subtle. Mine often starts with...
Back to School Means Back to Work
It’s that time of year again. You can almost smell the freshly sharpened pencils, the eraser shavings, and the Elmer’s glue. Even for those of us who graduated eons ago, the end of summer still feels like back to school. Every autumn, most of the artists I know recommit to their work. All summer you...
How to Write Great Dialogue – Part I
While this blog generally focuses on all types of artists, I confess this post is directed primarily to the writing community. I wanted to share the new writing video that just went up on my YouTube channel Teresa Funke. Because writing good dialogue is such a challenge for so many writers, I’ll actually be covering...
Can One Encounter with Art Change a Life?
When I was twelve, my mother took my brother and me to see a performance of Jesus Christ Superstar. She’d escorted us to children’s theater productions before, but this was my first time seeing a truly “grown-up” play, and I was utterly transformed. I was a church-going kid, but until that night, I had never...
Success is a Winding Road
Today is my birthday, and I’m taking the day off to spend it with my family and friends. So instead of writing my message, I’m going to speak it. I want to share with you a one-minute segment from a video interview conducted by my friend Karen Fournier at Starstream Productions. She asked me what...
The Walls are Coming Down
In 1989, I sat in front of my television and watched in awe as the Berlin Wall “came down.” I had visited the Wall two years before during my college journey across Europe and found it to be such an oppressive site. When it tumbled, it felt as if the whole world was being reborn,...
Art Giveaways for Newsletters Video – Great Ideas Series
I carry business cards for my favorite service providers in my purse. That way if I’m singing the praises of a good plumber or massage therapist or book editor, I can send you away with contact information rather than expecting you to remember the name. I get nothing for this. I just like connecting good...
Must Artists Always Be At Work?
“I wish I could read your travel journals,” a friend once told me. “I bet they’re amazing.” I changed the subject. Fast. She’d be so disappointed with my journals. They are filled with clichéd lines like, “the view was breathtaking” or “the mountains were beautiful.” I’m a hard-core traveler. I like to see and do...