{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"I Love Your Stories- Conversations with Artists and Creatives with Hava Gurevich","title":"Episode #22 Beginning Again: Art, Healing and Building a Creative Life with Tonya McGuire","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2047,"description":"In this episode of I Love Your Stories, Hava Gurevich speaks with visionary artist and art therapy coach Tonya McGuire about finding her way back to art after a major health scare forced her to stop, reassess, and reconnect with her creative voice.\nTonya shares how art had always been part of her life, but years of work, responsibility, single parenting, business ownership, and corporate leadership pushed her creativity into the background. After experiencing symptoms that led to a diagnosis of supraventricular tachycardia, she found herself returning to drawing and painting as a way to move through fear, uncertainty, and healing.\nThe conversation explores visionary art, storytelling through portraits, trauma, mentorship, community, creative reinvention later in life, and what it means to build a meaningful art practice rooted in legacy, emotional connection, and resilience.\nShownotes\nIn this conversation, Hava and Tonya discuss:\nFinding art again after a health crisis\nTonya talks about how heart-related health challenges forced her to pause, step away from the pace of work, and return to her brushes during a period of uncertainty.\nGrowing up creative but choosing other responsibilities first\nTonya reflects on how art was always in the background, but earning a living, supporting her family, raising her daughter, and working in sales leadership took priority for many years.\nThe emotional power of art\nShe shares the early experience of creating work that moved her father to tears, and how that moment showed her art could touch people on a deeply personal level.\nWhat it means to be a visionary artist\nTonya explains how her work moved beyond simple portraiture into storytelling, symbolism, emotion, hummingbirds, lotus flowers, wildlife, sea life, and the feeling of becoming.\nLearning, mentorship and community\nThe episode explores Tonya’s experience with the Milan Art Institute, the Society of Professional Artists, Art Storefronts, and the importance of being part of...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/BzVr4HUpBAARweHVFCWb1fF9reodKaJYUPicJmCMya8/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kMGY1/ODMyNTU0OThkYzQw/MGFlMGYwMWNmYmU5/ZjVjMS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}