06 Dec Inside the studio this winter…

This beautiful picture (and all of the studio pics you see) was taken this past summer by my dear and talented friend Lyndsey Yeomans).

We’re rolling right along through December…everything feels so fast to me right now. Do you feel this?

I just want things to slooow down.

Lots to do for the holiday season…probably feels like so much because in 2020 we had a lot less going on.

I’m practicing trying to enjoy the present moment as much as possible. Letting go of things that don’t matter.  Paying attention more. Breathing. Relaxing my jaw. I do love the holidays and all the traditions we do as a family. And…I am ready to slow down. I’m ready to curl into the fertile void…that space of rest and presence and slow living and creative slumber.

My studio practice is a sacred part of my life. And that small 8 x 9 ft sunshine studio is my sanctuary. I’m going to do a deep clean, purge and rearrange to make way for a new way to be inside it this winter. Every season and project brings new life into the studio. Rearranging and tidying are integral to the beginning of a new process. And as I enter the season of the fertile void…I’m excited for my next project.

My next project is for you.

I’ve created a digital course…a walk through the process of creating your own art practice, learning how to incorporate a daily ritual of making art into your life. It’s called Return to Art because when I returned to my art practice it felt like an epic return home to myself. And it began a journey that changed my life. Art returned to me at 30 years old after a 13 year hiatus. And now, a decade later, it is my career.

Whether or not you are returning to a lapsed art practice yourself, or are an artist struggling with making creating a daily ritual, the course shows you how to make the time, create the space and gather the inspiration to create whatever it is you want. My hope is that by the end of 4 weeks taking this course, you will feel confident and nourished by your art practice. The course will include making art with me and on your own. I am beyond excited to embark on the teaching adventure, to share what I’ve learned and how it’s transformed my life. This digital course will run this winter…if you’re interested in getting more information click on this link.

I hope you have a beautiful week, leaning into the holiday cheer and staying present with what matters most.

22 Nov Your Body Knows

Do you feel anxious/angry/unsettled/restless/uncertain/emotional?

Have you tried creating lately?

Much like exercising…when you haven’t created in a while, your body knows. You feel it in your bones.

This was my final metric, the barometer, of which I could unquestionably tell if I needed painting in my life. My body knew.

Early on in my return to art, my husband used to say, if I seemed low, how’s your art making going? He knew too. He knew that if I was able to get to my sketchbook for a few minutes every day, I was a happier person.

I think this is why when I returned to a regular art practice after 13 years,  I was prolific…paintings pouring out of me, relentlessly, as if my life depended on it. And I’ve come to realize that it did. This was in the cards for me…this life of creativity…it never couldn’t be. It just took a different form for a while, in pursuing theatre.

Now that my creating has become my job, there is a fair amount of time spent in front of the computer, running my website and filling orders. I know that I must schedule my studio/painting time and get in there daily, even if just for 15 minutes, to commune with the work…touch my supplies, take in the colors, free form draw. Anything to shake out the energy and keep that creative muscle working.

Painting is my outlet to shake out this excess energy. We all know the term “creative outlet”. Well, when we create, we are plugging into this metaphorical outlet and allowing the energy to flow through us.

And if we’re lucky, we become a channel to the divine.

p.s. If you need some help returning to your art, I’m creating a digital course for you. I will help you find the space, time, and energy to create and build an art practice that is life giving! If you’re interested, click here for more info.

15 Nov Create and Share

“Art is unquestionably one of the purest and highest elements in human happiness. It trains the mind through the eye, and the eye through the mind. As the sun colors flowers, so does art color life.”

-John Lubbock

It’s been a bustling week in the studio as I am in the midst of holiday selling. This is something that I seem to be perplexed by every year…that as you approach the holidays people buy your stuff when you ask them to! Ha! It’s taken years for me to find a strategy that feels right and to be completely honest, the many sales emails that I am sending to my collectors always makes me squirm a little. But I try and remember that what I am selling is so much more than a thing you hang on your wall.

Picasso said “Painting is just another way of keeping a diary”. As artists we are putting our emotion into the work we create with our bare hands. An original painting is one of the rarest things in the world. It’s a one of a kind portal into a life, a mind, an idea. And while sometimes (ok much of the time) our older work makes us cringe because, well, it’s a reflection of where we were, a collector may see something in that piece that feels familiar and true and resonates with where they are now. I sometimes have no idea what will resonate with my audience. A piece that I don’t particularly love immediately sells and my favorite piece in a collection will stay in the studio with me for years. And while it’s frustrating at times that the selling formula feels flawed or shifty…it makes sense. It should be that way. Art is personal. Art is so inherently human.

Create and share.  Perhaps today you will share something you created that someone else really needs. It will make you happy to have made it and it will color another life.

08 Nov 5 Ways to Add Creativity to your Life

“But unless we are creators we are not fully alive. What do I mean by creators? Not only artists, whose acts of creation are the obvious ones of working with paint or clay or words. Creativity is a way of living life, no matter our vocation or how we earn our living. Creativity is not limited to the arts, or having some kind of important career.”

― Madeleine L’Engle

 

I believe this wholeheartedly…that creativity is found in all facets of life. One doesn’t have to be an artist to be creative. I like to think of creativity as problem solving. Beyond exercising it in the art studio, I bring creativity to cooking meals, planning outings for the kids, decorating our home and planning vacations. But sometimes we want to have the ability to just create something…a piece of art, a poem, a blog, a hat…and want to be able to access and harness our creative self easily. There are ways to make the conditions ripe for a creative day. Here are 5 quick ways to infuse creativity into your everyday and who knows…maybe help you create that project you’ve been dreaming up!

“Social media not only snatches your time, but it also teaches you attention deficiency.”

-Neeraj Agnihotri

1.) Put down your phone. 

Switch on your Do Not Disturb button. Charge it in another room. Set a timer so that you don’t pick it up for a set amount of time. Lose it in the laundry pile. Just put it down for a minute, K? Its the BIGGEST distraction we face on the daily. Mini computers lighting up all day with texts and notifications will keep you in a loop of reactivity and consumption and not in one of productivity and creation.

“Rituals are the formulas by which harmony is restored.”

-Terry Tempest Williams

2.) Schedule time and Create a ritual.

Set a time or schedule when you will sit down to write, throw paint at a canvas, record a video, snap some photos. Pencil it in. Just like workouts and appointments. If it’s not in the calendar, it won’t happen. The ritual aspect of this is to create anything repetitive to indicate to yourself that this is the time you create. For me, it’s lighting a candle and putting on music. The striking of the match signals to my mind and body that this is what we’re doing now. Rituals can take the mundane to the elevated.

“Create the space and a bigger life happens.”

– Alysia Reiner

3.) Designate a space to create.

This can be literally anything. A table, a corner of a room, a spare room, outside in your yard or garden, in the garage, on your lap on the couch even. But make that your spot. The place where you can return to and your body remembers that when I come here, I come here to write, paint, sketch, think, brainstorm etc. Returning to your space to create becomes a part of the ritual.

“Curiosity creates an artist. So, chase your curiosity until you find an artist inside you.”

-Akash Rathod

4.) Read.

Read everything that ignites you…books, articles, poetry. Go to the library and immerse yourself in a section that’s been on your mind. Sometimes I go to the art section and come home with coffee table art books, books on color theory or an artist memoir…sometimes even a book on technique. While I paint or fold laundry I sometimes listen to audiobooks as well.

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.”

-Leonardo da Vinci

5.) Consume culture.

Get inspired! Go to the modern art museum in your city. Don’t have one? Visit the website! Follow accounts on social media that ignite your creativity. Go see plays and concerts, go to art openings and handmade markets. Let other’s creativity and innovation be a catalyst for yours!

Sometimes my goal is just to find the beauty in the everyday…this simple act gets my brain thinking in a creative way. Watching the light play on the changing autumn leaves in my backyard…how is that color achieved? How can I recreate that color with paint? Everything is game for creativity.

What will you do today to infuse your day with a bit of creativity?

p.s. Have you seen the Free Resource Guide for the Painting Artist? It includes tools for the studio, book and podcast lists and more! If not, get it here.

07 Aug Where my Plant Cells come from…

I’ve resurrected my old blog! And hope to share more process direct from the studio.

Kicking it off with a film I made about my Plant Cell Abstracts…enjoy!