I'm committed to making 2021 a year focused on wholehearted living. The mindful intention that makes my art practice significant and authentic has huge application for my daily life.
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What can an artist achieve in a year? How do we measure this? Growth in skill, number of paintings created, milestones achieved? Or is the life of an artist not really about metrics at all?
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I found my true artistic self the the day I stopped trying to be perfect and started trying to have more fun, and my paintings reflect that spirit of adventure. I have found my heart and it's in loving watercolor even when my paintings don't look anything like a photo...actually, especially then!
That's why I'm excited to announce that my annual winter mini course is now available and the subject is one I thought I'd never teach; Abstracts in Watercolor!
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If an artist wants to start painting in watercolor, they’re going to need supplies. But if you’re getting started painting in watercolor, choosing the right supplies can feel incredibly intimidating. There is so much to choose from, and so many different opinions on what the right supplies are!
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When I tell the story of how I got started teaching watercolour online, I always talk about that first hundred dollars in YouTube ad revenue and the impact it had on me.
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This year has gone very differently than we all expected, and the art I created this year has felt unexpected as well. Truthfully, my goal is always to invite surprise into my painting process; there is no creativity if all is predictable. Every painting starts with the question, “How do I paint this?” and the answer is found in the doing.
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My studio is a very special place; one I don't take for granted…Every time I enter the space I feel the love and intention that went into each strike of the hammer and I have to believe that it infuses my art; a circle of love that feels like a living thing as I pour my own love and intention into my watercolor paintings and seek to live fully present in each facet of my life as an artist, a mom, a wife, daughter and friend.
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It’s felt incredibly difficult to be motivated or inspired to pick up a paintbrush these days. When we live in an environment of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty about the future, how can we feel any motivation to create? So how do you make art when the world is on fire? And should you even try?
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What do you think of when you imagine abundance? Imagine your permission slip to make the art you want to make and be the artist you want to be. What would it read? Now imagine that the setbacks and obstacles that you're struggling with now are the exact conditions you need to become that artist.
Imagine writing your biography in ten years and starting with, "2020 was a turning point for..."
You know it can be.
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Some of my most spontaneous adventures have started with a mistake. A wrong turn, a forgotten step, knocking on the wrong door. A taxi driver, unloading my wet palette and smearing beautiful paint all over the bag that held it, prompted the paint miser in me to wipe that fresh paint onto a sheet of paper and try to make a painting out of it.
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Have you ever noticed that when something takes a long time to achieve, it becomes valuable? The things that mean the most to me are the things in which I’ve invested my time, things I’ve sacrificed for, and given myself fully to. It’s interesting because it’s actually changed the way I value my art.
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How do you free yourself from becoming a slave to the reference photo? What is the secret that allows some artists to create such dynamic interpretations of the landscape that really look like works of art, while the rest of us struggle along trying to paint something that “looks like the photo?”
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In the body of work that I have created over the years, the paintings that stand the passage of time are the ones that felt like a risk to show to others. The art that, for whatever reason, I shared in fear and trembling, not knowing that if what I saw in that painting was something that others would recognize or reject. I have never regretted stepping out of hiding; what I have gained has been far greater than anything I might have lost.
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Have you been thinking about teaching art online, but you haven’t yet made significant progress on seeing that dream become reality? You are not alone! In this post I want to share three very actionable (and FREE) tools that I used to make my first thousand dollars in course enrollments and start my online art instruction career.
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One painting is not a definitive statement of my identity as an artist, and by setting my art free from this burden, I can simply paint as a way of saying, "Look. Do you see what I see?"
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If you’re feeling the call to teach art online, or if you are teaching and have had to cancel workshops due to current travel restrictions due to Covid-19, you might be thinking seriously about teaching online. There are a lot more resources out there than there were in 2013, and you are likely feeling a little overwhelmed!
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I’m so excited to share this list of artists who are offering free online lessons in watercolor right now!
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I don't always feel joyful and free when I paint, but that's the mindset I look for when I paint. I do this by choosing to focus on the process over the product; it's not about turning out a perfect painting, but about creating a nurturing painting process. It's about making one beautiful color play on the paper, and then adding another, and another! Painting really is as simple as that.
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