Jul 31, 2023 | Art journaling tutorial, Art Tutorials, Creative Self-Care, Favorite, Slow Drawing
This video will show you fun and easy ways to create tiny pieces of art and then combine them in beautiful little art journals. You don’t need any experience, this is for everyone!
Jun 25, 2023 | Creative Self-Care, Favorite, Slow Drawing
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Folks often ask me how I find time to make art. It is hard to make time to make art sometimes. It’s my job to make art, and even I struggle sometimes when I’m really busy with the business side of things. But there are a few...
Jan 30, 2023 | Art Tutorials, Creative Self-Care, Favorite
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: What is the simplest thing I could do artistically right now? I’ve found this is such a powerful question for my art practice. I don’t ask: What masterpiece could I make? We need to build our skills over time. You’re not...
Aug 23, 2022 | Art journaling tutorial, Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: This is one of my favorite times of year – The Inchie Challenge! Watch this video to learn why + how we do The Inchie Challenge. Join the Inchie Challenge Here: ‘ (You could win a free copy of my book Draw Yourself Calm!) I...
Aug 1, 2022 | Art Tutorials, Creative Self-Care, Mindfulness
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Last week I had the great pleasure of returning to Maine to camp for the week with my family. It’s always a time of incredible views, hikes, bikes, and far too many sticky buns and ice cream cones. It’s also a time that I...
Jul 11, 2022 | Art Supplies, Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: For some of us, it can be hard to make time and space for art making. It’s easier to buy art supplies than to create with them. It’s easier to put the things that need to be dealt with in your art space, than to deal with...
Jun 6, 2022 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: It’s been two years since I’ve been able to return to one of my most beloved places on earth – to Squam Lake for an art retreat. When I arrived, the lake was a sight for sore eyes, and I felt myself sink into its...
Jan 24, 2022 | Art journaling tutorial, Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Last year, during all the stress of the pandemic and lockdown, I pondered a simple question: What would happen if I created the simplest thing I could in my journal today? It’s a pretty radical question, isn’t it? How often do...
Dec 6, 2021 | Art Supplies, Creative Self-Care, Favorite
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: While I tend towards minimalism, I enjoy a new art supply from time to time as much as the next person. But for me this is the key: I buy just a few, high quality supplies so that they work well and keep me having fun. Here are a few of...
Dec 6, 2021 | Art Supplies, Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: This year, in the spirit of reducing the amount of stuff that might end up in our oceans or landfills, I’m suggesting some less tangible, but highly valuable gifts. Some of them are completely free, and others are an investment....
Nov 15, 2021 | Art journaling tutorial, Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Every fall, I compile a list of books that have made an impact on me that year. I include a broad scope of topics because our art practice is made up of bits and pieces from every part of our lives. I think about books as an important...
Aug 30, 2021 | Creative Self-Care, Inspiration
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Over the last two weeks, we engaged in a simple art challenge. The idea was to create for a short period of time, on a small square, every day for 12 days. You were invited to let go of perfectionism and embrace play and...
Aug 16, 2021 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: One of the most common questions I get from students is this: How do I develop my style as an artist? It’s a logical question, but it’s the wrong question. Trying to develop your artistic “style” is a bit like...
Jun 21, 2021 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: One of the things that has fascinated me most about art over the last few years is how powerful it is when we create space. I find the less I do, the more I make. For me, and my students, it’s about creating space: Physical space in...
Apr 19, 2021 | Creative Self-Care, Mindfulness
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: What is sparking your creativity these days? For me, it’s been the tiny, itty bitty interior spaces of natural objects. I’m fascinated by the abstract shapes made by the gills of a fungus, or the holes and crevices in a piece...
Mar 1, 2021 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Finding the time to do the things we love can be hard – especially when so many things compete for our attention, and especially during a pandemic. I’ve been hearing from students for years about how hard it is to find the...
Jan 25, 2021 | Art journaling tutorial, Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: One of the things I’ve thought a lot about since the start of the pandemic is how we not only cope, but thrive amidst difficulty. Some folks are in survival mode because of their family, job issues, mental health issues, or other...
Jan 6, 2021 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Greetings to you in 2021! In the fall each year, I take time to reflect on the year just past. Overall, Iv’e been very lucky, and despite all the difficulties, I feel very grateful for what 2020 taught me, especially from many great...
Sep 28, 2020 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Over the weekend, I was listening to an On Being episode with artist Dario Robleto. His work centers on using unexpected materials to remember: the earliest recorded pulse waves cast in gold, his parents’ record collections ground...
Aug 25, 2020 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: When I line up a bunch of little papers, and make playful swoops, marks, and swaths of color, it feels playful and free. When I’m staring at a big, blank piece of paper or a canvas, it can sometimes create pressure. – you...
Apr 14, 2020 | Creative Self-Care, Favorite
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Whether you are quarantined at home, or an essential worker going out into the world to make sure the rest of us get our needs met, most of us are feeling anxious, out of sorts, and generally unsure of what to do with ourselves, at least...
Mar 14, 2020 | Art Tutorials, Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Like many of you, I’m feeling some anxiety in this time of uncertainty. When I lay down to go to sleep at night, there are a host of thoughts and anxious questions that start reeling through my mind. These questions need to get set...
Mar 2, 2020 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Students frequently ask me about high flow paints, and why I like them so much. I thought it was an excellent question and wanted to share why I’m obsessed with high flow acrylic paints with you as well. Let me first say a word or...
Jan 29, 2020 | Creative Self-Care, Favorite
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I thought it would be fun to give you an idea about how to work in a “process oriented” way in your art journal. It’s time we kicked perfectionism to the curb! Let’s focus on finding the joy in making art again....
Jan 27, 2020 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: At the end of 2019, I thought about what I wanted to offer in 2020. I thought about what you needed most in your art practice. I thought about what I needed too. And as I reflected on your feedback in classes, the blog, social media, and...
Nov 20, 2019 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Today I have the pleasure of sharing a lovely podcast interview I did with Suzanne Redmond, of The Left Brain Artist. You may be familiar with this podcast already, as Suzanne has a thoughtful, easy-going style and has interviewed some of...
Oct 4, 2019 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Lately I’ve been thinking about the importance of finishing things, and it’s relationship to perfectionsim. I don’t know if this happens to you, but sometimes I look around and notice I have about 6 or 7 art pieces in...
Sep 27, 2019 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I am writing to you today, just FILLED with creative joy! I’ve just returned from The Gathering of the Creatives in Santa Fe, NM. I want to reflect with you about why creative gatherings matter. For starters, look at the faces in...
Aug 8, 2019 | Art Supplies, Creative Self-Care, Favorite
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I am really passionate about making art on the go. Whether I’m camping for a week in the woods, in NYC for the weekend, or waiting in the doctor’s office, a travel art kit helps me put so much more art play time in my life....
Jul 1, 2019 | Creative Self-Care
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I am always fascinated by the topic of paying attention and inspiration as an artist.The more I pay attention with a curiosity, and a sense that, yes, I WILL see or experience something that inspires me, the more I do gather inspiration....