Making Art Work In The Time You Have
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...
Finding a Sense of Wonder in Your Art
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I’ve been hosting Slow Drawing Parties since the beginning of the pandemic, and so many folks have told me how important the practice is to their lives. But when folks first start, especially if they are new to art, it can be hard...
To Get Creative, Get Curious
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...
5 Ways to Fill Your Sketchbook
Use these 5 simple methods to fill your sketchbook, gather your ideas, and improve your drawing skills.
Making Art with Simple Materials
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: When was the last time you felt completely engrossed in your creative process? Lately I’ve been incredibly engrossed in my art, making art with simple materials. I’d like to help you imagine the same for yourself. In your...
How to Develop Your Artistic Style
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Here’s what I most want you to know about how to develop your artistic style: you can’t force it. When coaching clients and students tell me they want to develop a style, I suggest that what they need is not a style, but a...
5 Ways to Begin (and Finish) an Art Journal Page
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: One of the most common issues that folks run into when they first start trying to keep an art journal is how to begin an art journal page. Some people have too many ideas, some have none at all, and lots doubt their artistic ability. Art...
Top Mindful Art Journaling Ideas to Inspire and Calm
Dear Wonderful Creative You: I’ve been looking back at what I and my students have accomplished in 2018. This year, I wanted to spend more time with you in “live” online classes. We did that in Spring, Summer, and Fall sessions of Diving Deep....
Art Journaling When You Feel Sad
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: One of the questions I get asked most is how to art journal when you feel sad. My art journal has been a great source of comfort and self-understanding for years. I’m blessed to be able to share my techniques here. I’m hoping...
My Completed Collaborative Art Journal
Dear Wonderful Creative You: Tomorrow I am off for my annual art retreat for the next several days, so I want to leave you brimming with ideas for YOUR creative life. Connection with other artists is one of the most nurturing things I do for my creativity. An...
Let’s Make Some Inchies!
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Join the Inchie Challenge! You’ll get my free Inchie Workbook, and from August 20 – 31st I’ll be sending prompts and inviting you to create small art. For this challenge, we will be creating art that...
Even If You Think You’re Not Creative
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Our creative lives are made up of lots of little acts of creativity – the way you arrange the flowers, the card you made for your mother, the silly poem you wrote with your nephew, or the art journal page you worked on while waiting...
Facing the Empty Space: Practicing Mindfulness Through Art
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Since last fall, I’ve been participating in a practice called authentic movement. It’s a movement-based mindfulness practice and active imagination process. I’ve been inspired by all of the parallels...
Let’s Make Perfectly Imperfect Art
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: In my Diving Deep class, we focus on learning to dance between intuition and technical skill. The skill we have been focusing on this week, blind and semi-blind contour drawing, is one that can really call up the inner critic....
Intuitive Painting Techniques
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: The last days of the year are a time for most of us to take a deep breath and sink deeply into the couch after the holiday craziness. It’s also a great time to do some introspective art. Rather than endlessly scrolling...
Feeding Your Soul One Mindful, Creative Act At a Time
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I’m coming to you fresh from my first Squam Art Retreat on Squam Lake in New Hampshire. As often happens with such experiences, I’ve arrived home inspired, slightly disoriented, and wanting to carry what I felt on...
Art Journaling for Anxiety: Dwelling in the Mystery
I’ve been trying to find the words to describe why working abstract, with no plan, and letting go of the outcome is such a mindful, exciting, and yet calming experience all at once. It’s one of my main forms of creative self-care these days, and...
The BIG Power of Working Small
[bctt tweet=”It’s amazing how making a tiny art piece can help you with such big feelings. “] The BIG power of working small is that it gives you permission to experiment. If you’d like to learn more about working this way and finding your...
How to Push Past Fear in Your Art
(If the Soundcloud app pops up asking you to download, you can just “X” out of it and continue playing the podcast here.) You can now access the replay from Art Journaling Freedom. I’ve created a classed called, Freeing the Muse. You...Art Journaling Prompts for Gratitude
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. You don’t need to worry about gifts or extraneous obligations, and all the focus is all on family, food, and all the good things happening in your life. In the United States, it’s also the most widely celebrated holiday...
The Mindful Breath: A Simple Form of Self-Care
You’ve probably heard that controlling your breathing, and practicing mindfulness are great ways to beat stress. But what does that really mean? How does a mindful breath help you psychologically and biologically? A Simple Breathing Technique The Breath Project,...5 for 5 Self-Care Challenge: Draw or Paint
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I love all the challenges, but of course today’s challenge is my favorite, because I want to encourage you to get in touch with you inner artist. Today is going to be a fun day. We’ve got some 5-minute art prompts for you to...