Art Can Help Us Through Times of Loneliness
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...
Why I’m Obsessed with High Flow Acrylic Paint
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...
Layered Art Journal Pages
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....
Art Alchemy Is Open for Registration
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...
Finding Your Creative Spark
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...
Perfectionism is Ruining Your Art Practice
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...
Why Creative Gatherings Matter
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...
What’s In My Travel Art Kit
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....
Creating Mindful Art
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....
Be More Curious, Make More Art
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: How does curiosity relate to art making? I think there are a number of ways, and I’d like to show you some of my paper cut journals to illustrate how you can be more curious, and make more art. Curious Artists Indulge in Really...
Get Inspired with Paper Cutting Artist Carol Held
Get inspired to do paper cutting when you see the work of paper cut artist, Carol Held.
Paper Cut Art Journal Tutorial
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: There is so much that’s beautiful and intriguing to me about a paper cut art journal. You might remember that I did my first one a few months ago, and shared it in this post. Now that I’ve begun my second one, I thought it...
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...
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 Books to Change Your Life, Inspire Your Work, and Move You to Create
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Art books changed my life. My favorites have beautiful pictures, inspiring quotes, and generally give you permission and support to be your weird, wonderful, self and let it show in your art. This year I closed my art therapy...
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...
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...
Don’t Make Art, Make Marks
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Happy March! I’ve been deep in content creation mode, and I cannot wait to spill the beans about my new class! It’s going to be such an adventurous and beautiful experience for so many of you, who will dive deeper than...
What Your Art and Your Coffee Have in Common
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I’ve been thinking a lot about what empowers us to create. It’s slightly different for each of us, but one thing that artists of all kinds consistently talk about is trusting the process. What exactly does that mean? When you...
Making Each Day More Art-Ful
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: As I reflected on my goals for this new year, one thing was very clear: In 2018, I want to make my days more art-filled, everyday. I’ve got a few ideas on how I’ll be making each day more art-ful, and I am excited to...
Finding Meaning in My Art
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: These are the tools of my self-healing: A board. A painty towel. Varied colors of paint. Water. This is how I am finding meaning in my art: I wet the surface with a wide brush and let my emotions flow with the water. I’m not pushing...
Holiday Gift Guide for Artists
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: For this year’s holiday gift guide for artists, I thought that rather than just offering a list of all my favorite art supplies, I’d offer a mix of cherished supplies and fun artsy items that will help inject more creativity...
Choosing from the Heart with Connie Solera
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I’m excited to be brining you this conversation with Connie Solera of Dirty Footprints Studio on the merits of choosing from the heart, both in her life and in art. We talk about how art helps us know ourselves and our needs. I...
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...Into the Depths: Studio Time, August 2017
Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I’ve been thinking a lot about what inspires and empowers me to create lately, so that I can best inspire and empower YOU to create. A lot of what inspires me is seeing other artists’ work, gathering ideas and...