The beginnings of a habit...
Recently when Renee Mueller and I were together for Jeanne Oliver’s workshop Poets + Misfits we stayed an additional day in Colorado to brainstorm about our creative business. We are both online course creators, host a creative community, produce + sell our art, among many other things as solopreneurs. And we both realized that over the past few years that our creative practice has suffered as the time we have left in the day to make art is dwindling.
As we hiked and chatted about what we want in our lives, and what we want for our business - we know we are missing that freedom to just make art for the fun of it. Renee and I have been in Jeanne Oliver’s Creatively Made Business group for 2 years now, and it’s something that Jeanne has always encouraged us to do. Take that time and just have fun, play, explore and just be creative. Make art. For no one else but you.
It’s easier said than done when you are running a business, or you are a full-time parent, or you work in a corporate environment – or how about that LIFE just gets in the way?
Since I have been back from Colorado there has been a lot of "Life Stuff" going on, but yesterday I started, and today I will continue. And then I will try and make a habit of it. It may not happen every day, but I hope to carve out at least 4 mornings a week. Renee and I are calling this our “Studio Mornings”. Taking an hour for ourselves (hopefully two) before all the “to-do’s” get in our way. That list will always be there no matter how much I tick away at it!
I decided to start small with my Studio Mornings. Gather my art journals and just play. Pick a few colors and grab some supplies. I have a stash of ephemera that I love digging into, and when I work this way I like to play with multiple pages at once, even adding some gesso to a new journal I’m waiting for paint to dry!
One morning this week, I needed to make lemonade out of lemons, or in my case making art out of a mess. As I sat down at my art table to continue working some more journal pages, I spilled the most delicious acrylic high flow paint (Phthalo Blue - green shade) – and a lot of it! You can’t really put that back in a bottle, so I got to work right away before it was dry.
Picking one color really wasn’t what I intended to do, but it ended up being a great studio morning session. I also used some different tools to make marks. One is a homemade little marking tool – my toothpick brush. Skewers are always fun to play with and I loved the bigger Kingart 10” Finesse round brush for making some really fun inky designs.
Have you tried Nova Color Paints yet? If not then give them a try - trust me, you will be hooked. Thank you to Betty Franks for turning me on to them! I think they are the most delicious paints - gorgeous colors and super affordable.
One of my favorite colors from Nova Color Paints is 103 Carbazole Dioxazine Violet. The versatility is incredible. Just out of the jar it’s the deepest purple, then add in a little white titanium high flow by Golden and watch the magic begin. So many beautiful shades. There are over 80 colors to choose from, some of my other favorites - 147 quinacridone magenta, 142 blue-green, 120 yellow-green, 136 hot pink, 110 organic pyrrole orange, and 140 payne's gray. As of yet, they do not ship internationally, but I think the best equivalent of this type of paint is Liquitex Soft Body Professional.
I'll be sharing my process and thoughts from my Studio Mornings with you in hopes that you will join me as well! No matter what you like to do. Painting, gardening, cooking, sewing, writing. Carve out a little time for your brilliant creativity!
Thanks for reading! Have a fabulous week full of love + light.
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