Dear Wonderful, Creative You: One of the things that most fuels my art practice is working small. It gives me so much permission to play, experiment, and try out new things without feeling the pressure of time. Small things also just feel so easy to manipulate and mix and match. I’ve been playing this way since about 2017, and I still find it fascinating. I know you can fuel your creativity with small art too! I have an upcoming challenge that will help you play with tiny 2 x 2 squares for 12 days to see what you can make. It’s totally free and so much fun. You can sign up here, and participa ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I’m just back from a week in Summerville, South Carolina for my artist residency, and I’m excited to share about it with you, in the hopes that you’ll create some dedicated art time for youself. What is An Artist Residency? Artist residencies come in all shapes and sizes – but the basic idea is that a residency is a time for an artist – new or seasoned – to focus on their art practice for a period of time without distraction. Most residencies have an application process – and many are competitive, while others are happy to accept many different artists. How to St ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I get a lot of questions about watercolor painting and supplies, so today I’m setting out to make a comprehensive guide to help you on your watercolor journey. Watercolor can be a very technical, precise art form, but lately I love to use it for layering gorgeous abstract swaths of color. I am teaching this and more in my upcoming live Watercolor Wonder Retreat March 20th and 21st. I also use watercolor with my drawings in art journals. You can do so much with the basics. I find that while it takes practice to get a hang of the basic watercolor techniques, if y ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: This year is going to be SO full of creative goodness in this community, and you are invited to join in. The Simplest Things Challenge is a free 5-day challenge where you create something simple each day in your art journal. Sign up for this FREE challenge here: Sign up for The Simplest Things Challenge! The idea started for me a few years ago, when I asked myself: What’s the simplest thing I could do in my journal right now? Here’s what emerged: I realized how freeing this question is. No pressure to make a masterpiece or something complicated – just an invita ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: I love creating a yearly list of gifts for artists. I love getting gifts, don’t you? But as time goes by, I feel more and more strongly that it’s important to have a few high quality supplies that we use well, rather than tons of mediocre quality ones. There are a few reasons for that. Too many choices of supplies can feel overwhelming. When you’ve got a focus, it’s easier to sit down and begin. Jumping on every new technique and art supply can lead to perpetual dabbling, and mastery over nothing. I’m a big fan of rotating between techniques, but there is meanin ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Each year I compile a list of books that have been important to me and my creative life during the year. I hope you find a few that speak to you, and that you comment at the bottom to add your favorites to the list. Drawing and Painting: Watercolor for the Soul: Simple Painting Projects for Beginners to Calm, Soothe and Inspire – Sharone Stevens This is one of my top favorite recommendations this year. I picked it because I know how technically good Sharone is, and because I know that her project-based way of teaching skills will appeal to many of my students. T ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Over the last year I’ve been playing with 5 beginner watercolor techniques that are relatively simple, and yet they give me room for so much play and discovery. I’m excited to share them with you. Step 1: Start with a simple shape. I’m a big fan of what I call “flexible structure.” It’s something that helps to organize your efforts, but there’s enough wiggle room for you to play without feeling hemmed in. Within your shape, you can experiment and see what results you enjoy. My favorite shapes seem always to always be round ones – circles, eggs, ovals, or rice sh ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Making marks with natural brushes is one of the most fun and inventive ways to create. I’m excited to share some of what I’ve made and how it has supercharged my art practice. It’s been such an adventure to see how natural brushes push me out of my comfort zone and help me to embrace more and more adventurous ideas. Art Supplies for Mark Making With Natural Materials If you are curious about my art supplies, I’m using tracing paper and a combination of inks and high flow acrylics. (I’ve switched to mostly inks these days.) For mark making, of course I’m using na ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Art challenges provide a wonderful burst of inspiration, accountability, and community. But they all end eventually, and to really dig into your own art practice, you can’t always be responding to a challenge. So what do you do when the art challenge is over? To answer this, I want to back up a bit and talk about why I create art challenges for my students, and small art challenges in particular. If you did the prep class for the Inchie Challenge, A Little Art Every Day, (which for a limited time you can still get here) you might remember that I spoke about the ..read more

Dear Wonderful, Creative You: Art making permeates my life. When I’m not making it, I’m thinking about making it, or sharing it with you. But I know that sometimes you want to make art, but it’s a struggle to actually make it happen. You wonder how to actually art journal every day. How I Art Journal Every Day A big part of what helped me art journal every day (or nearly every) was working small. I realized how easy it was to carry a small journal or bits of paper and a pen in my bag. It made waiting more fun and meaningful. Soon I was exploring my ideas more fully and my art became more play ..read more