I’ve been noticing a pattern lately (in myself and in others), and the more I pay attention to it, the harder it is to unsee.
🎶 And it goes a little something like this 🎶 👉 You get the urge to create in that way where it feels like something is waking up again. So you lean in and you pull out your supplies, maybe clear your space a little, maybe tell yourself this is the time you’re actually going to stay consistent…
And for a bit, you do. You make things and you feel connected. It feels like you’re back. And then... life does its life-ing (something we all know too well). You skip a day or a few days because, naturally, life shifts a little and your creative energy dips.
But when you go to come back, it doesn’t feel.. idk, neutral(?) anymore. It feels like you have to re-enter. Like you need momentum again. Like you need to be “that version” of yourself before you’re allowed to start. Sooo instead, you wait (for what, though?). And then eventually the urge comes back again, and the whole thing resets 😔
For a long time, when this showed up for me, I thought it meant I just wasn’t consistent, but now I’m not so sure. Over the past 6 months, I’ve been watching something different unfold inside our Art Nest in the small, everyday moments that actually matter.
→ People showing up after a week away and just… continuing.
→ Sharing something unfinished without over-explaining.
→ Picking things back up without treating it like a restart.
And it made me realize how much of what we struggle with isn’t about discipline. It’s about the environment we’re trying to exist inside.
I'm going to get into the randoms now, but at the end of this email, I'm going to give you something small to try (don't worry - it's FUNwork. Not homework.)
This month's roundup:
- What I'm making in my free time
- This month's favorite finds
- Random fun fact
- Monthly mosts
- Personal musings
It's time! It's time! The mural in my workspace has officially changed. The previous one really outstayed its welcome and I'm just so excited to share the new one.
It's special for a few reasons. During a recent Deep Dive call, we chatted alllll about how the fear of being a copycat (or not being “unique enough”) can make us freeze, and I presented an invitation to create a piece of art that blends 3 influences into something that reads like you.
I shared my process of tackling the fear of being a copycat recently on the blog, but what I didn't realize was that I would be so incredibly inspired by our chat that it would translate into something that is literally in my face every single day.
Yes, I took some of my own influences, mashed them up, and made them scream “ME” right on my wall. I took it a step further and added even more challenges in this project.
Here was my criteria:
- I wanted the topic to feel like a mix of joy, moody, and weird.
- I wanted it to feel unique (vs. generic here are more flowers).
- I wanted the challenge of having the art be inspired, while still making it mine.
- I had to make the standout color blue (huh? more on that toward the end of this email 😆)
I'll be breaking down more of this process soon in an upcoming video and blog (including the TWO other murals that I painted during this transition before I went this route), but for now, I feel so pleased with all of these new characters that welcome me into my workspace every day. I hope they make you smile when you see them in upcoming class videos and live calls, too 🤗
I love it when I find a good ware. From essentials to splurges, these are my picks for wares this month…
- I stopped covering my floor when I paint 😏 I knowww.. I know it creates more work in the post-painting cleanup. But I am so bad at tripping over floor coverings of all types because they bunch up and are just generally annoying. Soooo I just make a big ol’ mess when I paint my walls. In this case, since I used bits of different colors, I had a lot of little dots of paint to get off the floor. And THIS saved my thumbnails (also great for other gunk).
- Speaking of nails, I found THE BEST nail clippers. Like, I am convinced that everything up until now was the equivalent of trying to use a child's construction paper craft scissors on your best fabric. I will never go back.
- The other day I shared this microwavable neck heater in an IG story because I've tried so many, and it is legitimately the best one I've used. It's weighted, covers the shoulders, actually stays up on the neck (even when moving around), and I've now fallen asleep with it several nights in a row.
Full disclosure: These are Amazon affiliate links which just means I get a teensy kickback if you use them! But don't worry, you don't get charged extra 😘
Broccoli is a flower.
Well, it's technically thousands of flowers in a single head 😮
*I made a promise that I would create my next 20 artworks using blue as the main focal color because I don't use cool colors very often in my art and I wanted to challenge myself. I'm still in said challenge. I'll let you know what it feels like on the other side 😅
1. Laura was out of town for a week and one of my guilty pleasures is eating dinner while taking a bath 🛁 ALSO - I've been playing Pokopia and it's really giving me the coziness that Animal Crossing gave me in 2020.
2. Sweeeeet Jim sleeping with his tongue out. You're welcome.
3. I got to put on my old hairstylist hat for a day! I did my niece's and alllll of her friends' hair in Rumi braids for her K-Pop Demon Hunters themed birthday party!
Whew! Okay, as promised, before I go, I want to give you something small to try. Don’t worry, you don’t need to commit to a big project. I just want to give you a different way to approach this.
The next time you feel the urge to create, instead of giving yourself the sluggish narrative: “okay, I’m getting back into it,” try this:
Sit down and give yourself 10 minutes to continue something.
That could look like:
- Opening an old page or canvas and adding a few smaller details
- Sketching something unfinished without fixing it
- Even swatching to explore new color palettes or just moving things around on your canvas
For right now, don’t set a big goal of heavy progress. Remove the idea that you have to start over. Just see what that feels like.
I want to share more of what I’ve been noticing because it’s been shifting how I think about creativity.. especially around what it actually looks like to keep going without needing to start over every time.
I’ll tell you what I mean in an upcoming email 😘
For now, I’m hoping maybe this will ignite some contemplation because, wow, it’s nice to have our eyes opened!
