Finding Wisdom and Strength in Your Mistakes
Life lessons from something that seemed like a good idea, but wasn’t
I recently made a decision to do something that I later regretted. In hindsight, I can see that my intuition was warning me (quietly) that it was not the right move. All the outward aspects seemed to line up. It seemed to come together quickly and easily. I had to ask myself afterward why this had happened, what I’d learned from it, and how I might avoid it happening again.
Change is Possible: Creating Positive Affirmations
How you can use positive affirmations to make deep and lasting changes in your life over time
As an add-on to your daily meditation or journaling practice, you can create daily positive affirmations. These may be short sayings you have come across elsewhere that resonate with you, or they may be rewritings of your own very personal fears and limiting stories.
How to Stand Strong and Rise Above Criticism
A few words to help you keeping going as you grow into and learn to live your best life
As you begin to put yourself and your work out into the world, it is very likely that you will encounter criticism – some helpful, and some startling and crushing. I am here to tell you that you are strong, you are brave. You can find those who support you and your work. You can keep going. I hope this post will help you learn to manage the criticism in a way that keeps it separate from your sense of self-worth and allows you to become stronger and more sure-footed each time.
The Importance of Kindness
A few thoughts about giving care to the energy you send out into the world around you
I have come to consider kindness crucial to living well and happily. Much as we have come to see time as sacred and to be cherished, your energy is also limited and, therefore, sacred. Your energy and the energy of those around you has an enormous impact on your sense of well-being and your ability to do your best work.
Undoing Perfectionism
How I overcame my perfectionism to make more, better-quality work... and became a happier person in the process
Over the course of starting my own business and finding my creative flow as an artist and maker, I have ended up learning a lot about perfectionism. It is something I’ve come to know very well – both from encountering it in myself and from seeing those around me really struggle with it.
Crafting Paintings from Personal Memories
Capturing the essential and filling in the gaps where no photos exist
Personal stories and memories are becoming increasingly the thread that runs through all the work that I create – whether the story be mine or a client’s.
Shifting Your Emotions
Moving from a place of negativity to a place of positive action
This is a simple little exercise I do when I am feeling overwhelmed by negative emotions.
Between Cities
A new series reflecting on loss, memory, seasons, and journeys
I have been spending much time in the studio working on a new series of landscapes. The images are based on photos, sketches, notes, and memories of the drive between Ottawa and Montreal, which I did so much of over the year that my mom was sick. While there were many different layers of that year’s experience that I could choose to represent in the work, it was the feeling of watching the seasons pass by along the road that I kept coming back to as core to my own personal story.
Through dark to light: returning to the darkroom after 10 years
Taking small, brave steps to heal your past
A few weeks ago, was my first time back in the darkroom after more than ten years. I never expected that I would be back in one.
From the Painted Stories Instagram feed
