My Top Books About Artists and Their Gardens
Finding inspiration and companionship in the gardens of artists & creatives. A few favourite books + one video!
What does your creativity do for you? Does it bring you delight? Satisfy your curiosity? Give a means of expression, connection, or healing?
How do you get to know a new place?
I love getting to know somewhere new – and reconnecting with familiar places – by walking (new collection sneak peek!)
Walking is nearly always how I first get to know a new place. It allows me to experience it in different light, weather, moods, and seasons. I notice its people coming and going, its homes as their lights turn on for the night…
Living by the Sea
Finding a new sense of place
It’s astonishing how far the sound of the ocean can travel. My home is tucked away on a back road, but I can hear the roar or hushed swoosh of waves almost all the time. The ocean and its big open skies have become a living presence in my life.
Stepping Out of Your Creative Comfort Zone
Expanding your skills by exploring an unfamiliar subject
In taking steps toward a goal, you will find that new steps reveal themselves to you, as you go. Sometimes they are simply next steps on the same path, other times they are a surprising new direction, a different perspective on your work, or an unexpected creative challenge. I share how to step out of your creative comfort zone, why it’s important to fill your toolbox with new skills, the importance of embracing mistakes, and how to incorporate your new skills into your unique creative style and voice.
Spiralling Upward: Finding the Motivation and Courage to Keep Going
How to keep going when doubts, fears, and wobbles take hold
Making big life changes can be very overwhelming. It can be hard to keep track of who you are and so easy to be afraid of all that you cannot see about where you are going... It can be a struggle to stay motivated, remember why exactly you are trying so hard, and keep your vision for yourself and your work fresh. Take heart, you are not alone.
A More Manageable Way to Set Goals: Quarterly Summits
Increasing your chances of sustainable success by setting goals four times a year instead of just once in January
Setting smaller goals, more often, creates momentum that carries you forward. Each quarter is like a new year. You take stock, reset, and create new horizons. A quarterly pace allows you to pivot and adjust as you go while still having enough time and focus to achieve your goals. Setting goals each quarter gives a new burst of energy and allows you to set a smaller number of goals that are both more focussed, more manageable, and more likely to be accomplished.
A Year Without Alcohol: An Experiment in Creative Flow
How cutting alcohol changed my creative practice
Over the past several years, I have been looking carefully at all of my resources – time, energy, focus, money, and well-being, to name a few – and have been looking at how I can optimize each of them. Since I became unblocked and began making art regularly, I have found myself discovering just how important creative flow is to my life.
Avoiding Cliffs: What to do When Fears Are Holding You Back
Focussing your attention on the manageable next steps
We tend to get way ahead of ourselves—thinking many, many steps ahead or of worst-case scenarios. We attempt to protect ourselves by imagining all that can go wrong or of all the difficulties that can come our way. We stare at the biggest cliff we can find and then recoil back from it, justifying why we shouldn’t take action toward what we want if it will lead to that. So what to do?
Daily Painting & the Power of Routine
Using the power of routine to get back on track
The beginning of the summer marked a low point for me, and over the past few months, I have edged my way back to creating by making a routine for my weeks. It’s not an understatement to say the simple act of painting each morning and knowing how I planned to spend the rest of my day helped me to get back on solid ground.
Finding Mental Clarity in a Bustling World
Using word maps to help clear your mind and move past overwhelm
I came about these naturally, through necessity. They are simply diagrams where I write an area of concern, put a circle around it, and then begin adding everything I am thinking of related to that topic.
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