Have you ever wondered how people get started with an art career? It was a bit of a mystery to me until I started following a path toward what I love.
About 18 months ago, I started painting and doing collage in our spare bedroom as a form of self care. As my kids are getting older, I was looking for a creative outlet, something I could call my own.
Trial and Error
I had taken some art classes in college nearly 20 years ago, but I wasn't hooked on the mediums I studied (mostly charcoal and oil paint). I needed something that expressed my love of color. I tried oil pastel, but that didn't give me the vibrance I was looking for. I got frustrated and stepped away for a few weeks.
After stumbling across some YouTube videos, I ordered a beginner set of acrylic paints from Amazon, and I got hooked! I was absolutely in love with applying the paint to a canvas, with the textures and colors I could create by mixing colors real time with my palette knife.
Following Intuition
As I followed a few painters on YouTube, I finally landed with one person that made me feel completely at home: Flora Bowley. By following her lead I learned how to tap into my intuition while painting, following my heart more than my head, and BOOM!
It was like going from black and white to technicolor at warp speed.
My path from there wasn't all unicorns and rainbows though. I often felt overwhelmed by the learning curve, frustrated with how my paintings were turning out. One thing Flora recommended was to make 100 paintings and see how much I had learned at that point.
So I rolled up my sleeves and got to work. I started waking up early to paint, giving up TV time to paint, using every free moment I could to just keep chasing the dragon.
Running Out of Space
When my house started to fill up with too many canvases and works on paper, I decided to start posting photos on Instagram to see if anyone would be interested in my work. My motivation was not to sell my art, but to simply make room in my house and earn some money for supplies to keep my art habit going!
I'm so thankful for every single person who has supported me on this journey. I wouldn't be able to keep painting if it wasn't for my growing list of collectors!
What started me on this journey was a love of color, texture and shape. What keeps me going on this journey is sharing my art with the world and watching people's eyes light up when they find a piece that speaks to them.
In a Word: Love
If I had to choose one word to describe the fuel in my artistic engine, it would be Love. I make art for the love of my craft, and I share art for the joy of making the world a brighter place.
Thank you for following along on my creative journey! You can subscribe to my website to be the first to know about new work, inspiration and upcoming events.
