Too Early?

Nope. Bring it on!

Print available HERE

Happy fall-ing friends!

{an experiment}

Now that I have all of this time to dedicate to my art, I'm finding my curiosity and interest ALL over the place...one minute I want to doodle, another I am pulling out my paints, and yet another I'm grabbing my pastels. 

Yesterday I was inspired to do something geometric with pastels and so far these two pieces have been the outcome...

Excited to do a few more in different colorways!

XO,

{on being an artist...and seasons}

I have found myself on an exciting road over the past few months, as I've had custom doodle orders streaming in. It has been humbling and crazy and for the most part, very fun.

It all started with that Instagram photo up there. ^^^

But I have to admit that as an artist, I'm starting to miss creating for me...grabbing my supplies and just making whatever jumps out of my head and heart. Scrapbooking...art journaling...I miss those things. And I want to explore my creative talent in other ways.

I'm BEYOND grateful to the many friends and Etsy customers that have been keeping my pen and paper busy. SO grateful. I just need to take some time for me...to get back to my roots and let my creativity flow in whatever direction it wants to move.

After I finish up the few orders I currently have, I'm going to be taking a break. I'm not sure how long it will be...if I've learned anything about myself it is that I'm unpredictable and tomorrow I could change my tune. It has been weirdly a short season that has felt like a very long one...probably because I've been drawing since I was old enough to hold a crayon in my chubby little fingers.

But right now, in this moment, I'm craving creative freedom. I feel like God is nudging me to work toward something else. Who knows what it is but Him. But I know it has to be good if I'm feeling such a tight tug from Him on my creative strings.

I have to say that I'm proud of myself because I am such a people pleaser, and love validation, so to turn down someone that wants to pay me for my creative talent is one of the hardest things I could ever choose to do.

But for now I am. And I hope you all understand and know that I'm working on another good thing. And my shop is still stocked with printables and a few ready to ship prints!

With an infinite amount of thanks from this artist's heart...

{daily doodle}

Have you ever been pulled in a direction that was surprising, or that you wouldn't have thought would attract you?

Have you given up on a dream or a hobby because you felt like you had outgrown it, or others weren't supportive of it? Maybe one person, one time, gave you negative feedback and that was all you needed to fold it up and put it in your pocket, or maybe wad it up and throw it in the trash?

Today I want to encourage you to be open to where you feel your soul and spirit are being pulled. 

Don't think about anything but what makes you happy. 

Don't worry about what other people will think, how they will react, or if they will judge you.

Because YOUR happiness isn't THEIR happiness. 

YOUR dreams are YOURS my dear friends.

So if doodling in a chevron printed notebook with colored sharpies makes your heart happy {that would be me if you weren't sure}...

DO. IT.

NOW.

OK? 

Are you doing it? What are you waiting for?

{"I did what with paper towels?" chevron art}

So I FINALLY jumped on the chevron bandwagon...I know...I'm a bit slow on the trends.

My mom gifted me with a large canvas awhile back so I decided it was finally time to try my hand at painting some chevron stripes. I started out by painting the entire canvas light blue, and then went to work with my ruler and painter's tape...

And let me tell you...measuring and taping off those chevron stripes was NO picnic for me. I would have probably done a better job if I just eye-balled it. Because my first attempt was a total FAIL. I mean, it looked good when I was  painting the stripes...

But not so much when I removed the tape...

It looks more like a crazy version of Charlie Brown's shirt, right? And the olive green I picked out looked nothing like an olive when it dried.

So I painted over those crazy skinny chevrons and started over.

This time I used what any sensible person would for my template...

That's right, friends. Those are paper towels.

{They're not just for cleaning up salsa}

I don't know whether I'm genius or just weird. But it worked.

They were the perfect size for the stripe width I wanted.

I also switched out the olive green paint, that wasn't quite olive, for a calming gray.

When the paint was dry I added some ribbon around the edges with my hot glue gun to hide the staples and give it a finished look...

And this time it turned out MUCH better.

And just in case you are wondering, it is not decor for our back yard, we just have horrible lighting in our dining room where it is currently living, so I took it outside for a little photo-shoot. :)

It did already make a blog appearance at my Mom's surprise party though...

So have you used a household item like paper towels to help you with an art project? For me, they were much better than doing math. ;)

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