I can sit and while away hours lost in paint, brush and thoughts. Often, I get lost in the art, conjuring up stories or scenarios that fit with a scene. Take the piece pictured to the left.  I imagined myself on this secluded beach, nestled in the rocks with a book, the sun glistening on my skin and the gentle lap of the ocean coming up to the shoreline. I transport myself to that place, if only for the time I am creating, even though it may be raining and windy outside. 

Some people create art for their pleasure, a form of relaxing, rejuvenation of the mind and soul and a pleasure entirely for themselves.  There is no intention for the completed artwork, only for the moment.

Hobbyist's create for the joy of a hobby that keeps them active, connected and enjoying their pursuits. Often,joining a group with likeminded creatives.

There is also the part time or full time artist who creates art for not only the joy but for the purpose of selling their works. Some are creating for the purpose of their work to be hung in a gallery or museum.

Ask yourself, am I creating this piece for:
it to be in a museum?
it to be in a gallery?
to be sold?
to hang on my wall at home?
me to have no expectation?
me to enjoy the time relaxing, having fun and forgetting what is going on in my life?
 
There is no right or wrong to any of the reasons we create art. When I am in the studio or out an about creating, I don't have anyone in mind, I don't create with the intention to put the piece up for sale.  I create for the joy, the experieince and the sheer enjoyment and pleasure of creating.  I personally think, for me, it takes the pressue off, it allows you the freedom to explore, break the rules, have fun, create without expectation.  If someone loves what I have created enough to purchase it, take it to their home and enjoy it, that is all I can ask for beyond my pleasure.    

Are you a creator or an admirer?  Leave your comments below.

To easel or not to easel, is the question today.  
When I got back into creating, I purchased a small desktop easel to hold my small canvases.  It was good enough; I didn't know if I was going to continue the creative journey when everything when back to "normal" so I went with a cheap and cheerful option which suited me at the time.   Within a few months, I realised the cheap and cheerful just wasn't cutting it, so ordered in a desktop easel which was so much better with larger canvases.  I soon learnt I much preferred standing to paint than sitting. 

A few more months later during one of the breaks in lockdown, my gorgeous hubby came home with a studio easel for me.  I love it and use it every day I am in the studio.  It is sturdy, holds large canvasses and is now covered in paint, I think the paint gives it character.

I found as my circumstances changed and also my painting style I needed a few different easels.  My larger desktop easel is still on hand for when I am sitting at my desk and creating, my studio easel is a must and I have a few portable easels I use for open studios and displays.  I have also been using the portable tripod to take to my art classes. 

The tripod easel I have been taking to various classes is great, yet it is bulky to leave in the boot of the car. I had been eyeing off on Amazon a tripod easel with a shelf etc. (pictured).  So last week I ordered it, and it arrived 2 days later. I was pleased to see it fits in a small bag and is so light and versatile. I can now use it at my art classes, along with en plein air excursions and also painting demonstrations.

You don't need to be like me and have multiple easels, pick one that suits your needs, ask yourself, will I be painting on paper or canvas?  Will I be creating large or small pieces? Do I need to incorporate storage?  Does it need to be portable?   Can I leave it up or do I need to pack it away?  Do I like working on an easel or on the table? What type of medium will I be using?

Once you have answered these simple questions you will have a better understanding of your easel requirements.    You can check out some of my favourite tools and a couple of easels. 

How do you like to work?  Leave a comment below.
  

A few years ago, I did a course on using a limited palette.  I found it to be a stretch initially using just a few colours and black and white.  
So what is a limited palette? Imagine you're baking biscuits, but you only have a few ingredients in your pantry. A limited palette in art is like that, it's when you choose to work with only a small set of colours instead of having every colour available, just like having only a few ingredients for your biscuits.
So, instead of using every colour in your art supplies kit, you might pick just three or four main colours, like red, blue, yellow, and maybe white.  I also like to have black or Payne's Grey.  With these colours, you can mix and blend them together to create all sorts of new and exciting colours.
Working with a limited palette is a fun challenge. It helps you focus on learning how colours work together and how to mix them just right to get the shades you want. Plus, it can make your artwork look really harmonious and cohesive because all the colours are related to each other, just like all the ingredients in your biscuits work together to make them taste great!
One of the main reasons I love to work with a limited palette, it makes me stretch myself with blending colours to get just what I need and want for a particular piece.
The photo of a work in progress in this post is using a limited palette of cobalt blue, Payne's grey, cadmium yellow and burnt sienna with white for adjusting tones.  Mixing colour with a limited palette is one of my favourite ways to paint.  

If you are just starting out, you can start with a few colours and mix your colours without buying every tube on the shelf!

So, think of a limited palette as your artistic recipe. You might not have every colour in the world, but with a little mixing and experimenting, you can create something really special!

​You can find some of my favourite tools here 
If you have favourite colours you use in a limited palette, why not share them in the comments below.

I am an all or nothing type of person.  When I start a new hobby or project I seem to swamp myself with he must haves and a few might grabs. I can't help myself.  
​There are a few essential items to have in your kit if you are planning to start creating. 

Instead of starting on canvases there is the option to start in sketchbooks/journals or pads. Not only is it cost effective, as someone that is starting our you are more likely to experiment and have fun than worry about wasting a canvas.
  
A few quality pencils starting with a HB and then a range from 2H to 6B is a terrific starting point and often can be purchased in packs. A kneadable eraser and a rubber eraser are also ideal to have on hand.  

For those wanting to explore painting a basic brush set is indispensable. Include a variety of sizes and types such as  filbert, round, flat to give you different brush strokes. A couple of palette knives are also a worth while investment.  You can buy packs of brushes with a few palette knives to give you a reasonable variety of tools. 

Choose your medium, do you want to use watercolour, acrylics or gouache?  Start with a basic colour palette of your chosen paint, this will inspire your to mix your colours and experiment.  You can always upgrade the quality and colour range as you become more comfortable. 

You don't have to spend big on palettes and cups.  I use recycled food jars for my water cups and a plastic palette.  I also use a perfect for me size cardboard and tape greaseproof paper to it.  This is perfect for acrylic paints and for watercolour I have an old plate.  One tip I do have is try and work on a whit palette so you don't change the look of the colour you are mixing by the distraction of another colour or a pattern. The photo above is of my mixing palette using the greaseproof paper. 

Finally, learning resources are something to tap into.  I run over 80 classes a year if you live near my studio or use the internet and check out some of the great resources on Youtube.

There you have it, you can get creating on a small budget and enjoy the process.  I have put together, my favourite tools as a starting point, if you are not sure where to start.

Do you have your favourite tools you would like to share?  Leave a comment below.   

I opened my first business when I was in my late teens/early twenties. I loved it and it gave me the taste of entrepreneurship from a young age. Fast forward to today and I have navigated the corporate world for quite a few years, owned and operated several businesses, and was on the board and president of a radio station. In each of these roles and businesses, it taught me to review.  

Goals are great to have both personally and professionally but we need to know where we have come from, where we are now and what worked and didn't work. 

Toward the end of December of 2023, I sat down and wrote a list to wrap up my year. It wasn't until I started checking my diary, checking my notes and really drilling down to see what I had achieved over the last twelve months. 

We can get so caught up in the day to day over our business, craft or lives that we forget what we did often without thinking about it and sometimes in adversary. Putting pen to paper and really thinking through achievements, processes and highlights can be quite eye-opening.   
I for one, was pleasantly surprised at my achievements through 2023. Once I had a gauge on 2023, I was ready to put my plan together for 2024.

Do you review and reset or do you leave it to chance? Leave your comments below.    

I love music, I have an eclectic taste in music which I was able to indulge in for 10 years as a radio show producer and presenter.  I could pick and choose what to listen to in between the on-air interviews. You now have access to any song, genre and artist and thousands of podcasts with apps such as Spotify, Apple Music, Iheartradio and the like.
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I have also had two successful podcasts in the past both interviewing guests and sharing knowledge from LBA (life before art).  You can probably tell I love sound and can be highly auditory given the nature of my past exploits. 
For me creating art is intensifying my visual skills and has reduced the need for auditory stimulation.

Initially when I started creating again, I sat in silence and got lost in the paints. It was so relaxing and peaceful.  It was also at a time that there was a lot of negativity and sadness in the world with the pandemic. 

Over the years I transitioned to a playlist for creating.  It is easy to listen to and has intermittent songs I can hum or sing along to. I know of many artists that prefer to paint and create listening to music from various genres such as classical, heavy metal to easy listening.

Occasionally I listen to a podcast from my favourite art podcasts such as Art to Life, Art Chatter and my all-time favorite Art Juice. 

Lately, I have opted for silence.  I have been enjoying creating florals and being present in the moment of creating in silence.  The stresses of everyday life slip away as the paint glides on, and time gets lost. What a fabulous feeling.

Do you prefer music, podcasts or silence when you are working?  What is your favourite podcast or music?
   

I remember when I entered my first art show and saw my work in a real gallery I was thrilled to bits.  It was exciting and I made it happen.  I bit the bullet and applied to have my artwork accepted. 
From that one piece being accepted I mustered up enough courage to approach a gallery to see if I could add some pieces on consignment.  Yes, I was naive, but if you don't give it a go you will never know.

In June 2023 I decided I wanted to exhibit some of my work, I had no idea how I would do this until the light bulb illuminated and I thought, why not have my own exhibition. I was totally unprepared for how much work this would take and what I needed to do to make it successful.

In July, I ran my first open studio and art sale.  It was harrowing to put myself "out there" even though I held it at home in our expansive patio now named "Art in the Garden Room".  Would anyone turn up, what would they think of my artwork, will it be successful, what if it is too cold, too hot, too this, to that? Pushing through self-doubt with anything in your life is hard, I believe not trying is a harder pill to swallow.  You can't sit around waiting for a knock on your door or the phone to ring. Instead, make your own luck, you never know what exciting things will happen. By the way, I have another open studio in November over a night and a day because, people turned up, it was a freezing cold wet day and they still came, I sold artwork and had an absolute ball. I learnt from it and hope the next one is bigger and better. Oh, is that a knock on the door?  

In July 2022 I entered my first art show.  It was an amazing experience to go through the process of putting together the requirements for the online application. I was as nervous as a kitten.  I didn't know what I was doing, what some of the questions meant or what I was supposed to write. Would my artwork stack up with other entries, was my work worthy of being accepted? Am I an imposter?  All the questions came bounding up to me as I sat there with the computer screen in front of me and the online form bouncing from the screen and the questions swirling in my head.  I took a deep breath and thought, what is the best thing that can happen? So, I entered my first art show, was accepted, and sold my painting.  Not bad for a first time attempt.

There are so many great reasons to enter art shows and art competitions. I find one of the most important processes to come out of entering is being able to explain your work.  It gives you a chance to consider the piece you are entering, what is the emotion you are trying to evoke, what you were thinking, how does it relate to the show if it has a theme.
 
I remember another show, the piece had to have D hooks.  I had no idea what a D hook was or how I was going to fix it to my piece as I was entering artwork on a board which was only 3mm thick. After countless YouTube videos, practice on scrap boards I devised a solution.

How do you pack a painting to go via post to an art show or exhibition? This was another hurdle I needed to overcome.  I needed to protect my piece, the corners, the canvas, what is the best way of packaging?

In the past I did not have to deal with postage as my art sales had been local and drop offs.   

All these little nuances prepare you for sales, speaking about your art and allow you an experieince to prepare you for future sales and exhibitions.  Next time you see an art show advertised, give it a go and if you happen to be attending one, keep an eye out for me. 

When I started back creating, I had nothing in my kit of supplies. Most of my creations of late had been on the computer in the form of social media posts and writing articles, eBooks and training manuals.
I purchased two large canvases on sale and hubby came home with some paint brushes and paints.  The paints were small tubes, the brushes were cheap and cheerful, but it was a start.  I then purchased some small canvases 20cm x 20cm and artist boards 25cm x 20cm to practice on.  Hubby and I spent hours painting and enjoying the process.  I started off with student grade paints, and those cheap and cheerful brushes. By the way, it was weeks later we painted on the large canvas, after hours and hours of practice.
If you plan to start dabbling in art for a hobby, start with what you have and what you can afford. Enjoy creating every day without worrying about wasting paint or messing up an expensive brush.  Have fun and enjoy the moment.