Ria Sharon

pondering creativity, process, and making art

An Artist’s Sketch: Xanthe Berkeley

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Xanthe BerkeleyXanthe is a photographer, film-maker & visual story-teller. Filling the frame with bright colours, movement, sunshine and smiles; her work centres around family life and adventures.

A wide variety of projects keeps her photography and film business busy. From guiding and inspiring others, through her online film courses, to her own brand of relaxed session reportage – capturing everyday moments and cataloging these memories is her passion.

Xanthe is an Instagram fan – you’ll find her there daily – mooching around London capturing the colourful details, sharing snippets of family life, or exploring the outdoors with her love of camping, nature and good times around the campfire.

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1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?

I love both photography & film making… It’s hard to choose between the two. Both give me the opportunity to document my life and tell those stories.

2. What are you working on right now? What’s on your camera/desk/easel or in your studio?

I’m fortunate to have various projects on the go at one time. Photographing portraits and making films as part of my online courses. I have a year long Time Capsules course which is bursting with creativity as people are making films each month. I’m so inspired by them. I’m loving making mini movies to share on Instagram – it’s a creative challenge to tell a story in just 15 seconds.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?

Get outside and shoot, be inspired by your surroundings.
Find a community either in real life or online, of people creating work that encourages & inspires you and support each other.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?

That I don’t share all the work I create… Only the work I love. I think a lot of people compare themselves to other artists, but don’t consider that they’re only seeing the highlights, not the mistakes.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?

To do a lot of work. Keep creating and you’ll find your thing.

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An Artist’s Sketch: Sharon Derry

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alishaSharon Derry is a book and paper artist living and working in St. Louis, Missouri. She designs and handcrafts journals, albums, note cards and other high-end paper goods. Sharon often uses vintage ephemera in her work, including yellowing book pages, tattered sheet music, well-worn maps, dog-eared postcards, handed-down recipes…. Meticulous craftsmanship, attention to detail and original design are hallmarks of her art. Online, she sometimes goes by secretleaves. She can be found here, here and here.

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1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?

Paper, especially old paper. I do a lot with ledger pages, maps, sheet music, and lately, vintage wallpaper, especially from the thirties and forties. I also use other ephemera: Stamps, buttons, receipts, notions…all kinds of odd bits and pieces. I love these things because they have history and mystery. There’s an element of voyeurism too — a peek into past lives. Old things also have a patina of age that just is not reproducible digitally or manually. I’m not entirely sure what it is about old things that resonates with me. I’ve given it considerable thought, but haven’t completely nailed it down.

secretleaves2. What are you working on right now? What’s on your camera/desk/easel or in your studio?

I’m working on a couple of things: A wedding invitation suite for my niece, and some collage/prints on vintage wallpaper and maps. I’m also experimenting with creating patterns, which I’m really jazzed about. And I’m doing some large-scale prints using the online printing service Spoonflower. I’m using Spoonflower to print on paper right now, but I would love to experiment with printing wallpaper or fabric, which is what they specialize in.

secret-leaves3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?

For me, the important thing is to try to find large chunks of time. I’m not good at grabbing a moment here and a moment there to create. I find I need a few hours to really get going and accomplish anything. The first couple of hours are for playing. Experimenting with ideas and techniques and trying not to get caught up in creating masterpieces. Frankly, the first few things I make are usually crap. But that part of the process is so important for idea generation, happy accidents, etc. I’ve also started drawing again, although I’m not doing it with the frequency or regularity I would like.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?

That’s a tough one. Maybe an appreciation of the level of detail and the craftsmanship? I’m very fussy and detail-oriented and it’s one of the things that sets my work apart from a lot of other folks working in similar mediums. Also the fact that I am using real, vintage materials rather than scans or digitally-produced ‘age.’ I mean, I do some of that too, but my real love are the pieces that truly are vintage — although even as I write this, I realize I’m shifting away from this a little bit. Finally, maybe the slight ‘offness’ of the subject matter: Things that other people might find repellent often show up in my work: insects, snakes, morbid anatomy, dead flowers…what I think of as strange beauty. That’s more than one thing, isn’t it? I’m not good at following directions.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?

Enjoy the process.
Be true to your self.
You have nothing to prove to anyone. Not even yourself.

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An Artist’s Sketch: Alisha Katz Hastings-Kimball

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alishaAlisha is a ceramic artist who loves creating unique beautiful environments. She has a BA in art therapy and an MAT from the College of New Jersey. One fall evening she attended a pottery class with a friend. Unbeknownst to her, that evening she discovered one of her true passions was to create in clay. She is a wife and mother to two incredible children and one wonderful kitty. When she’s not getting her hands dirty with clay she also enjoys photography, painting, sewing and writing. She is always looking for ways to embrace creativity in the everyday moments of her life and is usually busy answering the knocking at her hearts door.

Songbird Studio

1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?

Over the years I have worked in many mediums but I’d say for about the last 14 years my medium of choice has been clay. I love creating beautiful, meaningful things that are also functional.

2. What are you working on right now? What’s on or in your camera/desk/easel/kiln/studio?

This year I started working in porcelain. It’s been exciting to make things that I previously made in earthenware clay in porcelain. Now that I feel settled in with the transfer, I am ready to start making some new work and evolve with this new material. I feel a knocking at my heart to create something new, different and soulful. It is still devolping right now.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?

Each weekday morning I get up an hour and a half earlier than the rest of my family so that I can have some quiet time to center myself before the day begins. I say prayers, meditate, then I do morning pages and affirmations. This is an absolutely essential part of my daily routine. {I have been doing this for more 15 years now, which is really crazy to think about. I didn’t realize it’s been that long until just now.} There have been a few times when I have let this practice go and the results have been disastrous. If I don’t keep up this practice regularly not only do I notice but my family and close friends notice as well. I have a much harder time finding my creative center and general happiness without this practice.

4. What is one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?

I create the things I do usually because it’s something (like my mindfulness mugs) that I needed or wanted in my own life and I hope that it will resonate with someone else out there. A part of my process that I don’t talk a lot about is how the other creative mediums I work in strongly influence and ignite my creative flame in ceramics. Sometimes I need to play and create with photography and paint before I can move on to create the next theme in my ceramics, which happens to be a place I am in now. A lot of my work and journey is about undoing the past and allowing myself to be fully, truly myself with no apologizes.

5. What advice would you give to your younger artist self?

Keep making, keep believing in yourself and have patience it will all come together in due time. Everything you do will take much longer then you ever expected but don’t give up because you will make it all happen.

For more about Alisha, visit her at Songbird Studio.

Songbird Studio

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Crazy Dog Lady

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dog-portraitsYes, it’s true. I’m one of those. I’m so crazy about dogs that I make dog portraits. You know that sense of peace that people report when they are in their bliss… that happens, when I’m drawing and painting puppy faces! And now that I reflect on this, it always has for as long as I can remember. The first portrait I ever did was an oil painting of my great aunt’s Llasa Apso. I was 9.

I’m so dog crazy that my kids know that if there’s a stray dog on the loose, I’m going to stop and try to coax it into the car and secretly hope that I get to keep it. There was that one time I almost “rescued” a scraggly and filthy three-legged shitzu… from it’s own front yard! (sheepish grin) but that’s a story for another post.

So if you’re crazy about your pups (dress them in crazy outfits on halloween, take them to puppy spas, throw them birthday parties), I won’t judge. I’m totally with you! And guess what, you’re not alone! I’ve made over a dozen of these dog portraits in the last week and have three more commissions to go!

Want one? Click here for details.

Mother’s Day Countdown and Instructions on Free Printable Mother’s Day Cards

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It’s officially LESS THAN A WEEK until Mother’s Day, friends but no worries, you still have time! I have three free printable Mother’s Day cards that you can download here. (Yes, that’s me and me and mums, in 1971 on the left and 2013 on the right.)

I’ve also put together a simple and easy step-by-step instructions on what to do with them once you’ve downloaded them! 😀

You’ll need:
1. a ruler
2. something to cut with like an exacto knife or scissors or box cutter
3. cutting board/mat

Instructions
1. Print the PDF at 100% on card stock.

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2. Trim along the dotted line using your cutting tool. You can get very precise and straight with a box cutter or exacto knife and scissors

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3. Once trimmed, score the fold of the card by run the dull edge of your cutter or scissors lightly along the edge of the printed art, which will make it easy to fold the card along that seam.

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Ta-da! Done!

What about an envelope?!

If I don’t have time to run out and buy a card, I don’t have time to get an envelope for it either!

I hear ya! No worries. You can make one!

Really?

Yes! Check out this ehow video. Don’t you love the interwebs?

p.s. Especially for all of my Titas and Lolas, I made the ones below (because I can). So feel free to download, seesters and kasins! ;P Labyu! (click the links to download)

Lola-Tita

An Artist’s Sketch: Mic Boekelmann

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micMic Boekelmann is a filipino-born modern portrait painter and art coach on a mission to highlight the unique stories of people. With a vibrant, warm and dynamic style, her art displays the beauty and inspiration she sees in the people she meets.

This love and excitement for connecting with individuals of different backgrounds were influenced by Mic’s childhood years growing up in the Philippines, Germany, Israel and the U.S. She believes there are more things that connect us than divide us. Her work creates opportunities for others to feel the same.

When Mic is not painting and hosting art workshops in her Princeton home studio, she enjoys exploring the world and checking out food joints with her swabian husband and two cool kids.

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1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?
Oil on canvas: The #1 thing I love about oil paints is that it is FORGIVING. It doesn’t dry right away and since I’m not a perfect painter, I need time to push the paint around to make corrections or to get a better feel for the composition.

2. What are you working on right now? What’s on or in your camera/desk/easel/kiln/studio?
Right now, I’m working on a family portrait and on Adam – inspired by the book of Genesis in the Old Testament.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?
The most valuable practice to my creative process is: setting goals and putting them on a month-at-a-glance calendar. My responsibilities as a mom can easily take over, so that my creative goals are pushed to the side. If the creative process is indeed important to me, I need to put this on the calendar and set time aside to invest in it.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?
Although my art is figurative, I never want to make it look technical. It’s important for me to show how I feel about the person or the situation through vibrant colors and brush strokes.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?
Your art will bring joy to others. Don’t keep it to yourself.

For more about Mic, visit her website.

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We are together, Nepal

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“We are together” — we say this every day in Hopeful World. Now is a time to turn those words into action. As you know, Nepal is suffering. I have dear friends there, both in Kathmandu and outside the city.

Jen, my dear friend and partner in Hopeful World (expert at getting funds and refugees across borders) posted this on the HW blog yesterday…

Subhash Ghimire and Sabi Gurung, dearest friends of myself and Hopeful World, are on the ground now, directing relief efforts to the remote regions where traditional and governmental aid cannot reach, specifically the villages in Gorkha, closer to the earthquake epicenter. I have been in contact with them almost nonstop via Viber since the quake, ready to do whatever they ask.

These two are no ordinary people. Subhash’s mother died when he was eight and he left his remote village when he won a nationwide contest to attend the British School in Kathmandu. No child had ever attended this school in the history of his village. Barely 18, he founded Sarswati Foundation, a Nepal-based non-profit in 2009 to support educational and health needs in his home district. Last year, he graduated from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government while Sabi graduated from Boston University’s School of Public Health.

This is the latest update from Sabi from six hours ago…
We have food and basic items ready to be taken to Gorkha. Pilot and helicopter are both ready.

She is asking that we DO NOT STOP, for the sake of her village, her family and friends and by extension, mine and ours.

If you are inclined to support their efforts, we are putting money directly in their hands. You can donate here. We’ve raised $6K in the last 24 hours. It’s something… but the need is great. So for the next 7 days, 100% of the profits from my Etsy shop will go directly to our friends in Gorkha. I have over 100 items to choose from—inspirational sayings, unique party invitations and decorations. You’ll have a birthday party sometime this year, I’m guessing! 🙂

Please help by buying what you need in advance… or buy yourself or someone else a thoughtful gift (Mother’s Day, graduation, end-of-year teacher gifts). Your purchase will have a direct impact on the lives of my friends and their families.

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Above is the gang at Hope House: Sabi on the left with Jen, Stephanie Calabrese (founder of Lens on Life) and Renu Bagaria (also in Kathmandu now).

We All Have Choices

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If you look at our Facebook friends, it seems that Becky and I have been circling each other for years. But finally (thanks to one of those mutual friends), we met for coffee, then a long lunch and the rest is herstory! Becky is the writer, speaker and dreamer of You Are Not Stuck. Like many of us, she is on a journey towards empowerment and consciously creating the life we dream of.

Over the years, I’ve been stuck in the wrong marriage, stuck in the wrong job, stuck in bad habits. I was not immune to feelings of powerlessness and going nowhere, even as the view from the outside told a much different story. So I said goodbye to relationships that didn’t nurture. I traded a high-stress career speaking for others for a life in yoga pants. And when I’m not teaching on the mat, I’m writing in my own voice and speaking my own truth. ~ Becky Vollmer

bv-bw-e1409747720523It’s my honor and delight to be working on a collection of art printables created in collaboration with Becky. Her truisms are featured on four new pieces in the etsy shop, including the one pictured above.

If you are feeling the need for some encouragement and motivation, head over and see what words speak to you.

ria

 

 

p.s. And if you’re looking for that perfect gift for the awesome women in your life this coming Mother’s Day, I have a collection of inspirational sayings (including Becky’s) that may be just the words someone needs to hear.

An Artist’s Sketch: Tracey Clark

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Print From photography to writing to teaching to collaborating, Tracey Clark has found a way to weave all of her passions together, both online and in real life. Author of Elevate the Everyday: A Photographic Guide to Picturing Motherhood, co-author of Expressive Photography: A Shutter Sisters Guide to Shooting From the Heart, founder of Shutter Sisters and co-founder of Our Collective, Tracey loves nothing more than to share with others the insights and inspirations she’s gathered along her creative life’s journey.

She’s a regular columnist at Digital Photo Magazine, a teacher for many photo-centric classes both online and off and her images and essays have been featured in numerous digital and printed publications. Tracey lives in a sunny So Cal coastal town with her husband and two daughters and emphatically believes that perspective—and love—changes everything.

Tracey-Clark-Workspace

1. What’s your medium of choice and what do you love about it?
Photography is definitely my favorite creative tool. Although I do love crafting and creating art in many different ways, photography offers such a unique kind of instant gratification. I was never very excited by what I created with other mediums, like painting or printmaking, because I had difficulty pulling things out of my head and getting them to translate on a canvas or on paper. But when I started shooting, I was (finally) loving the end result. I could see the glimmers of poignancy and beauty EVERYWHERE and I really enjoyed framing what I saw and creating art using what was right in front of me. And for me, seeing—the kinds of things that I like capturing in a photograph—is like breathing; involuntary and totally necessary.

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2. What are you working on right now? What’s on your camera/desk/easel or in your studio?
I don’t have any one specific creative project I’m working on but I almost never do. I’m a dabbler. A little here, a little there. Sometimes that habit of being busy with lots of project distracts me from focusing on one particular thing but most of the time, I thrive with a lot of creative projects on my plate. I’ve always been like that. Scrolling through the images on my DSLR (or my iPhone) there are shots of all kinds of things; mostly spring blossoms, my dogs, my kids, lovely bokeh and a few coffee mug shots.

3. What practices/activities are most valuable to your creative process?
Anything that gets me out of my head and into a more grounded, centered place is essential to my creative process and my life in general. Fresh air. Nature. Walking. Yoga (of which I don’t do enough of!). Writing in my gratitude journal. Setting intentions. Lighting candles. Puttering around the house. Even cleaning sometimes can be a respite when I’ve been working on my computer too much. Getting grounded and grateful not only makes it more satisfying to shoot, it is reflected in my work.

4. What’s one thing you want to share with others about your art and/or process?
I’ve realized I work well with “assignments”. It’s fun to have a project or prompt to shoot for. It helps get my creative juices flowing. Of course, it can’t be something I’m dreading, it needs to be something I’m super-excited about. But, truth be told, I have had some pretty amazing creative results (breakthroughs almost) when I’m pushed past my comfort zone (and sometimes I do dread that) so I try to remember that through resistance comes unexpected surprises and even blessings.

5. What advice would you give to your young artist self?
I would tell myself that I was right! I knew even when I was young that I would do *something* creative with my life, even though I had no idea what it would be at that time. Amazing how wise that was of me, way back then. I would give myself lots of kudos for all the creative work I was doing and I would give myself lots of hugs and high-fives. I would for sure tell myself to stop being so hard on myself and build self-care into my routines. I would also tell myself to listen to my mother. She always reminded me, when I was feeling down or out of sorts to “do my art”. Wise woman! I hope my kids can say the same thing about me when they’re adults.

For more about Tracey visit her blog or follow her on Instagram @traceyclark.

Inspired by Tracey?
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Show Mom Some Love (Free Printable Mother’s Day Cards)

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Download here

I’m determined not to let Mother’s Day sneak up on my AGAIN this year. Every year I struggle with wanting to make this holiday special for all the moms in my life without creating more work for them! Right? Like who’s planning and cooking brunch and buying the cards and gifts? A MOM!!!! ;P

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Download here

So… cheers to all of you who are honoring and being honored on May 10. My service to the world on this Mother’s Day is to make it easy for all of you to pay it forward… and not in some last-minute-run-to-Walgreens kinda way, either! (You should’ve seen that place on Valentine’s Day!)

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Download here

… I’m talkin’ totally unique, professionally designed, hand-drawn free Mother’s Day cards for you to download, print on card stock, ready to mail right now. For FREE! Click each of the images above to download.

What about a gift? I have a solution for that too… a fresh new collection of printable art and art prints in my Etsy shop just in time for Mother’s Day (see below).

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So there. Done. Now you can relax and enjoy YOUR Mother’s Day!
ria

 

p.s. If you want a heads up on the next free printable extravaganza (ex. Father’s Day), get on the list here! No spam, I promise.

DAY 33: Iris in the big green chair

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Leigh asked the group, “What going on for you at this stage in the process?”

I’d have to say that it feels like I’m settling into a groove of some sort. Perhaps it’s because this 48 Days of Creative Devotion came on the heels of The Artist’s Way and I’m also doing The 100 Day Project (It occurs to me that I might be gorging on art-making. Maybe.)

BUT it also feels like capacity-building. I have these tasks that I just do now. I don’t feel “pressure” to do them. I just do them. Like scales for a pianist or voice exercises.

I’m also not as attached to the end-products. They are just x/48 or x/100. They are not so precious, which is a really, really good for me.

I am a dog.

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In the hallway of my apartment building, many moons ago, a woman stood with an elaborate purple hat. She was on her way to an art opening or some such but I remember being impressed with her flair. She has since become a dear friend, Janet Riehl, “Auntie Janet” to my kids. But this isn’t a Janet story, really. It’s a brief homage to her father, Erwin A. Thompson, who seven years ago at 92 became my Facebook friend (I only mention that because it’s so like him). He recently made his final journey home.

Every year, he would make my kids a little animal whittled out of wood with his pocket knife. We have a small collection of them now and they’ve even managed to make cameo appearances in a few product shots! The first one was the dog you see above—which came with “official documentation” typed by Pop himself on his vintage typewriter “I am a dog.”

Occasionally, we would visit his farm in Alton where my kids would help work the cider press and jump from the hayloft and climb trees and eat berries straight from the bushes. Last summer, he taught them how to whittle.

He is described in this article as a folk artist, philosopher, philanthropist, author, musician and Riverbend historian. We were blessed to know him as Janet’s dad.

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#tbt and Practice Makes Better

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riasharon-practiceJust start doing something you’re interested in now
and see where that leads. ~ @MelissaPierce

I “ran into” Melissa a couple of days ago on Twitter and was reminded of this wonderful conversation we had a few years ago that is still so relevant to me today. Her documentary film, Life in Perpetual Beta won a bunch of awards. What she discovered in the process of talking to the most interesting people is that nobody had a Master Plan. So there.

We are surrounded by well-intended words of encouragement… Dream Big! Live Your Passion! Don’t Give Up Your Dreams!!! But I’m not one of those people who has always dreamed of becoming an astronaut or a neurosurgeon or a dancer from the time I was itty bitty. What then? For me, Melissa’s words are a great comfort… Just start doing something you’re interested in now! This feels like a 200 pound boulder lifting off my shoulders!

I’ve actually gone through a few “releases” even since our interview (my life really IS in perpetual beta!) The double-edged sword of the online world is that everyone gets to watch you “practice.” The first time you do something, chances are you’re going to suck or mess up a lot and that’s out there. And then the next time, you get a little better. And the next time, better still. You’re basically a work in progress with every post and picture you publish online and it’s all there for everyone to see, if they choose to. Everyone can see your left turns and u-turns and windy path.

But the paths are changing too and I can’t help but feel that in this new way of navigating them so transparently, we are not somehow paving new roads as we go along. (In the tech biz, they call that “innovation.”) We’re 10 to 15 years into “blogging” but now it’s called Content Creation. People are being paid handsomely to tweet. I know, right?

The people I “grew up with” blogging continue to evolve but note, their journeys were not planned! And yet, they changed the “blogosphere.” (Is that even what it’s called anymore?) No, really. if you look at Alli and Megan and Cecily and David and Lewis and Danielle and Scott and Jen, they get out there every day, feeding a dream! And it can feel like they’ve known all along that what they were doing was what they were meant to be doing. But trust me, I’m 99.9% sure that they did not know where they were headed exactly. We were all just doing what was right in front of us.

I wouldn’t have my job as a Content Strategist at WashU if I hadn’t spent a good chunk of the last 10 years playing and just being curious and learning online with people like Melissa.

So if you are feeling called to something… painting, ceramics, macrame, knitting, dog grooming, dancing, playing the harmonica, writing on Medium… you know, it’s okay to just start. It’s okay to indulge yourself in an activity that has no seemingly practical purpose. At one point, that was what they used to say about tweeting, remember?

It’s really really okay to let it light you up, whatever IT is! The chances are, if it really really is interesting to you, no one will have to nag you to do it over and over. You’ll just do it because… it’s fun! And after a few (or 100 times), you’ll probably be pretty good at it and who knows where that could lead.

16,000+ tweets later… big hugs to you, @Melissa Fierce!!!! #ToLifeUnplanned #tbt

The 100 Day Project

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In my “spare” time, while getting lost on the interwebs, I stumbled across a familiar name from my days as a graphic designer: this piece by Michael Beirut on Design Observer about his 100 Days assignment at Yale. The point of the project is exploring the ways that people (you/me) balance inspiration and discipline. I’m not sure I can speak to this much more eloquently than Michael can so feel free to read his post.

I found Michael’s post from The 100 Days Project, an online version of Michael’s Yale assignment hosted by Elle Luna and The Great Discontent.

I also happened to touch base with my dear friend, Scott Ginsberg who mentioned his 100 Unit Theory. Scott says, “Forget 10,000 hours. Go for 100 units!” To which I said, “I am! Starting today, actually!”

Because I really need ANOTHER thing, right? But I’m like an addict in recovery. I’m in ART RECOVERY. This is my 90 meetings in 90 days.

As I right this, I realize how true this is. So much of what I learned in the 12-week Artist’s Way book/program mirrors what I’ve heard about addiction recovery… protect your sobriety and all that. Ritual, practice, surrender….

In our COCABiz session on creativity and lateral thinking, Robert asked us to brainstorm as many uses for a chair as we could in 2 minutes. Same thing just… 100 days.

So I’m doing this, along with many others, on INSTAGRAM ONLY. If you want to see how the process unfolds, follow me. If you want to join, tag me or send me a message here (or on IG) so I can add you to my stream.

Visit The Great Discontent for the rules.

Chapter 12: Recovering a Sense of Faith

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SPOILER ALERT: If you want to do The Artist’s Way, start here before reading this post.

The end is always the beginning. We say this all the time in our Hopeful World classes. The end of one thing, the beginning of another. So here we are at the end of The Artist’s Way! I really didn’t plan to have it coincide with Passover AND Easter! What is the cosmic significance of that?! Emancipation and resurrection!!! A little synchronicity right here on the blog, friends!

Recovering a Sense of Faith

What’s funny is that I didn’t realize I had lost my faith but upon reflection I think I did. Around this same time last year, I was really committed to swimming upstream and doing things I had no business doing for the sake of doing something “important.”

A couple of weeks ago, I sat across the table from Danielle and cried. I couldn’t help it. As much as I generally and genuinely want to put on a happy face for the world this process of exposing myself and my art every day has required all my courage. I have to battle that inner voice that says, Oh puleeeease, you’re not starving or in danger of being gunned down by warlords. You’re drawing! And another thing… YOU’RE DRAWING!!!

I told Danielle that for the first time (maybe ever), I feel the wobbliness of being really vulnerable—not hiding behind Suzanne who is supporting moms in the so very important role of birthing and raising our future or Jen, who is creating a whole new Hopeful World! Their “bliss” surely are more worthy of attention. And Danielle reminded me that what I’m doing (yes, drawing!) is important in a different way and showing my kids what courage looks like.

How apropos, seeing as it was my daughter who inspired me to get to this point. She’s always saying, “My mom is an artist.” I finally heard it. I finally saw what she saw, mirrored back to me. And I was scared… because what is an artist that doesn’t make art? How can I expect my children to claim themselves if I couldn’t?

The clarity and wisdom of my 13 year old (who seven years ago picked the name “Faith” as her online persona), the quiet persistence of my elders, and the encouragement of my friends—all of these got me here, to the last chapter of The Artist’s Way in 2015.

What’s different? What do I know now after this 12-week journey? To be honest, I was kind of expecting a big reveal, like on the home makeover shows… when the homeowner comes back and discovers something she never ever expected was possible!!! And yet, it’s still her stuff in the room—minus a few things and plus a few things and put together in a way she didn’t think of before. What did my “person makeover” reveal?

So simple: I’m an artist. I always have been. But now I make art. Every. Day.

That’s what it means to be an artist: make art—good art, bad art, art that people love, art that people buy, art that people don’t care for, art that no one sees—it makes no difference. My job is to make it. That is enough. It seems so simple and yet, not so easy.

Julia’s parting thoughts in The Artist’s Way are on Sacred Circles—of creating a community that nurtures creativity and art. We all need a tribe.

The End is the Beginning

So again, a synchronicity. Without knowing what was coming in Chapter 12, I had the urge to start a monthly art giveaway for members of my tribe. The first Share Sunday is tomorrow, Easter/Passover Sunday!

Also this month, we’ll begin the Artist’s Sketch series. I’m inviting other artists to share their thoughts on creativity and the artist’s life, in short form. Not an hour-long audio or 30-minute video or 200-page memoir. Just a “sketch”— a 5-question Q&A that can be taken in like a warm and welcome cup of tea.

Please Join Me

Please join me in creating a Sacred Circle right here on the blog. If this feels like nectar to you, I invite you to be part of it. Sign up for your monthly gift of art AND a heads up of each Artist’s Sketch as they happen.






Thank you, thank you, thank you. Your presence here holds me up and means the world.

The Artist’s Way Posts

Week 1: Recovering a Sense of Safety
Week 2: Recovering a Sense of Identity
Week 3: Recovering a Sense of Power
Week 4: Recovering a Sense of Integrity
Week 5: Recovering a Sense of Possibility
Week 6: Recovering a Sense of Abundance
Week 7: Recovering a Sense of Connection
Week 8: Recovering a Sense of Strength
Week 9: Recovering a Sense of Compassion
Week 10: Recovering a Sense of Self-Protection
Week 11: Recovering a Sense of Autonomy
Week 12: Recovering a Sense of Faith