Back to What I Love
“Cardinal in Snow”
Well, it’s been a while since I wrote a blog. I’ve been on a journey in the last several months and I’ve learned a lot along the way. Just thought I would share some of my journey with you.
Needless to say, 2020 was quite a year. It threw a lot of us off course. Our planning books went out the window, wouldn’t you agree? The isolation has been hard for all of us. I’m naturally an introvert, but I found myself really missing face to face meetings with people. We are designed to need each other and be together. I appreciate my alone time, but I need others and 2020 really made me aware of that fact.
During the times of frustration and isolation, I found myself taking in lots of free classes regarding business, art, self-development, etc. being offered virtually. I learned some new things about a lot of subjects, but I was creating art less and less. Art is my escape from what’s going on around me, and a healing place for me. A season of not creating much art for me lead to much frustration, and I had no one to blame but myself. After the holidays, I had to take some time to pray and seek the Lord and ask Him what I needed to keep and what I needed to let go. He was faithful and truly led me to know what were the “best” things for me to continue, with the first being to create art and to partner with Him in this journey. It’s just amazing how quickly my schedule became full of “good”things, but not necessarily the “best” things for me in this season of my life. A mentoring coach of mine made this statement to me, “for every “yes” you say, you will have to say “no” more to other things or you won’t accomplish the things you are truly called to accomplish. 2020 would prove that for me because I didn’t accomplish near what I had hoped. That is okay, I learned in the process. I have a clear path of what is important for 2021 and I will weigh everything coming my way with the question, “Does this get me closer to my goals for this year or take me away from them?”.
The other part of this journey was trying some things in art and playing with some old mediums. I took a brush lettering class, played with some watercolor pencils, and painted some in acrylics. I had fun playing with new and old mediums, but one thing I found was how much I don’t enjoy the messy part of some of these things. Mixing of colors, cleaning of brushes, lots of prep before and clean up after, all of this only confirmed why I love colored pencils so much. The ease of use and to be able to sit down and work for even 15 minutes at a time and then stop and just get up and leave my project without having to clean up anything, sold me again on my favorite medium! Also, the precision of being able to put the point of a colored pencil in an exact spot I wanted to apply to in a painting, is heaven for me! I grew frustrated with the brushes at times in watercolor and acrylics in not having the mastery of making the brush do what I desired. Again, this was part of the journey, rediscovering that colored pencil is my most favorite medium!
I really am thankful for the journey I’ve been on. It’s brought clarity to so much. This year I’m choosing to stay focused on the things that will bring me closer to my dreams being fulfilled. I’m continuing on in an artist mentoring program for Christian artists which I’ve been part of for the last two years called Created to Thrive. My mentor in that program, Matt Tommey, has truly helped transform my life and my art and has helped me to develop spiritually and artistically. I’m going to focus on creating a habit of creating every day because that is how my skills will grow as well as receive the needed therapy for me in the process, and build a body of work. Last year my goal was to teach colored pencil classes, but with the pandemic, not many classes were able to evolve. So, for 2021, I’m choosing to pivot and teach virtually. I will be offering online classes this year and I’m hoping to build relationships with others who would like to join me and learn how to use this medium I love so much. Actually, I am offering a FREE Colored Pencil Workshop (to paint the cardinal painting above) , held online in a private Facebook group on Wednesday, January 27th, from 1-3 p.m.(CST). If you would like to sign up, please click here: https://mailchi.mp/2908953b3b19/free-cardinal-in-snow-tutorial . I would love for you to join me!
I’m excited for a fresh new year and for new opportunities! I’m choosing to enjoy the journey, carefully assess any new opportunity to see if it is the best “yes” for this season of my life, and create art with my Creator! It’s okay to be ME and fulfill my calling and encourage others to fulfill their callings.
That sums it up for me! I hope this has inspired you to get back to what you love!
