For years I stopped painting.
All of my early artwork ended up in the basement or trash, so I thought, “What good is it to paint?”
I never thought anyone would want to see my work.
I went to college to study biology, but I couldn’t stay away from the art room. I couldn’t help myself from painting on everything and anything.
I found a huge sheet of paper and taped it above my bed and whenever I could, I’d work on that drawing. When it was done, I started in on a white cabinet. I drew colorful abstract scenes with colored pencils, crayons and markers.
I’m sure that giant drawing and cabinet got thrown in the garbage as soon as I moved. But I learned I couldn’t not be an artist.
Now I’ve fallen in love with mixed media painting and out of all of the painting techniques I’ve ever tried, the one thing I always return to is remembering to have fun with whatever it is I’m creating. This brings joy into the process, which inevitably gets infused into your artwork and always makes anyone who sees it smile.
It took years before I had the confidence to really put myself out there with my art.
For MANY years I completely stopped painting.
When I graduated, I went to work as an arts journalist, writing about the arts for newspapers and magazines. It took many different jobs as a journalist, photographer, graphic designer, floral designer, website developer and more before I finally realized the only thing I could put my heart into was being a full-time artist. I just had NO IDEA how to do it or where to start.
Then in the summer of 2009 I lost my job.
It was the first job I ever really loved (as a landscaper). To heal my spirit, I went back to what I adored most as a child – cutting out outfits for characters and making up their stories. My sister-in-law gifted me with a few fabulous vintage wallpaper books, and I fell in love with the colors and patterns. I knew I had to do something with that gorgeous paper.
It made me SO HAPPY to just create and paint again. So I started doing it all of the time.
And that’s what started all of my whimsical paintings and my career as a professional artist.
If you’re interested in learning more about my journey, I recently did an interview on The Creative Genius Podcast – we go deep into my process and creative journey. I hope it brings you a lot of inspiration and encouragement on your own journey.
With love + gratitude,
xo Juliette
P.P.S. I’ve also put together a fun Free Painting Class… you can join my free class right here.