Lately I’ve been soaking up lots of new inspirations and colors to put into my paintings. One of the things I’ve realized along the way is that I’m so thankful I started painting again. I’ve always loved art and have been creative, but I stopped painting and creating for years after college. I hid that part of myself away. I didn’t want to do anything... Continue reading

I went to college to study biology, but I couldn’t stay away from the art room. 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... Continue reading

Lately I’ve realized that I’d fallen into a comfort zone with my artwork. I was getting so comfortable adding fingerprints, dots and swirls to my backgrounds, that when I started to create areas with lots of solid color (inspired by the ocean and sunsets I’ve been seeing), a whole new world opened up. I found new forms and postures for my characters and uncovered completely... Continue reading

Whether you’re new here or a long time follower, I thought it’d be fun to go a bit deeper into some of the lessons I share in my Free Painting Workshop… click HERE to get instant-access and sign up for my Free Painting Class. I hope you can soak in the creativity and lessons and go back to them whenever you need a little positivity,... Continue reading

In almost every painting, I reach what I call ‘the ugly stage.’ For me, that’s a super negative point where I feel like I won’t be able to pull my painting together or ever paint something I’m happy with again. But I’ve learned that hitting that ugly stage is just part of my creative process. Instead of allowing the negativity and self-doubt to take over,... Continue reading

Whenever I’m struggling to be loose in my art, I stop trying to make things perfect and do whatever sounds like fun. Lately that means dripping inks and watching the colors merge, then splattering watered-down acrylic paint on top to see what happens. I’ve learned that when I play, it reminds me there’s no right or wrong way. Then I can be brave and capture... Continue reading

Do you ever get stuck when you paint something new? I do (all the time). I hold myself back when I get too uncomfortable with my artwork – usually it’s when I paint a face that looks too weird and imperfect. I want to cover it up, throw it away and start painting the same way I did before. Oftentimes I’ll repaint the character with... Continue reading

Whenever I get stuck with my art, I start something new. But the other day I got so impatient waiting for a painting to dry, I completely ruined it. I overworked the eyes trying to make them perfect. Then I smeared out the entire face and nothing good happened. It wasn’t a beautiful mistake. It was a huge mess. That’s why I always have five... Continue reading

If I’m not liking my art, I have to cover it up. It’s usually the eyes and face I don’t like and it’s super scary to paint over them. I’m always afraid I won’t be able to recreate what’s already there (or do any better). To make it easier, oftentimes I’ll repaint the character with closed eyes – like I did with the owl in... Continue reading

Painting is an intuitive process for me. If I’ve the inclination to try a swipe of yellow orange azo ink across the body, I’ll swipe a thick layer along the bottom, then use what’s left on my fingertips to add polka dots throughout the rest of the painting to make it all fit together. But sometimes that doesn’t work out. The ink can smudge with... Continue reading