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.

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.

It’s taken a lot of paintings and mistakes to develop my style and be loose in my art. But learning to paint whimsically and find your artistic voice are completely do-able — I’ve put together a Free Painting Class to share my favorite technques and more about my creative process… click HERE to get instant-access and sign up.

I hope it all keeps you inspired!

Happy painting!
xo Juliette

P.S. I’ve been getting so many questions about how to start an online business for your own art, so I’ve put together my Business For Creatives class to give you the roadmap. Click here for all the details on Business For Creatives class.

P.P.S. If you want to paint together, but feel like you don’t have a lot of time, I’ve also put together my self-paced, Happy Painting Mini Course, which has five instant-access projects.

Click here to learn more about my Happy Painting Mini Course.