I’m writing to you today from my snowy studio in Wisconsin, where I’ve just finished a new big painting.

As I mentioned, I’ve been painting abstracts, which has made me feel like a beginner all over again. I’m experimenting with new ways to create colorful layers and constantly reminding myself to have fun with whatever I’m painting.

I’ve had some big realizations about my work in the new year. The biggest one is that I just want to paint with loads of layers and color. I often return to following whatever inspiration I feel in the moment—embracing what brings me joy—and I share how to do this through my coaching, classes, and retreats.

Whenever I play, it helps me feel calm and connected, so I can turn off my inner critic and just let go. Then I can follow my heart and paint without the pressure of everything having to be perfect.

As I paint, to help myself have more fun, I stay really conscious of how I’m feeling and when I get frustrated.

I take photos of my work in progress, so I can go back and look at how I made a painting work (or not work).

The elements that work become the techniques and colors I return to whenever I reach an ugly stage. I call them my fallback techniques or go-to colors—my favorites. Over time, these favorites have shaped my style, and as I keep adding more of what I love, my artistic voice continues to evolve—and so do I.

The invitation is to be gentle with yourself; paint something you think looks a little too weird or wonky. Get out your favorite colors; let yourself make mistakes. That’s when the magic happens, and everything falls into place.

Here are a few tips to help you get started:

🎨 Start with Play, Not Perfection – Grab your favorite colors and make marks without worrying about the outcome. Let the process guide you and embrace the joy of experimentation.

🎨 Work in Layers – Don’t try to finish a painting in one sitting. Build layers over time, allowing each one to dry, creating depth and inviting new inspirations.

🎨 Limit Your Palette – Many of my coaching clients mention that they have all sorts of art supplies they don’t even use. We’ve found that simply choosing 2–3 colors or supplies makes it much easier to avoid overwhelm and just get started.

Don’t hold back. Just have fun with painting on canvas or watercoloring in your sketchbook. It can become a daily practice that inspires you.

When you look back at your paintings, start to notice what you love, what you remember having the most fun doing. Try these elements again. You never know where it might lead.

I’ll be sharing more of my work with you soon. In the meantime, we’ve just started a private Facebook group for my retreat in France, and it has been AMAZING to meet everyone! If you’d like to join us and paint with me in France, come along for play, art-making, connection, and endless inspiration. For more information, click HERE. I’ve also included a few details below.

Happy New Year and as always, I love hearing from you.

I hope to paint with some of you in France this May!

xo Juliette

Spark Your Creativity!

I’m thrilled to be hosting my painting retreat in FRANCE!

We will focus on color and techniques for loosening up and developing your style, particularly in painting women and animals.

Over the week-long art retreat, I’ll guide you through my painting process from start to finish: beginning with covering the white space, layering color, and fingerpainting. Then we’ll add faces and figures, loosen up in our sketchbooks, and draw inspiration from our beautiful surroundings, memories, and imaginations.

We’ll have so much fun painting together in this gorgeous landscape, creating paintings full of color and joy.

I find that sketching during downtime or while hanging out with friends leads to amazing connections and conversations, which deeply inspires my mixed media paintings.

You’ll leave with a sketchbook full of memories and inspiration along with a few finished mixed media paintings that you can take home and frame, but this retreat is about much more than just painting.  I cannot wait to renew, connect, and nourish our creative spirits 😊.

Together, we’ll spend eight days bringing back joy and curiosity to your art process, developing your style, and letting your creativity loose.

More details here.