I’ve been journaling every morning for years – it’s always been my way to wake up and get grounded before doing anything else.

My morning has become a ritual, a moment of quiet reflection, grounding me in the beauty of the changing seasons.

These moments often spark unexpected inspiration, especially for new color combinations. The subtle pink of sunrise blending with the celadon blue of the sky, or the golden hues of falling leaves against the lush green grass – these moments find their way into my artwork, infusing my paintings with heart and magic.

Now I often combine my morning journaling with my daily watercolor practice. I come back to them throughout the day, whenever I need calm.

Sometimes there’s just no logic to living a creative life. It’s so much about staying open and being present, following your instincts and intuition.

So much of my creative process is in the mystery. Oftentimes it feels like nothing is working. I’ll just be painting abstract first layers, drip inks or grab a giant brush and wonder what on earth I’m doing.

But there’s so much beauty in the unknown and in the exploration, yet there’s also frustration, especially when I try to hurry up the process.

What I’m starting to see is that my entire life and living are creative. Even when I feel off track, like I’m not accomplishing anything, it’s the journey. Then suddenly I fall in love with a color combination or see a body shape in the background that looks just like a sunset. Then there’s a finished painting in front of me. It’s only at that point where I can see how all of the pieces finally fit together.

Here are 3 Tips to Jumpstart Your Creative Practice:

1. Start A Morning Ritual: Embrace your day with a grounding ritual like journaling or watercolor painting. Let it be your anchor amidst the chaos, a moment to be inspired, a space for your creativity to awaken.
2. Follow Your Intuition: Recognize those moments when a color combination makes your heart sing or a shape emerges beautifully, seemingly like magic.
3. Allow For Beautiful Mistakes: Combine what you know works with playful experiements. Sometimes the wrong word or a scribble leads to the best new inspiration or idea.

The invitation is to feel more joy and calm in your day, take a moment to pause and let yourself paint. Take a sketchbook and create a few paintings of your own.

Happy painting!
xo Juliette

PS If you want help loosening up and letting go in your art, you might enjoy Watercolor Joy, my new self-paced mini course which is available to start today. Inside Watercolor Joy you’ll find six painting projects and lessons – each can be done in under ten minutes. I’m keeping it all super simple so you can just get started and paint. All you really need are some watercolors and paper.

By the time you finish Watercolor Joy you’ll have the template to get yourself creatively unstuck, again and again.

>> Click here to register for Watercolor Joy <<

I’m so excited to see what you create and can’t wait to meet you in our community! I hope to see you in class…

PPS I’ve also recently started writing on Substack – I’ll be sharing more in-depth about my art, process and creative living. You can read more about my journey, subscribe, say hello, and leave a comment HERE. I can’t wait to connect with you there!