When I’m stuck with my art, I go back to painting backgrounds or whimsical animals. I’ll get out a few blank canvases and squeeze three acrylic paint colors right onto the surface (neon red, pink and white). Then I might drip some acrylic ink (neon yellow and green) and pour water on top to see what happens. This gets me out of my head so... Continue reading

The other day I got super stuck on a big painting on my easel. I just couldn’t let go. I needed to return to having fun, so I put a bunch of blank canvases on the floor and started splattering acrylic inks and liquid watercolors on top to cover up the white space. Then I dumped a bunch of water on top to see what... Continue reading

Hello and Welcome! I’ve been getting so many questions about which class to take next, so here’s a bit more info about each of my online courses and The School of Happy Painting Membership:   🎨 Portrait Painting Masterclass – This is my newest, in-depth online course. It’s the perfect deep dive into developing your own style and  focuses on painting women’s eyes and faces. ... Continue reading

When I’m struggling to be loose in my art, I’ll often take a step away. I make a smoothie, go for a walk, or lay in the hammock and read. This makes me stop and look around, so I’m not so focused on painting something perfect. Then I can get out of my head and paint from my heart again. The other day when this... Continue reading

While I generally take chances and am carefree with my artwork, I often feel like I’ll never be able to fix a painting (especially the eyes and face). That’s why I have many paintings going at once. When I make a mistake or get frustrated, I set the painting aside and pick up another piece that I feel I’ve ruined. But the other day I... Continue reading

My paintings come together in many layers. When I begin, I might know whether I’d like to paint a woman or an animal or something completely imaginary, but it’s in the process of creation that I discover what the piece needs to be. This involves lots of happy accidents and beautiful mistakes, but sometimes it’s so hard to just flow with it all in the... Continue reading

For years, I stopped painting. Art was the thing I loved to do growing up and in high school, but I didn’t know how to make money from being creative. All of my early work ended up in the basement or trash. I felt like my creativity didn’t matter. I went to college to study biology, but I couldn’t stay away from the art room.... Continue reading

Whenever I paint, the eyes and face have to resonate with my heart before I can go deeper into the rest of the painting. There’s always an ugly stage, but, little by little, layer by layer, the face and shape comes together and then it feels like magic. But sometimes I still get super stuck. The other day when this happened, I was in the... Continue reading

Whenever I try to paint something new, I get stuck. Documenting my painting process in photos has helped me be kinder to myself and understand the ugly stages are just part of the process. Yet I so often assume that I can just sit down and paint what’s in my head. Or look at a past painting and do it again. But that doesn’t happen.... Continue reading