I get asked about the ethics of using a projector or tracing a drawing a lot on YouTube and Instagram. Can we really call ourselves artists if we don’t do the entire thing freehand or by using grids? Isn’t it cheating to use technology to bypass the difficulty of the drawing stage and head straight into the painting?
I can safely say that creating and releasing my first ever digital course, Painting Flowers in Acrylic, has been one of the proudest moments of my artistic career. Since the course’s launch on September 29th, 2023, I’ve had the sincere privilege of teaching, coaching and supporting artists in the program from all over the world, including England, France, Spain, Portugal, New Zealand, Australia, Germany, Canada, and the US. The work they’ve produced as a result of the course has been remarkable. It’s been a true joy to witness. This course will be available as a permanent offering on my website, but keep an eye on your email for discount codes that will be mailed out periodically. All new email newsletter subscribers...
We've all been there. You've happily started a new painting, things seem to be going well enough, and all of a sudden, WHAM. You're stuck. Maybe it's that you no longer have enough time, perhaps you're feeling trapped by perfectionism, or maybe you're worried that you could potentially ruin the painting if you were to continue. Or perhaps, in the worst of cases, you just don't feel like working on it anymore. Artists, I have been there. I have started paintings full of excitement, energy, and enthusiasm, only to run out of steam halfway through. Over the years, I've become better at identifying the why behind my sudden inertia, and I think all of it boils down to one simple word: friction. ...
Where to begin. I'm not even really sure where to start, because this studio space has existed for so long in my mind as a place I would find eventually, even though I had no idea how. I drew pictures of it. I wrote specifics into my journal about how it would look. It has been so incredibly real to me over the past year, but it came together over the course of 48 hours last week. I will give full credit here: my studio partner Emily of Table & Pine Photography is the push behind all of this, and it was her initiative and drive that found the space. She had been searching for a studio for a little...
The Origins of Landing Light It's hard to feel anything but peaceful when watching a Lake Nipissing sunset. That's what I was seeking when I snapped the reference photo for this painting back in March of 2020. The pandemic had just arrived, my daycare had been closed, and like everyone else I was scared and confused. My boys were 19 months at the time, parks were closed, and I spent my days trying to entertain them while teaching online. My husband was participating in ventilation simulations at work, preparing for an influx of patients in CCU, and I was so worried about him getting sick. Needless to say, I was not in a good place, mentally or emotionally. So after one particularly...
