• Art Supplies,  Art Tip

    DIY Valentine Ornaments

    DIY Valentine Ornaments blog cover

    I have a Valentine tree this year!  It kind of happened accidentally.  The plan was to make some ornaments to offer at the Shoppes.  Other priorities got in the way and time slipped away, so rather than sticking the ornaments in the pile of unfinished projects, I decided to display…

  • Art Tip

    Artist Trick for Finding Colors

    artist trick for finding colors blog cover

    I finally listened to a piece of art advice that I had been hearing for years and putting off, so I thought it would be a great time to share it with you ( or in case you need a reminder to do it). Create color swatches of your paints/art…

  • Art Tip

    Painting Tip for Contrast

    artist trick for contrast blog cover

    I’m just about finished with my newest painting and I thought it would be a perfect time to share a trick that I use when I’m just about done with a new work. If you’ve been following my social media lately, you probably know that I’ve been working on this…

  • Art Tip

    Crafting Paper Flowers

    Crafting Paper Flowers blog cover

    In honor of the upcoming Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration, I thought we could do a fun craft on the blog this week! Dia de Los Muertos is a holiday celebrated on November 1 to November 2 throughout present-day Mexico and parts of Central and South…

  • Art Tip

    4 Shading Techniques for Ink & Pencil

    4 shading techniques for ink and pencil blog cover

    This month there’s a flood of people making drawings in ink for Inktober and other drawing challenges!  Feedback that I’ve heard from artist friends or those that consider themselves not-yet-artists is that they struggle with shading, so I thought I would take a minute to share some tips! Shading is…

  • Art Tip,  Life

    7 Ways to Find Motivation

    7 ways to find motivation blog cover

    It’s been a weird year.  If you’re anything like me you’ve had moments where you’ve lost your inspiration and motivation at times.  I thought I would share some of the ways that I regain my motivation to create when I find that it has slipped away.  Get Outside Get outside. …

  • About Artist,  Art Tip,  Artwork,  Life

    100 Day Project 2020 Reflection

    100 Day project blog cover

    If you’re a follower of my social media, you probably already know that I recently finished the 100 Day Project.  The 100 Day Project is a challenge hosted mainly on Instagram where different creators pick their own project and rules and then spend 100 days completing the project.  This year…

  • Art Supplies,  Art Tip

    DIY Wood Stain

    DIY Wood Stain Sunflower Bulletin Board blog cover

    I  came up with an idea to try out in my studio the other day, and since it ended up working much better than I expected, I thought I would share! I have a couple of small bulletin boards that I’ve been upcycling by painting a picture on the face…

  • Art Supplies,  Art Tip

    Art Tip: Low Cost Art Hanging

    Art Tip: Low Cost Art Hanging. Materials shown painting, gorilla glue, triangle ruler, pencil, bumpers, and sawtooth hook.

    I was recently asked by one of my buyers to attach a hook on a canvas panel painting that they purchased (I try to accommodate small special requests like this if I can).  This type of substrate doesn’t generally lend itself well for immediate hanging, so I had to brainstorm…