Art and Other Activities in Times of Stress

Art and Other Activities in Times of Stress

Stress. It’s the universal teeth clenching, head pounding, sleep depriving pain in the everything that we all either experience at least once…or all the time.

After last week’s promising outlook for a brand new year, 2021 has proven itself to not necessarily be all glowing positives. Having been going through an awful lot on my end and falling off the ‘gram quite a bit because of it, I have been trying to do my best to balance life and stress, life and stress, life and stress… And then this week came around and sure did a number on many, wouldn’t you say?

I know the opinions on the events of this week may range in some folks, but for the majority, there is a lot of stress, disappointment, anger, sadness, and all sorts of other very hard emotions to deal with.

Because of this, I thought it would be nice to talk about one of my favorite stress relieving activities (alongside exercise, deep breathing, yoga, and various other self-care and health-conscious activities). For me, major stress relief comes from calligraphy and lettering.

Peace Out 2020—And Happy 2021!

Peace Out 2020—And Happy 2021!

Wow, was 2020 rough, huh? Well, I’m sure I’m not alone when I say good riddance, 2020! And even better, Happy 2021 to us! 🥳

I am hard pressed to find one person who can say 2020 was a great year (if this is you, please share this amazingness in the comments!)…and while 2021 still has some necessary roughness ahead, I’m sure we can all agree there are hopefully positive glimmers on the horizon.

Personally, I do have some rough patches ahead that I’ve been known to talk about from time to time on Instagram, and 2021 is sure to be a challenge with hard family stuff to bear. 😞 Still, I’m doing my best to focus on the positives, and to look forward to all that 2021 will bring.

The Wind Down—Deep Breath!

The Wind Down—Deep Breath!

Running a small arts business—and I’m sure any small business—is a bundle of emotions and feelings: excitement, hope, stress, exhaustion, worry, curiosity, positivity, wonder, and so many more.

It’s when things are gearing up or a small business is super active that things can bounce between both joyous and at times, incredibly busy. But then there are other periods that lulls happen. It’s just the nature of life and business…especially during a pandemic.

Watercolor Vs Calligraphy: Must it Be One or the Other?

Watercolor Vs Calligraphy: Must it Be One or the Other?

You may have caught on, that while I’m forever loyal to the people and things I love, in the “things” realm, this means that I struggle with “picking just one thing.”

I’m sure this deliberation is not unusual for many artists, as we are often encouraged to pick a niche and stay there. The problem is—and perhaps it’s the roaring Gemini in me—I simply can’t pick just one.

Divinity in Blue: A Galaxy Collection Sneak Peek

Divinity in Blue: A Galaxy Collection Sneak Peek

Today is a very exciting day for me! Not only am I counting down to the release of my new Galaxy Collection on October 13th, but today is the sneak peek I’ve been dying to show you… A whole new and larger format watercolor galaxy—on a huge wood slice!

As you may have caught on, I have a thing for wood slices. My journey into galaxy painting lasted about half a second on paper before I became obsessed with painting on wood slices. I guess it’s safe to say it all started when I took my first watercolor class, and my brilliant teacher gave a walk through of mediums (aka nifty things that help you paint with watercolor). She mentioned watercolor ground, a paste-like substance you can apply to non-watercolor-paper surfaces to create watercolor absorbency.

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