October is over! I did a few paintings this month in addition to some calligraphy and lettering work. I had a good month but it never really felt like fall to me. The weather was unseasonably warm and I just never got into it. Now there’s snow on the ground and it’s confusing! Hope you all have a safe and happy Halloween!
We’re officially in Autumn mode now! I’m glad for a change, this summer was … interesting. As always my artistic endeavors are shifting and changing. I focused on spending as much time in my art studio as possible. I had some wonderful painting sessions just making marks and experimenting with compositions and various media. I fell in love with acrylic ink and very watery acrylic paint.
Much of this takes time for me. I do a lot of pausing and waiting for layers to dry while I decide what needs doing next. This also means my calligraphy just isn’t getting as much dedicated focus and time. I made less, and when I did I focused on simple pieces. It feels like I’m balancing my new artistic interests with something I’m much more confident in, the calligraphy. To balance the fear of sharing something new and untested with my proven calligraphy skills. I’m glad for the days I can lean back on what I’ve worked so hard on for the past few years with my calligraphy. But I’m excited by the thrill of trying something bold and new, in spurts of bravery. I don’t know what the future holds, or which way I will wander, but I hope you can enjoy the journey with me. And I imagine you artists out there can relate! Happy Fall everyone.
Honesty time… I’ve been slowly falling into an uninspired era. I was trying to fight it, but I think I just need to accept that this phase is here to stay. So I’m going to be taking the best care of myself possible in the coming weeks. I think there is no particular reason for this phase, or maybe it’s just a reaction to having a very productive couple of months. It felt good to be making lots of progress and creating new products for my shop. But all things ebb and flow and I need to nurture my natural rhythms for now. It’s probably a good time of year to take a little step back because the holiday season will presumably be quite taxing and busy. Lots of promotion and content I will need to create to keep up. Maybe you needed a reminder to be kind to yourself and hopefully I can provide that for you if you are in a similar headspace. Consider this your permission slip to take time for yourself. Rejuvenate. Relax. Accept good enough. Sending you creative kindness and compassion.
Another month bites the dust. I focused a bit more on illustration this month than my usual lettering and calligraphy content. I am finding myself a bit stuck creatively and starting to fight against burn out. So I pivoted to another interest I haven’t explored in quite some time… digital illustration! I do design digitally for my shop products quite often but I usually stick to typography or lettering.
I haven’t done a portrait or figure in many moons. I’m still not sure what spurred me to try it again but I am so glad that I did. I feel refreshed and renewed by trying something new. I am a beginner again and the growth I can make from one piece to the next is exciting. I think the changes in my calligraphy were becoming less noticeable as I got more skill and got further along in my learning. The excitement of something totally new is one of my absolute favorite parts about being an artist. Maybe it’s a curse, or maybe it’s a blessing but I do like to change things up often. I have been staying with calligraphy for almost 3 years. I’m not saying I’m leaving it by any means. I still love lettering and calligraphy. But I do want to mix in other art forms here and there and I really hope you don’t mind. I’ll add the two illustrations that I made into stickers for my shop below. See you next month!
(Oh and as always check out the links to my social media to see the videos and detailed photos that go with each image.)
I dived deep into my fountain pen interest and my planning and journaling side heavily this month. My Etsy shop was also very busy so I had a lot of thank you cards to write for customers. It was a very fun and experimental month. I had a great time swatching different inks and using them with my flexible nib fountain pen (from Fountain Pen Revolution by the way). I even practiced writing whole paragraphs in cursive to see if I still knew how. I usually write with printing for normal note taking and everyday writing. It was a challenge to find a balance between the calligrapher side of me that wanted to make the cursive perfect and the quicker side of my brain that just wants to write as fast as possible. I’m working on a post detailing all my thoughts on digital and paper planning and which I preferred and what tools I used so stay on the lookout for that within the next week. I hope you all have happy and safe July!
Did May feel really long to anyone else? I can hardly remember how I started the month. I experimented with more fountain pen content and had an absolute blast with it. I will totally be including more of that in the future. I don’t have a daily journaling practice but sometimes it helps me recenter my focus and get rid of some brain clutter so I might need to remember to journal more often. I’m also going to be experimenting with a traditional bujo calendar and a digital planner to see if either help me. Often times it’s just fun to set up the pages but not something I refer to a lot. I’m going to see if I can make them more useful somehow and compare the traditional and digital vibe to see which matches my moods and productivity more. I hope everyone has a safe and happy June!
It was a bit of a strange month for me creatively. I had a lot of energy and motivation but I focused on spring cleaning my house most days. It was work that needed doing but ultimately pushed my art practice down the list of priorities a bit. I also finished up my typography class with the design you see for a patch. I have been working almost every day with a production company to add these to my store but since it’s my first time making a patch it has been a slow process. Hopefully we can finalize the design in the next week and start getting them made. I’m super excited to hold one in my hand eventually. Welcome to May everyone, I hope it holds fresh energy for everyone.
