Hi Reader,

When I was in college, I remember learning that to be a successful artist in the world, you have to find your niche and your signature style, and then make work like that forever, never straying very far from your chosen medium or recognizable look. (Maybe that's not what they were actually teaching us, but that's apparently what I absorbed and what I remember!)

I remember thinking then that it would be so BORING to just make the same kind of thing over and over for years on end, never having much room to experiment or change or grow. I understand that there can be a lot of room within a style and genre and medium to explore and experiment, and that that can feel very exciting for some... but for me, I knew deep down that I wouldn't be able to stick to just one thing.

One of my favorite things about my creative career so far is how I've been able to bounce around to different projects, use different mediums (media?), and switch it up when I want or need to shake things up.

No rules, no limits.

I LOVE working with different types of supplies, and they all feed my creative soul in different ways. When I'm designing repeating patterns on the computer using Adobe Illustrator, I can lose track of time and get into the flow more easily than when I'm doing any other kind of creative work. When I'm painting, sometimes it takes me a bit longer to get into the flow and to quiet my mind, but when I do the sense of accomplishment when I see what I've created in one sitting is one of the best feelings in the world. Drawing on paper is what I'm currently trying to fall more in love with, and one of my goals this year is to spend more time drawing. Drawing on paper, though, is also where my inner critic really loves to rear its head the most, for some reason. Lots of stories and judgments and contradictory chatter, sort-of like this:

But drawing on my iPad is a whole different story! I absolutely love it.

As I've been drawing this past week, I've started thinking about my next fabric collection, which I'll be designing over the next couple of months – you can see some of the little drawings I've made up there at the top! I'm not exactly sure what these will turn into yet.... the first step in my pattern design process is to just draw a bunch of motifs so I have a lot of different shapes and things to work with.

Next, I'll take them into Illustrator on my computer and start arranging and coloring them, and the fabric collection will slowly begin to take shape.... I'll share some more peeks along the way if you're interested!

I teach my pattern design process inside my Pattern Camp course, which is coming around again in April. If you want to learn how to turn your own drawings into repeating patterns using Adobe Illustrator, I would love to teach you! More about Pattern Camp in the coming weeks.

I have something extra special up my sleeve that I'm creating with my good friend Sarah Watts, who's also a pattern designer and fabric designer, like me. Sarah creates her patterns in Photoshop, and I create mine in Illustrator. We both use Procreate on the iPad in our workflows, and we both paint and draw and create art on non-digital surfaces as well. We use different programs and have different processes that lead us to the same end result: unique digital pattern designs.

Sarah and I share a deep belief that there's no magical path that will get you where you want to go creatively. Being creative and designing a creative career is about figuring out how to do it in your own way. Not the way someone else tells you it should be done or is the "right way". There's not just one right way. There are as many different ways to find creative success as there are people on the planet. And what's at the root of all of them is making a lot of art, and leaning into your own unique process.

What works for one person may not work for you. Everything is up for experimenting and questioning. There honestly just aren't really that many rules. We're all making it up as we go along, figuring out what works and what doesn't, and that's different for every single one of us. Be wary of anyone who tells you their way is THE way!

Anyway, I'll tell you more about what we're cooking up soon. It's going to be epic!

I'M ON SUBSTACK! Like so many of us, I've felt less and less inspired to spend time on Instagram in recent months. It used to be my favorite place to share + connect, but now it feels like I have to learn how to beat the algorithm just to get seen. I haven't given up entirely on IG yet, but I also started a Substack, called Inside Outside, and it already feels so much more fun! COME JOIN ME THERE!

CURRENTLY READING... I found this book in a little free library around the corner from my house and grabbed it, and I'm so glad I did because it's so funny so far! I love Amy Poehler and am really enjoying reading something funny right now. More laughter right now, please! Highly recommended. GET A COPY HERE

ANIMAL ALLIES Yesterday there was a raccoon in our front yard. This morning I saw two geese honking their way through the sky as I walked my kids to school. There are animal messengers around us all the time! If you want to learn to tap into their wisdom and energies, check out my animal oracle card decks. They're a go-to birthday gift in our house, for kids + grown-ups alike!) GRAB A DECK HERE

​
Happy Tuesday to you, wherever you are!
Until next time...

LET'S BE FRIENDS ON IG!

​​​​