express yourself

The entire process of making art is TRICKY! It is easy to get caught up in the end result, to be concerned about judgment and criticism of your work, it easy is to feel shame or not good enough and when all is said and done, it’s terrifying to share what you’ve created.

The best advice I can give is to make time to throw all that pressure out the window and just express yourself with those supplies! Forget about your art looking like anything beautiful, forget about pressure to show or sell it, forget about fear and just express yourself! Here are a few of my favorites ways to LET GO and CREATE!

• Work fast and off the top of your head- go with your gut!

• Music can make a HUGE difference! Blast your favorite music and see what kind of brush strokes and marks it inspires.

• Challenge yourself to move your hands, arms, or even your entire body while you are creating.

• Experiment with holding your materials in different ways. I've found that holding my paint brush in different ways enables me to capture different kinds of energy and emotion in my mark making process.

• Try picking colors with your emotions. Instead of planning or spending too much time thinking, try selecting colors quickly based on what you are feeling.

• Try assigning a word or an emotion to your brushstrokes.

• Embrace expression and abstraction!

• Try to forget about things looking and feeling perfect and instead give yourself permission to get lost in the process.