garage turned office

Working for yourself from home can be interesting and sometimes presents challenges! While I have an off sight studio space that I use for most of my art making, I do all of my computer tasks (video and photo editing, editing digital artwork, blogging, writing, designing online classes, email and any business tasks) in my home office. 

For the last few years, I've used our third bedroom as my office (you can see it here, here and here) but over this last year I've I wanted to move my office outside of our living/family space. When you work from home it can feel like there is no divide between work and family and it can be tricky to have boundaries. I still need to have an office at home- I work at really odd times and enjoy the flexibility of being able to get up early or stay up late working. So Andy and I started brainstorming different options and different ways we could make our existing space work. In my dream world, we would remodel or even add onto to our home but right now this just isn't in our budget which means we needed to get creative with what we have.

The solution we came up with was moving my office into the garage. We have a two car garage that we do not park our cars in. Instead, our garage is another space that we use for storage, projects and art making. The photo above was taken before Christmas, when the space was a MESS. But after we cleaned, organized and made space we decided the best and most economical option was to build two moveable walls that could create a cubicle office.

A while back, Andy built moveable walls for my studio space- you can see them HERE. I've worked in galleries where you often find a hollow wall that can be painted, moved and changed depending on the exhibit or creative project. I love my studio moveable walls- they are a really great way to divide space, change the space and also can be used as a backdrop for photography and art. 

Andy built two light weight walls (removable walls) for our garage that are braced together to create a small cubicle that measures about 7ft x 9ft. It takes up one corner of the garage and the rest is still open with enough space to store all our junk (bikes, surfboards, beach gear, etc).

We moved my entire office set up into this space and it has made a world of difference for me! I love that I am able to step away from our living space to go to work (even working a few feet away from our home and family life make a difference for my mindset). The best part is that I actually have more space than I did our in our spare room and also have an entire wall of counter space for creative projects.

For about $150 we were able to add some additional space. And while I hope some day we will be able to renovate our home, I am happy that we found a creative solution that works for today!

p.s. you can read about how I stretched my huge canvas and created my big quote painting HERE

supplies I am excited about

    1. marble effect spray paint  2. kneadable graphite putty   3. faber-castell gelatos set  4. copic doodle sets  5. brown hair sumi brush custom   6. silhouette mint stamp maker  7. brusho crystal colours spritzer set   8. blick studio tote bag   9. blick studio brush markers    10. marker bottles

creating with a kid

If you follow me on Instagram or frequent my blog you will know that we spend A LOT of time making art as a family and I get asked lots of questions about our process. Once in a while I like to share updates and my thoughts on "creating with a kid" here on the blog. (Please note that I am not a childhood development expert or a kids' art teacher- I am simply a mom who is an artist!)

My long time readers know I've been making art with Lucy from day one. From riding on my back while I filmed online classes to letting her create with me in the studio, it's been a priority to share the art making process with my daughter. As I have mentioned in the past it is important for both my husband and I to incorporate Lucy into as many creative projects as possible. And while it makes no difference to us if Lucy grows up to be an artist, we do want her to be a creative thinker. I believe creativity and the ability to think in a creative way is one of the greatest gifts we can give our children and while I am always evolving as an artist and mama, I am learning so much as I watch her develop her own creative voice. 

Lucy is now four and her little brain is developing and growing so fast. Gone are the days where she is dazzled by making a mess. This new stage has been challenging because I have to come up with a variety of different activities that keep her engaged, interested and inspired to get creative. 

Lately she is most interested in drawing and creating a narrative within those drawings. She will sit for long periods of time telling a story and will use drawing and painting to illustrate those stories. It is pretty darn inspiring to watch! 

We always sit and draw with each other, often working independently on our own projects at the same time. It is during this time that we talk a lot about the creative process, color, shapes and the meaning behind what we draw. 

It is during these moments that I have witnessed a big development in Lucy's creative process. She is now using reference photos for her drawings (often from books or magazines). She really enjoys drawing people and details like hair styles, unique features, eye color, eyelashes and clothing. It's really exciting especially since we've never shown or taught her how to draw specific things. 

Instead we've let her observe our own process and spent more time and energy encouraging her to observe and try to draw and interpret what she sees. It's not the easiest way to teach a kid to draw. Honestly it would have been WAY quicker to show her what do but I am of the STRONG belief that regardless of your age, some of the most profound creative discoveries happen when you are experimenting on your own without a teacher correcting or criticizing you. 

Our hands off approach, combined with lots of positive feedback has given her so much confidence to find her own voice and it is incredibly amazing to witness!

To read and see more of my experience creating with a kid check out the entire series of posts HERE

new class and a GIVEAWAY!

My latest online class Creative Creatures goes live today! Today I am giving away 10 free spots in the class. Scroll all the way to the bottom of this post to enter to win!

CREATIVE CREATURES

LIVE: JANUARY 11, 2016

$30.00

There is no better subject matter to capture magic and whimsy than creatures and animals! In this class we will use drawing, painting and our imaginations to illustrate a variety of unusual, fantastical and everyday creatures. I will be sharing a variety prompts, demonstrating simple drawing and painting techniques and sharing my favorite ways to tell a story and create a visual narrative.

Check out all the details in the shop HERE

ENTER TO WIN A FREE SPOT IN CREATIVE CREATURES!

Leave me a comment

Tell me your favorite animal

I will randomly select 10 winners and announce them at the bottom of this post tomorrow (Tuesday, January 12th)

UPDATE WITH WINNERS!

email me at alisaburke@gmail.com and we will get you access to the class!

the year that I live fearless

On the outside it may look like I've got it together and live my days carefree and with ease. But the truth is that for as long as I can remember, I have battled fear and anxiety- like straight up stop you in your tracks fear of anything and everything. Most of the time my fears are ridiculous- often worrying about the unknown and things I have no control over. I've spent many years frozen by fear and controlled by anxiety and it is a battle that I will fight for the rest of my life. Thankfully, over time and lots of work, I've grown into a confident and less anxious person but it's always somewhere in the background. I've spent years cultivating all kinds of ways to cope with my anxiety and while I'm really happy and proud of the who I am, this is the year that I want embrace living fearless. I want to be a warrior in everything that I do, to feel the fear and and do it anyway, I want to be bold in the ways that I pick myself up after adversity, I want to squash the lies that fear whispers to to me in weak moments, I want to fight for gratitude, hope and joy. This is the year that I will live fearless.

2016 calendar download for you!

I made a fun free 2016 calendar download for you guys, my way of saying HAPPY NEW YEAR! The pages have black and white drawings that can be colored or left plain. You can download all 12 months HERE 

ENJOY!

the art of forward thinking

When it comes to art and creativity- either for personal or for business, one of the best and only ways to grow is to have forward thinking in all of the things that you do. When I was younger, while I knew I wanted to an artist, I spent a lot of time only thinking about the present. But the minute I began planning for the future and dreaming about the big things I wanted for my art and career, things really began to change. Nothing happened over night but I did start seeing movement and growth. I learned fast that "forward thinking" is the best way to move toward growth.

Today I wanted to share a few of the ways that I have applied the concept of forward thinking to my art and my creative business:

MAKE BIG PLANS: Begin making larger plans. They don't have to be GIANT but try to figure out what types of projects and plans feel big to you and what types of goals can create growth for your business.

EXAMPLE: Once upon a time opening an online shop felt HUGE to me, then traveling and teaching at retreats was a big decision, then creating online classes felt really, really big. Over time my definition of "big plans" has changed, it often changes as I conquer each of my goals. But every time I challenged myself to try something a little bit bigger I was met with a lot of positive growth in both my art and my business.

LET YOUR GOALS EVOLVE
Back when I had to work a 9-5 job I kept my goals small(er). Yes, I had big dreams about earning a real living working as an artist but I had to work, live on a budget, was limited with time, etc. I had to tailor my goals and plans to fit my reality. I planned according to what was going on in my life and that typically meant setting smaller more attainable goals. There were some periods of time when I was able to set and meet a lot of small goals while other times I was lucky if I met 1 small goal in 6 months.

EXAMPLE: As I met goals and had success, I gained confidence and the inspiration to keep trying. In my opinion this was key for my growth and development as a working artist. When I met a goal I really loved the way it felt- I was able to get a taste of what being an artist was like and it felt great- which made me want that feeling all the time- which inspired me to stick to my plans and keep setting goals! The momentum of this process snowballed and my business slowly began to grow. The outcome was that I was actually making some real money on the side.

JUGGLE MORE THAN ONE PROJECT: If you want to grow, it is inevitable that you will need to start juggling multiple projects- they don't all have to be big projects but taking on more tasks and trying different things, often at the same time will create momentum and often more income.

EXAMPLE: When I began juggling my online shop with teaching, my income grew and I was able to grow different sides of my business.

EMBRACE THE THINGS THAT ARE WORKING WELL FOR YOU

Over time I have learned to embrace the things that are working and throw out the things that just don't fit into my life or my schedule.

EXAMPLE:

During the time that I wanted to quit my day job I spent a lot of years saying yes to just about any creative opportunity that came my way. From working with companies and products to writing articles to guest posting on other blogs to teaching anywhere and everywhere. I was building my creative resume and trying to grow my business. This process of saying yes worked for me. My business and network grew and evolved and I was bringing in a really nice side income. But there came a point where I just didn't have the time to say yes to everything. I had to start making more intentional decisions about what was working and what wasn't working. This is something that I now rely on to stay organized and centered. Reminding myself of the things that work for me, my process and my schedule has been an important factor in keeping myself on the right track.

THINK AHEAD: Fashion designers, magazine editors, photographers all tend to work at least 6 months ahead. And while it is not always realistic to operate this way, thinking ahead a little bit (even if it is a few weeks ahead) can help you make decisions for the direction you want to go and the projects you want to tackle. 

EXAMPLE: I like to plan and create my blog content at least a couple of weeks ahead. This way I know what is happening in this area of my business. I can schedule specific posts to coincide with shop updates and other projects. Not only does this help me stay on task with my blog but it keeps me thinking more about the future- instead of spinning my wheels at the last minute!

To read more about my journey as an artist-

taking the leap into full time artist and entrepreneur- HERE

jump start a creative career- HERE

coping with creative burnout- HERE

managing life and a creative business- HERE

the art of chasing a dream- HERE

the art of setting goals- HERE 

the art of blogging- HERE and HERE

the things I haven't shared- HERE

stronger than I ever knew- HERE

simple homemade planner

I really depend on staying organized, I blog, I teach, I make art, I sell products, I am a busy mom and I am juggle lots of projects. As much as I love all the pretty planners out there, I really enjoy creating my own simple handmade calendar/planner for the year.

My personal planning process is all about keeping lists. This means my planner consists of a monthly calendar and lots of pages for lists- a to do list for each day, a to do list for the week, a list for blogging, a list for class content, etc. In addition to my lists, a lot of my planning process also includes visual brainstorming, doodling and drawing my ideas for classes and new products and blog content- which means I need lots of paper. 

I've found that a cheap composition notebook or even a sketchbook works great for making a homemade planner. There are a number of ways to alter a composition notebook! One of my favorite ways is painting right over the top and then adding your own art to the cover

I used a couple layers of white acrylic paint and once it was dry I used a sharpie to cover the surface with a flower pattern.

Then I added a little pop of color!

If you don't want to paint or draw, grab some pretty paper and use it to cover the front and back of the composition notebook. I actually created a set of pretty paper from my own drawings.

I create blank monthly calendars that I glue on the pages of my notebook.

I added tabs and then I get busy planning and list making!

With a little creativity, you have the ability to transform a cheap composition notebook into a personalized planner!

I've put together a little planner download with lots of 8 pretty paper designs, two sheets of stickers that can be printed on sticker paper and a blank calendar! It's over in the shop HERE for $10!

Want more inspiration to create your own planner? Check out my post from a couple years ago when I transformed a sketchbook into a planner HERE