Lately in the Studio | No. 6

August seems like a blur, and suddenly, it’s September. I’m like, how did we get here? Anyone else? Lol.

I sense that I didn’t accomplish much in August. I’m sure I did, but maybe nothing that feels overly notable. It was all mostly regular life stuff, which, honestly, isn’t a bad thing.

I do feel like I was busy art-wise; I’ve been spending more and more time in the studio, which is a good feeling. That’s the goal, after all. I had a flower painting workshop, my daily sketching practice continued, I’m still doing plein air every Saturday, and I’ve started another collage that I haven’t finished. (That’s three if you’re counting.)

But that’s all in the past now, so let’s get into what’s currently happening.

Strada Easel Challenge

If you’ve been following along with my feed, you’ll know that I’m doing an art challenge during September. It’s called the Strada Easel Challenge. The challenge is to make art from life every day and share it on social media. You can use any medium, even just a sketch, but it has to be created from life. It’s hard to believe I’m already halfway through the challenge. 

I’ve been posting my daily paintings on Instagram at @inspiredbycharm for the official challenge, but I’ve also been sharing them over on my Substack feed. I actually go into a bit more detail with my explanations there.

I always have mixed feelings about these types of challenges. They are amazing for getting me to show up every day and making art a priority. But challenges like this also bring up a bunch of “stuff” for me: imposter syndrome, “the gap,” lots of “shoulds,” a dash of comparison, and more. Especially when you add in the posting-on-social-media aspect.

However, I’m much more aware of it this time around, which is a good thing. It lets me check myself before I wreck myself. Ha!

So far, I’ve been mostly pleased with the work I’ve done. I’ve also been trying to experiment a bit and try some new things, which probably lowers the success rate of any particular painting, but hopefully serves me in the long run. Once the challenge is done, I’ll be sure to do a recap and fill you in on how and why I tackle these things over on Substack. 

My Daily Practice

Because I’ve been doing this daily challenge, my usual sketching and watercolor practice is a bit on hold. However, I have been doing some of these studies on loose paper since many of you said you’d be interested in purchasing them.

What I’ve found interesting is that even just the shift from working in a sketchbook to working on loose paper changes my mindset and how I show up. I can feel the pressure shift. Suddenly things feel a bit more serious, and I’m a little more cautious (so interesting).

I need to find a way to trick myself. Ha! That being said, I still love the results of making this kind of work, so that’s good!

In other exciting news, the sketchbook I’ve been using for my daily practice is full. How crazy is that? It was fun to finish it as part of this Strada Easel Challenge. I’ll have to give you a full tour of it, but for now I did just a quick little flip through. I hope you enjoy it!

And even though you’ve likely seen most of these sketches already, I’ll have to do a little tour once it’s finished.

Holiday Art Planning

Friends, the season of holiday art is upon us. Well, it’s upon me. This past week I spent some time planning new holiday artwork designs and even started prepping some of my stretched canvases. 

I promise I’m not about to start talking Christmas with you just yet, but this felt worth mentioning. If you’ve been around for a while, you might remember that I’ve released a wildly popular holiday art collection for the past two years. It usually includes more than 200 pieces, so I have to start much earlier than you might think.

I loved my previous holiday collections, but this year I decided it was time for something new. Just this past week, I finally settled on two new designs, with possibly another one still to come, and I couldn’t be more excited about them. I’ve already started prepping canvases and can’t wait to bring everything to life.

For now, I’m keeping the designs a little bit of a secret, but I’ll definitely share more soon. Do you have any guesses?

As you can see, there’s lots of work to be done! I’ll also keep you posted on all of the sale details as we get closer. Right now, I’m planning for the collection to arrive sometime around mid-November.

Making this collection will take up quite a bit of my time over the next couple of months, but I’m honestly looking forward to this. I love having a big creative project to sink into, and painting these little pieces always brings me so much joy. I’m excited to see this year’s collection come together.

I’m also hoping to have my Birds, Boats and (Mostly) Blooms collection ready for the holidays, which is really exciting. The goal is 100 of these. I have about two-thirds of the way to go, so I’m not sure how this will play out, but let’s see! 

That’s All for Now

And before I wrap up this Lately in the Studio, here’s a little recap of some of my latest posts here on Paint and Paper in case you missed them. I hope you’ll check them out!

What I Learned Making Artist Trading Cards (ATCs)

12 Creative Art Exercises You Can Do in 20 Minutes

How to Put Less Pressure on Your Art Practice

So, even though August felt less than memorable, it looks like September and the rest of the year are shaping up to be full and busy with all the best possible things. I’m looking forward to taking you along.

Oh, and if you ever have any requests for articles or questions about my practice, please let me know. I have a long list of topics I want to cover, but I always value your insight and would love to share more of what you actually want to read about. Thanks!

Wishing you a creativity-filled September!