👉 You Don’t Have to Be Good to Start

 Why I’m creating more ways to experience art beyond the canvas...

 

Not Everything I Create Ends Up on a Wall 

Skip to the end if you don't like reading!

I know that might sound surprising. People usually see the finished pieces. The ones in galleries. The ones hanging nicely in someone’s home, behaving themselves.

What they don’t see is how many ideas come before that. Hundreds of them. Maybe more.

Some stay sketches.
Some should stay sketches!!
And some turn into something more.

I’ve spent years refining my process. Learning how to take an idea, sit with it, push it, and decide what’s worth bringing to life. At this point, I’m blessed to explore that process in different ways.

Because not everyone connects to art the same way. And not everyone wants to invest in a piece right away, I mean I have expensive art for expensive collectors and budget friendly art for budgeting patrons YET! Sometimes folk just want to see what it’s like to wear the creative ruby shoes.

Out of everything I come up with (I have thousdands), only a few ideas stick. The ones that keep showing up. The ones that don’t let me move on. Right now, that’s taking shape in a few directions.

I’m working on two children’s books! Yeah! Something that brings creativity and perspective into a space that’s simple but still meaningful. And yes, kids will absolutely let you know if it’s not good. I’m literally banking on that idea!

I’m building DIY painting kits, because sometimes people don’t want to just look at art. They want to experience creating it. And no, you don’t have to be good to start. We can let that go right now (but it will be good)

And I’m developing a creative space. Something along the lines of an arts café, but more about making than sitting. A place where you can come in, order up a craft, sit down, and create without feeling like you’re being judged or compared to the person next to you (no one tell you how to make it just so) Oh did I mention free coffee or tea!!! Yeps perks of being a creative.

Because let’s be honest, that’s usually what stops people. Not bossing the judging of self!

I also offer one on one instruction, which has always been one of my favorite parts of what I do.

Short story: I was teaching a watercolor class and David and older gentleman who worked in finance signed up for my  6 week (1 class a week with homework). His job had structure, rules & numbers. His whole world was built on things making sense and staying inside the lines. So, watercolor felt like chaos to him.

About halfway through, he was ready to quit. Said it wasn’t for him. Said he wasn’t good at it. And I told him, perfect. That means you’re doing it right. He was not amused.

He was already coming from a place of structured stress. Following rules. Getting it right. And the only rule I had for him was that there are no rules.

Just pieces of a puzzle.
You decide how they fit.
And no one is grading you.

That was a foreign concept for a finance guy. You could see it all over him. But he stayed.

And slowly, he let go of needing to control it. He stopped trying to make it perfect and just started painting. Now he is retired. Still painting as of the last time, I ran into him. Even doing small art fairs. Mr. David gifted me one of his first pieces. Abstract. Loose. Full of movement.

I knew exactly what it was. It was me, I know because made me guess! Sweating bullets I was. I still have it.  It’s a reminder of what happens when someone let’s go of expectation and allows themselves to create. That’s why I teach.

And yes, I have a motto: “Relax, Relate, Release” while waving my arms around in interpretive dance.

It gets a laugh. But it works. This isn’t separate from my gallery work.

It supports it.
It challenges it.
It keeps me connected to why I started creating in the first place.

Because art isn’t just what hangs on a wall. It’s what happens when creativity becomes something you claim as your own.

So while you may see my work in galleries or my humblw boasting of upcoming exhibits, you’re also going to start seeing more ways to step into it.

And if you’ve been thinking about trying something creative, this might be your moment. The song "Don't Stop Me Now" Yes!! 

FYI this is "The end" I said to skip to! 

👉 “If you’re interested in a one-on-one creative session, message me and I’ll get you set up.”

 Relax, Relate, Release - Lyssa Lovejoy