Discover New Ways to Get Creative Today! 💡

We’ve all enjoyed trying something new. A new outfit, a new drink, a new recipe, a new book or movie or just about anything new! But have you tried something creative that is new-to-you recently? I have! Let me tell you about it. You may be inspired to try this out too - today or soon!

How would it feel to try something new? Exciting? Fun? Challenging in a good way? What would it be like to spend time on your own creativity? I bet you’d feel like you are taking time to care for yourself. Who doesn’t need that in life? 🥰

Like to try new things?

In the art world, when you love to try new techniques and change things up, you are called a multi-passionate creative. Some artists love their one thing – their medium, their style, their tools – and they stick to that. Others like to try something, experiment, enjoy it and then move on to something new. I am in ‘try something new’ group for sure!  How about you?

If you follow my artwork, you’ll see that I seem to work in collections where I start with a theme and a medium (acrylic paint, photography of a certain style, watercolor, even oils for a bit, etc.) and then go for it. I love to learn new skills and then put them to use for a while. Until I get that ‘creative itch’ to try something new.

While this doesn’t help me ‘build a consistent portfolio of work’, it does satisfy my needs for creative learning and expression quite nicely.  I have found that while my work ‘style’ changes, the themes do not change.  I’m drawn to all thing’s nature (animals, flowers, landscapes, abstracts). Yes, abstract does exist in nature.

Are you a curious creative? Or are you more of an ‘I love this technique and I’m sticking with it’ type of creator? Or maybe you don’t know yet and that’s fine too. It will be exciting for you to figure that out.

My most recent creative curiosity

Have you heard of encaustic painting? It is a process where you use wax as your medium. I have always found it interesting but haven’t tried it because well, it’s silly, but you heat up the wax.  And that means there’s a chance you can burn yourself. I have a thing about not using sharp tools that can cut me and not using heat that can burn me. It is what it is right?

I got brave when I found online courses by the fantastic Mixed Media artist Susan McCreevy. Her low key, friendly vibe immediately drew me in. I found her Youtube videos on mixed media art to be so interesting and different from anything I’ve done before. And that sparked my creative curiosity!

Has something caught your creative eye? An art piece you’d love to have in your home? Or art on a product, such as a planner or a journal, that you’d just love to use? Or a course that sounds irresistible to you even if you aren’t sure you’ll ‘take’ to the techniques long term? If so, I say go for it! It will bring happiness, relaxation and fun into your life. And who doesn’t want more of that? It may even become your new creative hobby.

My encaustic / mixed media journey

I had to try this out, so I signed up for Susan’s online 3-day taster course (a lead in for her larger 6-week course). Her artwork is called mixed media because she combines all kind of art tools and materials to create her masterpieces. And her abstract landscapes are indeed glorious!

After gathering some supplies, I dug into the 3-day course. I had great fun creating the layers of marks that would become the abstract little 4x4” pieces that would then be sealed in wax. Using mixed media to create like this takes some time. It’s not a ‘one and done’ type of process. Over the course of many little creative sessions, I was ready for the encaustic (wax) application.

I got set up on our deck, music on, wax heating, heat gun ready and started applying wax to my little pieces of art. Susan showed me how to embed objects into the wax to give the pieces even more interest. Tip: Don’t do this outside on a hot day – or you will drip sweat into your art and the wax will stay melty. Oops.

And then I had 9 pieces of fun, abstract art with a beautiful wax finish that was unlike anything I had created before. It wasn’t hard! It just took patience and layers upon layers of build up to make interesting little pieces of art. While the intent was to make abstract landscapes, mine are just plain abstract. But that’s ok. It was my first try and I’m happy with them as just that. Could I improve, heck yes, did I have fun, heck yes!

These photos don’t show the waxy coating or the shimmer of the metallic paint for some of the elements. And you can see I’m a sloppy mixed media artist who has trouble cutting a straight line 😂. I need to slow down a bit. There is no ‘bad’ for a first time doing something new – just doing it is a win!

 Wrapping up

What is next for my encaustic journey? Well, I’ve signed up for Susan’s 6-week course “Evocative Landscapes”.  Just look at the gorgeous landscape she has on the course page!

I am not completely sure yet that I’m a mixed media girl. It’s a stretch for me but I’m enjoying it so I’m going to keep at it and see where it takes me.

Would you like to learn? What makes you curious? Drawing, painting, photography, pottery (did you know that I love that too?), beading, quilting, making clothing, and on and on. The possibilities are endless.

It’s time to get creative. Especially if you are finding life to be stressful. I can guarantee it will bring joy, relaxation and satisfaction into your life. What will you try next? I’d love to hear about that. Send me an email.

Bye for now 😎,

Natalie