Watercolor on Yupo Paper
© Helen Read
Link to find out more about this painting
Eighteen years!! I can hardly believe it…..
It was in early July in 2007 when I had a few moments to myself one evening. I’d been teaching art at the local high school for about 5 years. My children were getting older and more independent and I wondered….. What does the future hold? I had a long history of loving art and studying art and making art, and I was teaching art…. But I wasn’t making a lot of time to create for myself any more.
It was that evening that I decided to sit down at my computer to find out what artists were doing in that slice of time. Really, the world of online artists and blogs was pretty new…. Crazy to think how far we’ve come in these last 18 years! But that evening as I began to investigate, I found a world that would change my life and the way I would step into the future.
I found artists whom I’d never heard of - just regular people - creating and posting their work for the world to see in this newish online space. I found artists blogging and commenting and connecting together online. For the first time, I heard about the Painting-a-Day movement. I saw beautiful and inspiring work in a variety of styles. It was energizing and intriguing.
And that’s how it all began for me. I knew a painting a day was not possible with my busy teaching schedule and family, but I determined I would start that next day to paint every day. And I did. Now, 18 years later, my skills have grown, my style has evolved (and continues to), and I’ve had numerous sales throughout the US, and in Europe and Asia. But the most important part of this story is what I’ve learned along the way, and how I can look back and see how God directed my path.
I’m convinced that there’s a "secret sauce" here in my journey, and I love to (and should) share it with others. These are the building blocks that have been vital to me and my artistic growth.
- First, make a commitment. Decide what you can do and commit to doing it. My commitment was to paint every day… even if it was just a few marks.
- Then, create a system of accountability. For me, that meant starting this blog where I would post the progress and the work I was doing. This also helped me keep a record of my growth, which I continue to keep. The vibrant community of blogging artists from 18 years ago has changed over time, but a supportive community is vital.
- And then, one of the biggest boosts to my skills, along with consistency of creating, was finding some great instruction from artists whose work I admired. This is something I still do!
Yes, things have changed in lots of ways over the last 18 years. The online world isn’t the same as it was. But, the basics of growth are timeless; commit, be consistent, create accountability, find community and seek ways to expand and grow.
One other thing that I’ve learned and continue to learn is that artists are intentionally designed by God to be artists! And He calls us to this artistic life on purpose! Sometimes we need to be reminded of that.
So,
I’m celebrating 18 years of growing and becoming more of who I was
created to be. I hope you feel encouraged by my story on your artistic
journey - it’s never too late or too early to grow and become! Maybe you
have a story of creative growth … I’d love to hear it!
