Limitless Resources

Reflections on a Year Long Writing Escapade

So much I want to share that it is tumbling out of my head in a chaotic mash up.

On a recent day trip down the Oregon Coast, my posse and I stopped at a little gift shop in Yachats named, Toad Hall. The owner has a beautiful inventory of journals and notebooks, and I usually leave with a new one each visit. My favorite brand is Paperblanks…the embossed gilt flowers on the covers lure me in.

Ironically I don’t journal.

Or take notes.

I reflected on this. Especially since I live life by the William Morris motto of keep only what you use and find beautiful. Journals on my shelf are beautiful but if not used why keep passionately purchasing them?

I’ve always liked the idea of keeping a journal. Sharing my stream of consciousness as a way of releasing the steam of my active imagination. Of diving deeper into ideas related to my creativity. But as soon as I pick up a pen and crack the cover open I feel silly. I’m not writing for profit or business so why? Is this is a selfish indulgence? What if someone reads it and realizes how messy my brain is? Is this productive? Where would I begin??

So the new journals get put up on a special shelf in my art studio with the others and I admire them. Some even have little pockets in the back for stashing secret little things. So wonderful!! I imagine all the things that legitimate journals or writers use that little pocket for. Poems? Sketches? Letters??

Just below my shelf of pretty journals is a shelf of my art books, both instructional and inspirational. Books on techniques. Picture books. And of course, my copy of the Artist’s Way…which I have started several times but stalled out at the idea of writing morning pages.

Under that is my shelf of watercolor sketchbooks. This is an extensive collection and mostly filled pages. I have moody landscapes and happy meadows. Strong beautiful trees and curious cats. Galaxy skies and ocean shores. Each of these paintings is an expressions of my mind, and I know exactly what my mood was or what my “messy brain” was trying to convey. Some of the paintings were done on location, capturing a point in time with family and friends like a photograph.

It wasn’t too long ago that I remember my insecurities about sharing my artwork. Is this is productive use of my time? What is the point??

Over the weekend I celebrated one year of sharing my creative journey through this newsletter. Upon reflection, I now realize that I have been openly journaling with hundreds of readers. On top of that I have also been sharing my watercolor and mixed media artwork, often daily in Substack Notes.

With your positive encouragement I launched a website (klrockwell.com) and exceeded all of my expectations for sales of my original artwork. I fulfilled a lifelong ambition of creating and selling art cards. In addition, I have grown as a person and an artist through the positive connections I have made in the past year.

Major Life Lessons Learned

So many rich and wonderful lessons. If I was going to pull out the top five they would be:

1. Quality matters. When speaking about art supplies specifically, this is so true. In order to be able to transfer your creative concepts it is so much easier if you don’t have to also over come mediocrity in your brushes, paints and paper. The publication

   Watercolors
   by Chidanand M. has a great post titled “Starting Your Watercolor Journey: A Beginner’s Guide” that highlights this important theme.

2. Everyone is different. What one artist loves another artist hates. So be sure to explore techniques and products to develop your own style. Be you. A great example of this is how

   Lorene Edwards Forkner
   blended the act of swatching with gardening, and shares her world in her publication “Cultivating Color.” If you have not read her book, subscribed to her publication, or visited her website (ahandmadegarden.com) you are missing out on a whole way of seeing color. She is fabulous.

3. Techniques are tools not rules. There is no right way and once you learn a technique you can absolutely ignore it or iterate upon it. Push your self outside of your comfort zones and explore, play and make messes. Give yourself the freedom to be creative. To see this concept in real life, check out

   Maureen C. Berry
   and her publication “pARTake.” Maureen never ceases to amaze me with her passion and creative abilities. She can do it all! Acting, painting, teaching, traveler, cookbook author, cancer survivor…spend a few minutes on her website (maureenberry.com) for a whole dose of inspiration.

4. Embrace change. Don’t box yourself in. Go in a direction that is capturing your interest. If you want to paint trees go for it. If you want to paint something different everyday, go for it. Be flexible with your art, explore and evolve. For a wonderful teacher that has this front and center in her own work follow

   juliette crane
   and her publication “Living the Way of the Happy Painter.” Juliette has courses on Happy Painting on her website (juliettecrane.com) and if you are really looking for adventure she is teaching a class in France this summer.

5. Follow the abundance mindset. We are not in competition. Someone else’s success does not lessen our ability to be successful. Share joy. A perfect example of this is

   Kelli Pease
   and her publication “The Flower Remedy.” Kelli is on a quest to give away one million flowers. For more about this visit her website (flowerremedy.co).

---

But wait! There’s More…

There are so many talented individuals sharing abundantly within the Substack community. Below are a few more artists whose work inspired, motivated or provided artistic joy recently.

Davin Trail-Risk

(davinrisk.com) … Davin just sold out of his first run of Imaginary Landscapes, a 32-page artist designed and published compilation of a series of his intuitive abstracted watercolour landscapes.

Monette Satterfield

(shinydesigns.com) … Monette just concluded a second successful kickstarter with her beautiful mixed media artwork. This one entitled Dark Side of the Moon: A Mixed Media Series.

Rachel Shenk

(rachelshenk.com) … Rachel is a story teller and advocate for intentional living. She owns a cheese shop and bakes beautiful pizzas. In addition to all that she also is a lovely artist.

---

So, what about journaling?

Now that I realize what a positive experience it has been for me to write about my experiences I am going to pick back up my Artist’s Way and use one of my Paperblanks to capture my morning pages.

I’m looking forward to a new year of sharing and caring through my art newsletter, and I thank all of my readers and supporters. What a wonderful experience this has been.

I anticipate a having a studio update in April. I started a lot of new projects in March but have not wrapped anything up to the point to being able to share. For followers, there are art cards and original watercolors and mixed media paintings available on my website (klrockwell.com).