How do I bloom as an artist?
Sometimes when you watch a favorite artist painting a demonstration, it seems easy. Where they just born knowing how to paint? Are they more gifted than the rest of us? How do they make their magic?
And you may think, “I could never do that”, or, “I’m not the right age”, and never try. If you believe the opportunity to create a creative life has passed you by, then it surely has. For those who truly desire the skills to paint there is a process, a path, a way to go that can guide you. To progress in your craft you need to know the path. Where are you? Where are you going? If you’ve taking the quiz you now know where you are. You may have qualities in a couple different categories. But you will see the path to the next level.
I’ve drawn out 5 stages of artists in botanical terms to help us envision the growth of our creative selves organically as seeds, sprouts, leaves, buds and blossums.
Kathleen Broaderick
Seed
"Many seeds are able to endure long periods of drought, heat, or freezing temperatures-yet are ready to spring to life when favorable conditions arise."
Sprout
"When a seed falls on the ground, it needs warmth, water and light in order to germinate."
Leaf
“When the time has come, every leaf turns to face the sun!” -Akilnathan Logeswaran
Blossum
"It takes courage to push yourself to places you have never been before...to test your limits...to break through barriers. And the day came when the risk it took to stay tight inside the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom" - Anais Nin
I asked myself, "How did I become a better artist?"
When I answered that question, it was the start of a 2 year journey to build a course to help my students know what I know.
It is a course built around the simple, yet powerful, tools I use in my painting process that are applicable to new or evolving artists. During my planning, I also interviewed many of my students. These are the things they told me:
I want a process
I want to nail down my skills
I want to make confident brushstrokes
I want to get in a painting groove
I want to mix bold color
I want to improve
I want to paint happy paintings
I am new. I want to learn.
Do any sound familiar?
