How a Consistent Creative Practice Helped Me Listen to My Intuition
I talk a lot about how to create a consistent creative practice. I believe this is THE way to build a body of work as an artist, no matter your medium. But what if you’re not necessarily trying to build a portfolio? What if you don’t have a goal to make a big pile of paintings or write 100 poems? I believe you can still benefit from a creative practice. In fact, I believe everyone can benefit from a creative practice.
How to Stay Creatively Inspired
Let’s pretend for a moment that your art, whether it’s writing, music, illustration, making jewelry, or something else entirely, is a plant. Like any plant, it needs a little bit of care in order to thrive — you usually can’t just throw a seed into your backyard and expect it to grow into a strong, beautiful tree. Plants, of course, need things like sunlight, water, and healthy soil to thrive. What about your art?
How to Create Rituals that Nourish Your Creativity
There’s a lot of talk in the wellness and personal development worlds about morning routines. While I don’t think there’s any one routine that works for everyone, I do think there is a lot of value in creating rituals that we can come back to each day. This is one way you can set up structure around your creativity — and even though artist-types like ourselves tend to resist it, structure can really help us be more creative.
How Embracing Structure Can Help You Be More Creative
As artists and creative beings, we often resist structure. After all, it’s more fun and glamorous to be struck by inspiration out of the blue, and be in a flow state for hours creating something amazing, than to sit down at a desk every day trying to make something happen. But what we neglect to acknowledge when we resist structure is that structure and creativity are not mutually exclusive.
How to Be Open to Creative Inspiration
If you have creative dreams and goals, chances are you already know that you need to be making time for your art consistently. Creating structure around our art is how we make progress towards our goals. But you probably also have an inkling by now that consistency alone may not be the only thing that’s required.
How to Make Time for Creativity in Your Busy Schedule
As a creative person, you probably have lots of ideas for the kinds of things you want to make. I’m guessing that if I asked you what was stopping you from actually taking action on those ideas, you might say something like “I don’t have the time” or “I’m too busy with work” or something along those lines.
How to Set Up a Creative Workspace
I have a theory that creative people tend to need a lot of space. Whether you have a collection of art supplies, musical instruments, poetry notebooks, or cool dance moves, you need some room to play. As artists, it’s important that we have space in our physical environments to explore and express our creativity.
What if you treated your home like a garden?
What if you treated your home like a garden?
Intrigued? Confused? Let me explain. This metaphor was inspired by some decluttering and organizing I did over the weekend.
Flowers and Feng Shui
When I was studying feng shui, one of the things that most surprised me was how deep and layered it is. When I tell people that I’m a feng shui practitioner, I mostly get asked about how to arrange the furniture in somebody’s bedroom. That’s certainly part of it, but there’s a lot more to feng shui than how furniture is laid out.
Calendula: The Sunny Center
Happy summer solstice! Since we’ve just had the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, I thought it would be appropriate to show appreciation for calendula, a plant that really embodies sunlight. Just by looking at the flowers, it’s easy to calendula’s resemblance to the sun in its warm yellow and orange glow, outwardly radiating petals, and cheerful round blooms.
What I’ve Learned From Being a Wedding Florist
I always thought that being a floral designer sounded like a really cool job. Now that I’ve done it, I can say that it most definitely is! It’s also a lot of work. If you have ever spoken to a florist the day after a huge wedding install, or hundreds of Mother’s Day orders, this won’t be a surprise to you.
Lavender: The Decadent Dreamer
I used to be biased against lavender. I think that is probably due to: 1) encountering various “lavender”-scented objects at various points in my childhood that smelled more like some peculiar laundry detergent than an actual plant, and 2) finding long-forgotten bundles of dried lavender in neglected corners, graying and covered in dust.
Dandelion: The Bold Beginner
If you read my last post, it might seem like a bit of a stretch to go from wedding bouquets to dandelions. After all, wedding bouquets are full of some of the most well-loved plants: roses, peonies, dahlias, eucalyptus...and dandelions are probably one of the most despised. But maybe we’re judging these bright little friends a little too harshly.
How to preserve your wedding bouquet
Your wedding flowers are a specific collection of blooms chosen to honor you and your love. Seeing your bouquet brings you back to that day — to the feelings, the places, the people who celebrated with you. Preserving your bouquet is a beautiful way to keep your wedding flowers with you in your home for years to come, and there are so many ways to do this! Here are a few ideas:
Poppy: The Ethereal Emblem
Poppies are beautiful, delicate things. They're gorgeous in a bouquet, but hard to maneuver without destroying their petals, and they don't last long. I once designed an arrangement centered around a truly gorgeous purple-grey poppy from a local farm, and by the time I was done designing, the petals had basically all fallen off. Such is the challenge of working with mother nature as your medium!
How to choose meaningful art for your home
You may have noticed that our environments can make a big impact on how we feel—have you ever decluttered your desk or brought home a new plant and noticed a big shift in your energy levels or mood? I certainly have! This is one of the reasons why I believe it’s so important to be mindful of the things we bring into our homes, including artwork.