What are you born to do?"

Knowing what you are meant to do on this earth is key to your happiness.

It is in that quote by Mark Twain: "the two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why" I wanted to share with you why I believe Mark Twain is right.

Motherhood is important, and about 2 years ago I know I was born to teach my family and those around me. I believe that I was also blessed with some artistic skills....

Here is part of my journey into the creating and art world:

 I thought that Art is for people that had nothing better to do, and as a young mom, I thought I had other important things to do, I watch a ton of tv... it was my block and a good excuse that I used to not create. I was so miserable. That misery started to seep into me and I became an angry wife and a controlling mother. I was a natural disaster waiting to happen, I was to my breaking point. How could I go on without art in my life?

Watercolor is so important to me. I woke up this morning feeling so blessed that I have made Art part of my life, and my family's life again. There was a time when I pushed art out of my life and I was miserable, COMPLETLY MISERABLE.

It was on that day about a year ago that I was walking Barbie (my adorable rat terrier) around a lake by where I live that I thought if the world was on my side if the universe was on my side I would be a painter, not just a painter, a watercolorist. So I spent the next year dedicating time to paint. It's always a thrill to put the first brush stroke on that really nice white paper. It gives me a peace in my heart that makes me feel like all is right in the world.

Playing with color is a great warm up for any artist,, make it fun!

When I decided to work with water based mediums. I haven't looked back. For every bad painting, and yes I have a whole cabinet that is full of paintings that will never see the light of day, I have learned. Those paintings that seem all right to share with others, I make into cards. and then the couple ones that I love have made it into frames. 

 I made this watercolor dream a reality with one early morning at a time, one brush stroke at a time, one trip to a local art store at a time. 

So how, how did I make this work with my family and my crazy life? Here are some tips that I have found worthwhile:

Anna Mason gave 5 great blocks we use to avoid making Art... I love them all so taking her council has helped me ten fold.

ALL ART IS A PROCESS! I can't shout this enough.WE needed to be gentle with ourselves, just because you are painting and haven't touched your love of creating art since you were young (for me it was watercolor and it was years since I picked up a watercolor pallet up.)

AND 

layering shapes always bring out my inner artist.

Don't' Compare to others: Every Artist that I love had to create in their own unique way, we are all made different we all have our unique style, we can't paint like anyone else except the way we paint. Even if you do a paint along with me type painting uses all the same brushes, and pigments, it's still going to come out different. 

So in the real world how, How do I fit "creating" into my busy life?

I have a routine and I stick to it, I make creating a priority, I do the best I can, and I let my kids have fun with me in the process. I wish there was an easy button, and the best easy button for a toddler is sometimes tv. Although I have a 2-hour tv limit.  

Creating art is always a trade off, I could give all my time to my kids and secretly die a bit inside because I need to create or let them play. Heaven knows we have enough toys for them to be occupied... I need my time, they need time to play by themselves, so that is when I create, those unstructured time. Sometimes I need a whole day or a whole afternoon. Nothing is more therapeutic than painting for fun and try to learn something in an afternoon while my kids are playing. Afterward, I usually have to spend a day cleaning... but totally worth the creating time. 

There is a trade-off to happiness in our house it looks like this:

Happy Creating!

If you are wanting to start watercolor this class that Angela has is a great one, it's helped me motivate me to try new subjects. Like trees, which I am super excited to share with you in a future blog post!

This class helped me realize that painting is a process that brings the painting to life!

By clicking and buying this class you are supporting my blog.