Spies, Styles, and Swatches

Happy Friday friends! It’s been a crazy week. I won’t even get into the details, but let’s just say I’ve officially crossed off the first “Learn something new” for my 2020 goals (“learn what to do when your identity is stolen” CHECK).

Let’s get into it- I have ice cream calling my name!

What am I working on?

I went a little nuts a couple weeks ago and bought almost EVERY COLOR of craft paint at Michael’s. I previously had a mismatched mess of acrylic craft paint- some of it was good, some was garbage. My overall desire to have all things match brought me to spend over $70 (in gift cards) on a complete set of craft paint.

I chose the Craft Smart Premium Satin acrylic paint because it had the best reviews in my research.

I am hard at work making a swatch board so I can see all the colors at a glance, and I am SO excited to see this finished. I bought a clear acrylic 12” x 12” sheet, painted it with clear gesso, and marked everything out. My daughter is going to help me paint it this weekend, and seeing all those circles colored in is going to give me all the hearts in my eyes!

My goal for this weekend is to get some serious progress done on making keychains! I have all the supplies just WAITING to be painted. I’ve even got something fun planned for them when they’re all made. It’s something that’ll take some bravery, but I’m up for the challenge!

What am I thinking about?

I am definitely thinking about painting again. By my last check on Instagram, October 10th was the last time I posted a painting!

Bro! That’s not okay!!

I’ve been working on other things since then, of course, but I do miss painting. The quiet. I miss the quiet. Just the sounds of nature (either real life nature or podcast-induced nature ha!), closing my eyes, and seeing what happens. It’s literally the most relaxed I’ve felt in a long time.

I’m excited to work on my process. I’ve been thinking conceptually a lot- about things that bother me, things that I love, things that make me think. I’m so looking forward to thinking through some of these things.

I’m learning that the process is so much more important than people think. I’ll often look at people’s artwork and be so impressed and jealous that they are able to just product all of this incredible work, and also forget that it likely took them YEARS to get to the point where they are. It took years of trying and failing, over and over, to get to a point where they love their work and feel like they’re created a style that’s THEM.

I have a lot of work to do to get there, and I can’t freakin wait for it!

What am I reading?

This week, I’m reading my first ever Paulo Coelho book, The Spy. I always knew he was an amazing author, but never made time to read any of his books. My sister had this one and let me borrow it as a “quick read”. I can barely put it down- it’s so good! I recognized the name Mata Hari, but never knew her story, and he makes reading about her life so interesting! If you haven’t read a Paulo Coelho book, please do yourself a favor- go to the library this weekend and borrow one. You won’t regret it. This one is next on my list!

Thanks for keeping up with me here- this is more for me to keep track of what I’m thinking/doing/working on, but if there’s something you’d like me to talk about, let me know!

See you next week(ish)!