I’ve been a wee bit on overdrive in the creative department lately, and man have I been having fun! There is something about learning new techniques, practicing my art, and making things that just feeds my soul. Life feels a little bit like this grand amazing adventure of learning and growing right now  for me and I could not be more grateful for the experience!

In all my drawing and painting and doodling and in my taking classes and making kits and scrapbooking and well, everything – I have also been sharing a TON on Facebook and Instagram, like a lot of things and sometimes a lot of the same thing day after day (hello. bible journaling anyone?). Sometimes I worry that I’m OVER sharing and people are, well, over it. But most of the time I feel good about the fact that I’m genuinely in search of my authentic self over here, and that sharing pieces of that with the world is just part of the journey for me. That feels genuine and honest and real to me, and to share something I’m learning feels feels a lot like embracing who really am… and that is a good thing In my book.

Well, one thing I’ve had a several people say to me lately that is just totally blowing me away and further giving me reason to be a SHARER (with a capital everything…) is the people people saying that I’m inspiring them. I’ve even had a few people say something like, “You inspired me to do ________,” or “because of you, I decided to make ________,” or even, “Hey, maybe I’ll try that too!”

One of my friends actually recently sent me a picture of her daughter  who after seeing some of my recent art journal stuff started working on her own amazing work of art – and I had to get her permission to share it on my blog because it is just really moving, and totally drives the point home for me that this is what I love MOST about art:

I admit, I shed some tears, for reals, when I saw this because this is what deep down inside drives me – feeling that drive and passion to make something, and then having the courage to just put it out there and make it real. If I can give someone a nudge to let their inner artist out – I just feel like that is the kind of mark I want to make on this world. I want to make beautiful things, I want people to have happy warm thoughts about my talent and yada yada yada. But I think what I want most, is to know that I’m inspiring people to make something.

Now, perhaps you are a person that thinks they just don’t have the “skill” or the talent to make art and it is holding you back from trying something that you really want to try – for you let me me say this:

Honest to goodness, there are 2 really important truths that I am learning to about art as I practice it more and more:

1. You always have to start somewhere, and practice is what leads to making things better and better – practice means JUST DOING IT people, that’s all it is.

Also, (and much more importantly)

2. There is true beauty in art – even when, especially when, it isn’t perfect – the beauty lies in the expression of ones spirit – it shows up when you let it come out. There is something SO very meaningful to that, and that kind of art is in all of us!

I truly hope that when I post my oodles of pictures of lettering or painting, random illustrator screenshots or whatever school project I’m working on, I hope that it never  makes you feel inadequate or that it would never cause you to question what you can do, but instead I hope you can see in it – the little girl that is me that just picks up the paints or the pen, and tries something. I hope you see the me that just googles and watches how to watercolor on you tube, who covers a mistake with a dymo label, who sits and practices for the sheer love of it, who makes a WHOLE lot of weird things in the process – and that in seeing that that you might think “hey! I can totally try that too!”. Because you can.

And then you can tell me about it, and I will happy-sappy-cry.

In honor of that sentiment, I painted/lettered this for all of us – maybe I’ll share a printable some day?? I just love it, and they are my own words – You CAN DO IT friends! <3

ps – if you are following me on social media, you may have noticed that I have recently been doing some MAJOR cleaning/organizing/beautifying in my studio! It is finally DONE! Still need a sunny day to take some really stellar blog-worthy photos, but in the meantime I am sort of considering doing a periscope/video, so if you want to see that when it happens you can find me on periscope @shawnac…

<3 Shawna