Hi Reader,

I just launched Celestial Moths in April and I’m launching Animals With Horns soon. This means I'm between projects and this is the best time to feed my creativity. As artists, the pool which we draw from needs to be bigger than what we send out. I had an instructor in graphic design school that really drilled it into us as creators: consume media constantly in order to have the internal library to draw inspiration from. It’s also a good excuse to say that binge watching my favorite show is WORK!

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So, how do I feed my creativity? There are many, many ways I have picked up over the years, but I thought I would share five of them with you!

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5 WAYS I FEED MY CREATIVITY:

1. Browsing images. The internet has so many places to just browse beautiful pictures. Pinterest and Instagram are the most obvious places, but I also find inspiring images in books, magazines, and recently, a seed catalog (more on that in the Rabbit Holes section!)
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2. Looking through lists I’ve made. I like to keep lists of ideas that pop up throughout my day. When an idea like “it would be fun to make a project about the grim reaper just wanting friends” (yes, a real thing I have written down in my notes)— I store it for later. It helps to revisit the list when I’m looking for new things to draw.
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3. Getting out of the house. Going on a walk, browsing a shop, or visiting a garden. Working in my studio all day can start to feel stale. A change of environment really helps to see things in a new and fresh way.
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4. Look through my old art. I keep all of my sketchbooks and I have several abandoned projects on my iPad. Maybe the time wasn’t right then, but maybe it is now. Sometimes new skills I’ve learned can really make an old project seem new and exciting. That’s how I came up with my Celestial Moths collection. I breathed new life into old illustrations.
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5. Draw what I’m currently interested in. This sounds obvious, but I think sometimes with social media, artists feel like we need to be up on the latest trends. However, I feel like art that springs from curiosity always has more life and sparkle than art that comes from what I “should” be creating because it’s trending.

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Coming Soon:

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Speaking of revisiting old art and making it new again, I have been digging through old art for my Etsy shop and I took these cute and awkward animals I created for a matching game concept and turned them into my next collection, Animals With Horns, launching sometime later this month. In addition to this collection, I've been remixing some of the current collections in my shop into new products. So be on the lookout for printable stickers for Cricut and other smart cutting machines, seamless digital papers/backgrounds, and printable art and greeting cards! I can't wait to share these with you.

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Rabbit Holes:

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• I’ve been introducing my oldest child to 90s music and The Cranberries-Everybody Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We is such a perfect album. Each and every song hits.
• When I take my walks, I like to listen to podcasts. Some of my favorite podcasts are: Scam Goddess, You’re Wrong About, and Podcrushed. I’m always looking for new ones to add to my rotation, so send me your recommendations!
• We’ve been making this Chicken Peperonata recipe lately and it is so good!
• I recently bought The 2023 Whole Seed Catalog from Rare Seed because of all the beautiful photography. It’s bursting with so many wonderful things that I’m itching to draw this month.