shop

When You Feel Creatively Stagnant

a large wooden schoolteacher desk with wall shelves hanging above. There are boxes and baskets on the shelves full of art supplies.

When you have a blog called “The Artyologist”, it kind of follows that you are supposed to be creating Art (with a capital “A”). So what happens when you don’t want to anymore?

A few months ago, I made the decision to pack away my watercolour paints. Not very far, they are just in my desk drawer, but they are gone nonetheless. Out of sight and out of mind.

When I started The Artyologist blog in 2016, my plan was to open an online shop and blog mostly about my art. However, that is not what happened at all! While I do sometimes blog about art and share my photography, I have mostly shared fashion, homemaking and sewing.

Over the past few years I opened a Society 6 shop, a web shop, an Instagram account and even placed my artwork in a local gallery for 4 months… but it didn’t pan out the way I had hoped, and I have now closed all of those avenues (except for my Poshmark shop). While I made a few sales along the way, it wasn’t enough to consider it even as a part time job, and I came to realize that watercolour was a hobby and it wasn’t going to be anything more than that. After I pulled my artwork from the gallery at the end of my agreement last February, I decided that I was going to stop trying to focus on selling my watercolours in hope that my love for painting would be rekindled.

That didn’t happen though.

Instead, when I walked into my beautiful new art space, instead of being excited to open my paint palette and a pad of paper to sketch a new piece, I felt guilty because I wanted to work on sewing projects, or paper crafting or even tidying instead. In the back of my mind was the nagging thought that I “should” be working on watercolours.

So, when so much of what you enjoy doing and identify with as a creative person is tied up in one specific genre of art, is it OK to quit? It is so hard to end a dream, even when you aren’t enjoying it anymore. You question, “Did I really give it my all?”, “Should I have tried harder?”, and “If I was more talented, it would have worked out, right?”

I’ve come to realize that sometimes we enjoy something for a season and then move on from it…and that’s OK. What’s not OK is to feel creatively stagnant, and then stay there.

I haven’t completely gotten rid of my watercolour paints… I’ve been watercolour painting on and off for over 15 years, so I don’t think that I am quitting completely…I’m just refocusing onto other things right now. Somewhere along the way, I just fell into a rut of “I’m a watercolourist” and didn’t feel like I should try new things… but that is the antithesis of creativity!  There are so many other mediums out there.

When I was in high school I loved to do messy scrapbooking and art books. I experimented with paper collage and acrylic paints and ink and ephemera.

Then I really started to enjoy couture sewing techniques and pattern making as I got into vintage clothing. I loved to dream up clothing ideas and then breathe them into being. I started playing around with ribbon and beads and started DIY’ing hats and headbands. Even if I wasn’t using the proper millinery techniques, I created some cool pieces!

In the past few years I’ve really gotten involved in furniture restoration and decorating. I’ve painted some furniture pieces for my home, and crafted home decor to beautify my space. I’ve enjoyed wallpapering and painting, and then putting together displays of my vintage home goods to curate my favourite bedroom I’ve ever had!

All of these are different ways to express creativity. Somehow along the way, I pigeonholed myself into a box: when I was painting I was being an artist, but when I was doing all of the other creative things, I wasn’t.

I want to get back to that feeling of love for creating, even if it’s something I’m not good at and it turns out badly! I want to try new things, and not feel the pressure to promote it. As soon as I “hung up my shingle”, in order to try selling my watercolour, the creativity was sapped and even though I’ve had months and months to start again, for myself, I haven’t found that creative spark again. I’m not decluttering the paints, because maybe in the future I will return to them. But I’ve realized that even if I decide that I don’t want to return to them, then that’s OK too.

Creativity doesn’t need to look like anything in particular, and you don’t have to be defined by your hobby. It is supposed to be enjoyable, after all. If it isn’t fun anymore, then that’s a signal that something needs to change. Over the past few months, after I packed away my paints, I have rediscovered my love for other artistic endeavours. What’s on my desk right now? Mod Podge, and calligraphy pens, and felted wool scraps, and a half finished millinery project, and some pattern pieces, and hot glue and sandpaper and a decorating book, and the ubiquitous cup of tea.

It’s a very random and eclectic assortment of items which tell a story of all of the projects I’ve been working on lately. I’ve begun paper crafting again and making cards. I’ve been sewing some new clothes for my winter wardrobe. I refinished an antique dresser. I’m learning calligraphy…. Creativity doesn’t have to look like one thing, and there certainly isn’t time to feel guilty about not doing one creative endeavour, when there are so many others you can try.

I am widening my horizons and trying new things. The perfectionist in me hates the idea of trying something new and failing at it, but that’s a part of the creative process: we have to try new things in order to learn new things. It takes time and practice, but I’m excited to try out some new stuff. Some of these things might make their way to the blog, and much of it probably won’t, but I am excited about the thought of creativity without the pressure of an audience. It’s just for me, and just for fun; isn’t that what creativity should be?

So, I’ve learned over the past few months that, while it can be hard when one artistic endeavour comes to an end, that doesn’t mean it’s the end to your artistic endeavours!

Well, that’s what I’ve been thinking about lately. I hope that my ramblings about my discoveries over the past while might encourage you today in whatever creative endeavours, or ruts, you may find yourself in.

Have you ever tried a creative endeavour and it didn’t work out how you hoped it would? Have you ever gotten into a rut and felt “creatively stagnant”? Do you find it difficult to try new hobbies? What creative activities are you enjoying right now?

(Ps. I do still have my Poshmark shop, linked in the sidebar or here, with all of the pieces I already had on hand!)

Some New Old Artwork

starry sky painting in a mat

Well, I vanished there for a little bit…but I have been busy while I’ve been gone! I rediscovered some of my watercolour pieces from a couple of years ago that I never completed or developed and decided that now was a good time to finish them up.

I’ve also been taking new product photos for my shop and have slowly been adding and updating the pieces in both my Poshmark and Artyologist Shops.

straw hat and mountains original paintings

These two originals are now available here or here. They come with an 8×10 white mat, so they are ready to pop into a frame. I think that the straw hat illustration would be perfect for a dressing room/area or a little girls’ room!

I’ve also got four new card designs in my Society 6 shop.

hello and many thanks cards

A simple “Hello” card for any occasion. And I liked the hearts from my Valentine collection, and thought that a thank-you card would be another nice option.

hat and sunglasses cards

The straw hat also makes a cute little “thinking of you” card. And finally these retro white sunglasses! I painted this for a “summer” prompt on Instagram a few years ago, and thought it would be a perfect “congratulations” card. I can see this one being good for a graduation or maybe even a wedding.

That’s all for today. I hope to be back with some more new posts, but we’ve had such a heat wave lately, and now smoke from the forest fires, so it makes taking photos rather difficult, unfortunately. I hope you have been enjoying your summer and that you have a great weekend!

The Artyologist Shop, December Update

Well, this is long overdue- not a shop update per se, but an actual blog post! A couple days can easily turn into a couple weeks if you are not careful . . . and here we are. Well, I’ve been working on so many things lately- it seems like I’m doing everything all at once and not really getting anything accomplished. I have recently added two new designs to my shop though, so I thought I might as well put up a quick update, and hopefully next week things will quiet down enough that I can get some proper posting in! Who am I kidding. . . the closer we get to Christmas, the more things there are to do 🙂 Is December a busy month for you too?

So, first is my new “The Heavens Declare” watercolour and hand lettering. You can get this one as a print (in various sizes), as a phone case or as greeting cards. I offered note cards of these at my recent Christmas craft sales- and they all sold out!

The other one I have added to the shop is this below, titled “Little Library”. Unfortunately it is only available as a greeting card, because I painted it too tiny to be a print. (Prints start at 8″x10″ and I painted this at 2″x2″. Note to self: paint larger things!) But, it works quite well as a card- for all my fellow book lovers out there!

Well, that’s all for now. I hope you all have a great weekend and see you next week!

The Artyologist Shop, September Update

hens and chicks, the artyologist shop

This shop update is looooooong overdue, and I don’t have as many new pieces to share as I would like to. However, I have added a couple of watercolours and several photographs to my Artyologist shop this month, so I thought I ought to share them!

Also, you might have noticed already, I have now updated my shop tabs in the upper menu and sidebar of the blog. Now, if you click on “art shop” (or the pictures in the sidebar) you will be taken to my Art Shop page. Once on this page, you will see images of each item I have for sale, and when you click on the image you will be taken directly to the Society 6 page for that item. 🙂 I hope to be adding more pieces very soon, and I will update the page each time I have added a new piece of art! And as for the new pieces I mentioned in the beginning, read on!

I did the watercolour and pen above, “Hens and Chicks” last Fall. It is available as a giclée print, either framed or unframed. I also thought that this piece lent itself well to being a good stationery design so it is also available as greeting cards, in case wall art isn’t your thing. And I have also made it available as a fun phone case! 🙂 It is available for several different iPhone and Samsung phones.

hens-and-chicks,-cards-and-case, the artyologist shop

The other watercolour and ink I have is “Alfalfa Bouquet“. I posted this one on my Instagram, with no plans of adding it to the shop right away, and then had several lovely people ask me to add it, so here it is! It is available as an art print, framed print, phone case or cards.

alfalfa-bouquet,-blog-post, the artyologist shop

I have also now added some of my photography. I have a sort of series going on currently, as all of the pieces are of abandoned buildings. They are available as prints, framed prints or canvases.

Hidden Door, framed print

hidden-door-framed, the artyologist shop

The Tithe Barn, canvas print

the-tithe-barn-canvas, the artyologist shop

Architectural Contradiction, framed print

architectural-contradiction-framed, the artyologist shop

The Homestead, art print

the-homestead-print, the artyologist shop

Heritage, art print (ps. this is the door in the abandoned homestead above)

heritage-art-print, the artyologist shop

Well, that’s all for a shop update for now! I am working on a new piece, and hope to add it “soon”. 😉 Also, one other thing to note is that Society 6 often has sales and free shipping offers, so if you are interested in purchasing a piece from me (in which case, thank-you so much!!!) then I would suggest checking to see if they have a promo going on. 🙂

I hope you all have a lovely Friday and weekend!

The Artyologist Art Shop is Open!

artyologist art shop now open

This post has been a long time coming. Today I am pleased happy thrilled ecstatic to announce that I have now opened an Art Shop! This was one of my major goals for this year, and although I was originally hoping to do it in January, I suppose that July is the next best thing. 😉

I have talked here on the blog before about how I have started selling my artwork at local art shows and sales, and how I hoped to start selling online as well.  Actually starting this blog was originally supposed to be Step #1 in starting to “get my name out there”. I don’t know if it’s really accomplished that at all, as I don’t post very much artwork, and mainly focus on vintage and ethical fashion here, with the odd photography post thrown in. Though the blog has turned into something other than an art blog; that’s OK as I do really enjoy it as a creative outlet for everything else.

Anyways. Once I accomplished the scary Step #1 of starting a blog, and then the intimidating Step #2 of selling and showing at local art shows, it was time to tackle the seemingly impossible Step #3 of creating an online shop.

I am the sort of person who procrastinates and over thinks things. 🙁 The more I think about something and hesitate from jumping in with both feet right away, the greater the chance is that I will never actually do it. And that is exactly what happened with the plan of opening an online shop. I was originally planning on opening an Etsy shop in January, but ran into some technical difficulties and ended up not being able to go that route. After much research, I discovered Print On Demand, and decided that this would be a good way for me to start selling online. Part of me really wanted to join the ranks of Etsy sellers and do the whole printing myself, and wrapping up packaging and all that fun stuff. However, logistically it just didn’t work out, for many reasons, one being that, since I live in Canada, the shipping prices are astronomical. Choosing to sell through a Print On Demand shop out of the USA will, I hope, be better for customers. I have decided to sell through Society 6, as they often have sales, and offer promotions like free shipping, and most importantly, they do a high quality Giclée print.

the artyologist, art shop

I now have an “Art Shop” tab in the upper right corner of my header. Well, actually the shop tab has been there for a while, there just hasn’t been anything on that page 🙁 But I now have an actual shop, so if you click through, or click here, it will take you to my products page, which then links over to Society 6. It has taken me a lot longer than I thought it would to get my artworks ready to sell, so right now I only have three pieces up. However, I decided to open the shop anyways, otherwise I honestly think I would never get it opened! Society 6 also offers products other than art prints, so even though I am beginning with just art prints, and framed art prints, I might offer other products in the future. Stationery, notebooks or phone cases perhaps? I have some other pieces that I have finished and which I am planning on adding to the art shop as I find the time. (Seriously it takes a lot longer than I think it will!)

I will periodically update here on the blog, when I have added new items, or when there are special promotions and I will continue sharing my artwork here. But, fear not- this is not turning into an art blog! It will remain what it has always been- Life, Art, and Style. A little bit of this and that, since I can’t stay in a “niche’ to save my life 😉

Oh, and I have also started a new Instagram account solely dedicated to my artwork, illustration and photography. I would love it if you would follow me there, and if you would like to, you can find me at: @theartyologist_studio.

I’m really excited about this new venture, so thank-you all for reading through this post, and for letting me share my exciting news with you! 🙂