Lemme rant about routines & inspiration for a bit

The first time I heard Lilly Singh talk about “scheduling inspiration,” I truly had no idea how to process it. It felt like the weirdest thing I’d ever heard.

I guess I thought inspiration was this effervescent amorphous thing that came and when as it pleased.

But I swear, as I get older, and more done with all of my tricks of procrastination or rationalization, and the like, the more I realize that I have a lot more agency over accessing my creative flow than I imagined.

I always like to say that brains are lazy pattern finders, we can go into a rote or auto-pilot mode so easily.

What I’ve come to realize is that when I make the effort to develop and stick to a routine, in any aspect of my life, my creativity opens up. So when I stick to a making and learning routine, I literally go through periods of time where I have unimaginable quantities of ideas pouring out of me. Sure, they’re not all keepers or things I can do right now. But it’s good to dream.

Lemme show you my plants

Houseplants give me life.

I started collecting houseplants when I lived with my partner in 2017. I accumulated a couple of plants from my mom’s friend who retired, and some clippings from some of my partner’s mother plants. It’s an addiction that comes in waves, but I’ve learned to manage it a bit better over the years.

I focus my growth and loving energy on keeping the plants I have happy and flourishing, and only buy a new one when it feels right, not on impulse.

Here are my beauties…

Welcome to my studio

April 2020, I joined the 317 Art Collective in Rockford. A group of artists, sharing space, making all kinds of art and magic. As this was at the beginning of the 2020 pandemic stay at home orders, I didn’t spend much time there at all, moved enough supplies in to make my box really heavy. But not enough that I couldn’t still work at home. This was a VERY scattered time in my art adventure. I started spending more time working in the studio around my birthday in July.

When a private space opened up, I admittedly wavered. I wasn’t sure I could afford it, and sent myself on a solid negative spiral featuring my classically terrible relationship with money.

Enter the book, You’re a Badass at Making Money by Jen Sincero, Youtuber Jordan Cheyenne, and The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.

And all the work I’d done academically about mindset, neural networks, self-esteem, resiliency, motivation…it all came crashing back at me in a completely different way.

I found a way, and in September 2020, I moved into my own private studio at the Collective.

This is my space. In February/March 2021 we put up a solid wall separating the two shared spaces in the room. And since then I’ve been trying to figure out organization and flow. Granted, I do work in several mediums that have no overlap in terms of space and supplies.

Next on the list is finishing the wall and creating a mural to brighten up the space.

I’ll keep you posted on that journey on my Instagram, so make sure you’re following me 🤗

 
 
 
 

Art Life Sunshine 101

Welcome to my pile of rainbows, knots, and mandalas. My art is celebratory, joyful, playful.

Art & Life by Sunshine was my original moniker, but I shortened it to Art Life Sunshine…mainly for a good instagram handle. There it is. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Hi! I’m Nicole, I’m great at introductions. I’m an artist. I’m scattered in many ways, and meticulous is many others. I’m both terrible and excellent at deadlines. I’m human. I love to express emotions in bright color, to work with sinuous and organic shapes.

I’ve worn many, many hats in my life, and strolled and chaîné down many different paths. The one consistency has always been my deep intrinsic need to create. Even when I was studying cognitive neuroscience, I was researching and viewing things through a lens of creativity and the human experience.

It always comes back to making with my hands, playing with color and lines. I do it for the joy, I do it for the process.

I hope you get that feeling when viewing my art, or planning a commission for a specific space.