Many years ago, I worked as an engineer, it was a great career, opened up lots of opportunities and I loved it. But there was a yearning deep inside of me, my creativity was stifled, and I needed an outlet for it.

I dabbled with picking up my art materials but there was no consistency for how and when I would give myself the time and space to just let my creativity flow. I had a career, I had children and it felt overly indulgent to push aside all the other commitments and tasks simply to paint for pleasure.

A small gift transformed my thinking

Many of you may already be familiar with my very first art studio – a simple box of materials that I kept on a visible shelf in my kitchen that was built after my husband gave me a tarpaulin he thought I could use. This small gift unlocked my creativity and, with being able to set up and pack away my materials quickly and easily, I was suddenly giving myself the creative time I had been craving.

What is even more exciting is that this gave me more energy. I felt more relaxed in every aspect of my life.

From that humble beginning, I am now a full-time mixed media artist and I get to create every day!

What is stopping you from picking up your art supplies?

Whenever I chat with fellow artists and students, I find that we typically face a few challenges when it comes to enjoying art just for the pure pleasure of the doing.

1)      Accountability

Have you noticed that in almost every aspect of our lives we are accountable to someone, we have to do something or it will impact someone else? It could be work, being a parent or walking the dog, where we have people depending on us we get things done. But we often do not realise we have to also be accountable to ourselves. We matter too!

2)      Accessibility

It seems obvious looking back now, but one of my biggest hurdles to painting regularly was that my art materials were always tucked away and it took time to set up and pack away. When we have things that are easily accessible we are much more likely to use them.

3)      Inspiration and regular practice

You know you want to paint, you have set aside some time, your materials are there and the canvas just seems to be staring back at you. Inspiration has packed its bags and your mind is a blank. I have been there too. You get inside your own head and finding your flow feels impossible so you give up and wait for inspiration to strike again. This means you create peaks and troughs within your creative journey and this can affect your overall energy.

Regular Mixed Media Art Practice

We all know the benefits of daily yoga or meditative practice and I wanted to tap into this to help students who need that accountability, accessibility and inspiration to make sure they are giving themselves the time to just create. To do something for themselves.

Earlier this year I launched Café Flow – The Art Club to a small number of people who had been part of my online art retreat. The idea is that, for a small monthly subscription, they would have a place where they could hang out with fellow creatives in a supportive online community, access some great resources and complete a monthly project, all online so they could work at a time that suits them.

It is always a little scary when you have a dream of how something will be and then you put it out into the world and await the feedback. The response from my founding members was INCREDIBLE!!!

I was sharing my unique (and yes, crazy and messy), process with others and giving them the inspiration to be creative on a regular basis.

The feel for Café Flow is purposefully relaxed, it is an online Art Club that is built for its members so it will continue to grow and adapt to meet the needs of the community. Since first launching in April the membership has grown and earlier this month I made this special online art subscription available globally – so exciting and I am loving seeing all the work and positivity in the group.

Tips for regular art practice

The positive feedback from Café Flow follows the same themes as the challenges that fellow creatives have discussed so many times before. If you are looking to really enjoy your creative time here are my top tips based on what is working in Café Flow.

1)      Give yourself the time to create and surround yourself with people that will help you achieve that. Find a community where you will be supported and where you can offer support and encouragement to others.

2)      If you are taking a class make sure that you are able to access everything at a time that suits you and block that time in your diary if you need to.

3)      Don’t worry when things get ugly. This is part of the process, keep going, listen to your heart and paint with feeling. Let these feelings guide you rather than you guiding them. This will add so much emotion and depth to your art that will stretch beyond ugly into perfectly imperfect.

Welcome to Café Flow - The Art Club

If you would benefit from regular ongoing support, encouragement and inspiration take a look at Café Flow – The Art Club. The monthly subscription gives you a new lesson each month, a growing resource library packed with tips and inspiration as well as regular lives and a community to share your ideas and creations with. There is no fixed term commitment and you can cancel your membership at any time.