Watercolor Conversations with Cara Brown

Another episode exploring the challenge of time and attention for our creative work in our lives. I take the "both-and" point of view in debates. We do need to corral ourselves to get to our studios, *and* there are natural rhythms that directs all of life on earth. What if we learn to really pay attention to ourselves and follow our inner direction?This eposide was inspi

This is a calendar time-specific episode, though the ideas are applicable for any time in life. I wrote a journal entry in the spring of 2016 when I was in a place of sorrow that coinsided with Holy Week - between Palm Sunday and Easter. I drew upon something I'd learned about a day that isn't talked about - Easter Saturday - for solace and for the reminder, the permissio

What is beauty - how is it part of life on earth? And most importantly what is its impact on us - and does it matter? These are the questions I ponder and muse upon in this episode. The story of the restorative weekend that I told in this epsode came from this post: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/my-art-and-process/august-16-2016-just-make-beauty. It's where you can see a lit

I took inspiration from something that Martha Graham famously said. Humans can be blessed by a certain unrest, by an inner disturbance, of sorts, that causes us to take action to make stuff happen in the world. It had me clean up my studio, and it keeps me making one new piece of art after the next. It also causes us to do all kinds of things, like tending to some aspect of brokenn

I'm here to support and encourage each of us to follow our own breadcrumbs towards our art. There are strong opinions about whether or not making art based on photos ought to be done. As with all aspects of art-making whether or not to use photos is up to each of us. This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Photos or life - we get to decide&qu

I'm trying something different with this episode. I thought I'd offer some "how it works" insights I have about the very basics of watercolor - the water! There isn't a journal post from my website to point you to with the same general message. Though some of the ideas that I share I first wrote about in a post on painting "fuzzy backgrounds" on J

Focusing - in order to get stuff done - is more natural for some of us than others. In this episode I take a look at how this is and offer a point of view for those of us who lack the natural abiltiy to easily shut out the world - and the gift in this way of being.This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "When it's hard to focus" on July 1

The story behind the environment that has been created through gathering with watercolor artists and students over these past dozen years - and how surrounding ourselves with this kind of support impacts the art we make.This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Like Potatoes on Mars" on April 12, 2016, which is here: "https://www.lifeinful

Examining the "why" that has us do whatever we do is an interesting and potenitally powerful exercise. I look at this idea with regard to what drives my/our painting efforts - with a little Henry Miller thrown in for fun and inspiration!This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Why make art?" on March 29, 2017, which is here: "ht

In this episode I explore the relationship between our inner and outer rooms - that is the space inside that holds aspects of ourselves - especially our creative parts - and the places outside where we actually do our creating. It's about creating and claiming space for what we are called to do.This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "A room o