When I decided nine years ago to take the leap of my dreams and learn to be an artist, I quickly discovered that making the art can be hard, but showing the art to others is much harder! The fear of allowing other people to see what we make and how we make it can be so scary that it sometimes stops us in our tracks and keeps us from moving forward as artists. This common fear seems to affect all artists, from beginner to professional, and I quickly discovered I was certainly not an exception to the rule. So in order to take the next leap in my creative practice and conquer the fears of sharing my work, I’ve designed a project called the Instant Art Show, where I’ll challenge myself to create and share a new set of creative work every week for a whole year.  

Each week, I’ll be displaying a new body of work and its process of creation in my email newsletter, on my website, and at an in-person art show at my studio in Ashland, Oregon. I’ll also have articles and videos available showing the process and inspiration behind each week’s show. And in the spirit of transparency and continuing education, I’ll also be sharing weekly material in the “Instant Art Show Post-Mortem”, a segment that will share what worked, what went wrong, and the things that I learned during the week’s show. I love the idea of having transparency around mistakes and sharing the things I’ve learned with my community.

I’m really excited about this adventure! While the Instant Art Show will give me opportunities every week to develop creative ideas and produce new artwork, it will also encourage me to cultivate the skills necessary for sharing the work, which are very different from the skills we use in the studio when we make our art. Whether I’m learning to shoot and edit video, writing blog posts, figuring out how improve my newsletter, or creating new social media content, you’ll see me learn and grow on that front as well, and I’ll share what I discover along the way.

I also hope that the Instant Art Show will provide some inspiration for you and your personal creative process. My goal with the art in the Instant Art Show is for it to be fun, playful, and accessible. As a self-taught artist, I believe that art is more about curation, curiosity, and personal aesthetic than it is about technical skills or formal training, so I want to feature experiments that are available to artists at any level, from beginner to professional. My hope for The Instant Art Show is that it will present opportunities for my fellow creatives to join me and try out some of my art experiments for themselves.

So whether you’re a curious observer, a beginning artist, or a seasoned professional, I hope you’ll follow along as I step outside of my comfort zone, share my process, explore new ways of being creative, and cultivate my relationship with inspiration, play, and intuition. Join me in my creative adventure and test your own creativity comfort zone along with me!