Paint
When I was in college, some of my favorite design classes where my illustration and painting courses. Behind my love for graphics lies a life long passion for fine arts and creating things with my hands. From the time I was a little girl, I was always sketching, painting, and making things with paper. Through years of art classes I emerged with an incredible love for working with acrylics and watercolor. Sadly, it has been years since I really sat down to illustrate anything for myself; although I refuse to part with my brushes and paint collections. Seeing the work of Ekaterina Koroleva inspires me to make time for my art, something that has been missing in my life. I think it’s important for designers and artists to create, not just for their clients, but also for themselves to keep their passion alive. Do you find time for your art? What do you do that’s just for you?
{Illustrations by Ekaterina Koroleva}
Freutcake Girl…
You said it! I am so happy to see this article! What a great day I will now have with this perspective….when was the last time I created something just for me not a client! Since we have our backgrounds in the applied arts, I can relate to what you are saying and I really must say that the images of your featured artist are delightful!
Get your paintbrushes out and perhaps I can meet up with you on the coastline for a Paint Out soon! I really love being in nature to pick up inspiration through the landscape’s natural spectrum of color…en plein aire c’est tres bien…! Let’s go!
Ciao for now!
I would love to start painting with you Michele! Will mojitos be involved?
I love Ekaterina’s work (had to triple check the spelling on that!), I’ve been seeing her float around on Pinterest for the last few weeks. My favorite classes in design school were also the more work-with-your-hands type too! I can’t tell you how important it is for me (and my husband) to get some free time to work on our own projects. We become such miserable beings when we’re consumed by all client work and no “play”. Fortunately, we’re pretty strict with ourselves about finding that “me time”. Aside from all of the DIY projects that we’ve created for ourselves in am attempt to curate our house on the cheap, We like to do what we call “paint nights” (although paint isn’t always a player), we sit around playing records, enjoying a few glasses (read: bottles) of vino, and visiting our with old art supplies from college (we were both design students so our collection is abundant!). We’ve made some pretty art for our walls over the years. Makes for a fun date at home too
xoxo!
That is such a lovely idea for a date night! My husband would be all about the music but not so much the art. I might still get him to join.
I agree! It is easy to stop doing art for yourself while trying to find that satisfaction with client work. The fact is that it’s completely different when you make it for yourself. I’m trying to do more! Thanks for the read
i JUST threw out all my paint supplies from art school during my last move {there was no storage in our last apartment} and am now regretting it terribly! the fiance and i are feeling inspired to create our own artwork for our new house and now have to buy the supplies all over again! can’t wait to see what you end up creating!
Victoria- chances are I will need to buy all new paints too since some of mine are so old!
Beautiful!
These look delicious!
x kat
I agree! Love the artwork shown. Haven’t had much time to work on my paintings but as soon as I get my studio organized and my shoulder back to normal (recently had surgery) I plan on getting back to my painting.
Thanks for the gentle reminder to set aside time to create. That’s what I need, to be inspired.
What lovely pieces! I wish I would have taken more art classes when I was younger. It’s something I hope to explore in the future though. I’ve been practicing yoga for 8 years now and every Wednesday my hubs stays home with the boys so I can have some time to practice at a local studio. If I miss even a week, I notice a huge change in my overall outlook.