Impromptu Chat with Alice Sheridan: How Do You Find Your Voice

Alice Sheridan [00:00:00]:
It does help to have clarity, but I think also, you know, we talk about having clarity, but often we don't have that at the beginning. We discover that in the process.

Kellee Wynne [00:00:17]:
You're listening to Unfold with Kelly Nguyen. This is an unpolished, imperfect, and totally honest podcast, and I'm talking to all the artists, creatives, visionaries, and change makers who wanna live a life by design and not by default. If you're ready to have thought provoking, eye opening, and heart centered conversations that explore the stories that made us who we are and break through the boundaries of expectations, then you are in the right place. Well, hello. Hello. And welcome to unfold with Kellie Wynne. Thank you so much for joining me today. I have a special treat for you.

Kellee Wynne [00:00:58]:
Last week, while I was live recording with you on Instagram doing one of those fabulous get togethers that we love to do, chatting about the theme of the month, which is finding your voice. Thank you very much. Virtual Arts Summit, you're bringing it on. We're talking about we're diving deep. So this is a really fun conversation. I get going and wouldn't you know, one of my very good friends, Alice Sheridan, pops on and joins the conversation. And I felt like it was just so good. We really got into some good meaty conversation here, and I figured why not turn this into another one of those amazing podcast episodes that you love to listen to? This time, even better because Alice Sheridan is joining us.

Kellee Wynne [00:01:43]:
Now listen. If you don't know who Alice Sheridan is, you must be living under a rock. But she is the host of one of my very favorite podcasts on this planet, Art Juice. Her and Louise come to you every week with their own chat, and I admire that very much. And she brought that inspiration to us today. So go check her out. I've got all the links in the show notes. You can, connect with her.

Kellee Wynne [00:02:11]:
She was a guest both in my previous True Colors Art Program and for the virtual arts summit 2021 last year. And as you know, this year, the Virtual Arts Summit just launched. And if you don't know what that is, I invite you to go to virtual arts summit.com/go and check it out right now. Sixteen amazing artists have given you first class video lessons talking about how they found their style, how they create their art, and giving you an actual great lesson that you can take away. And the best part about it, pay what you can for 30 days. That means if you only have $0 right now to invest, fine. Come and enjoy our content for 30 days. You get full access to the summit.

Kellee Wynne [00:02:59]:
And if you'd like to keep it for lifetime, we've got the deluxe package. It's got bonuses and everything. And so content that would normally be something that I'd sell for around $400, you can get for $95 and keep forever. So the virtual art summit's loads of fun because we give away prizes. We have scholarships. We have sponsors this year from Legion Paper, my favorite paper company, and Stencil Girl products owned by Mary Beth, who is also one of our guest artists for the virtual arts summit. I think you're gonna love this event, and you're gonna be looking forward to it year after year after year. And so now I wanna get into this podcast episode where we're gonna dive deeper into finding your voice and chat with Alice Sheridan about what inspires her lately and how she has taken that beautiful road to having a very distinct style.

Kellee Wynne [00:03:57]:
Let's get in with it right now, unfold with Kelly Wen. We're gonna talk about finding your voice and the virtual art summit. I I love it when you come and hang out with me, and we can talk, and you can ask me questions because that's actually what gets my juices flowing. I do better when I have you, an audience, my people. I just do better when you're there. And so I like that better than talking, you know, just talking into the microphone or the camera by myself. Kind of getting this feeling that my very best podcast episodes might be recording them live with you and then turning them into podcasts. It's kind of something I've been thinking about.

Kellee Wynne [00:04:41]:
Like there's something about that energy that just changes everything. So I'm trying to formulate how I would do that. I'd at least like to test out this idea, maybe for a small series this summer. I really appreciate everyone sticking around while we're finding our footing with the podcast. I'm still trying to figure out how to show up, be as authentically me as possible and still deliver a message that's important because I have a lot on my mind, you know, the way I wanted to approach the podcast was definitely from a professional point of view, like for the artists who, want to grow their business. But I still understand that it appeals to all creatives in a way, whether we're building a business or not, because the artist's journey is a real thing. You know? I mean, we all have these ups and downs trying to make decisions. Do we go to the next phase? Do we continue just enjoying it as a hobby? I know artist friends of mine who stepped in, dipped their foot into making a career out of art, and realized that it was not the way they wanted to go.

Kellee Wynne [00:05:47]:
And I have other friends who are, like, full on I want to be a millionaire. And I'd love to talk more to those of you who are, like, thinking really big because, for me, the idea that we can be millionaires off of out of being artists is, like, you know, it was an absurd thought. Don't you think? Don't you think it was an absurd thing that society told us we couldn't be millionaires if we are artists? But I want to change that paradigm. I want to really be able to get you to think differently, start thinking abundantly, start maybe thinking outside of the box. And so that's why I've been creating some of the content that I've been creating. For example, the first episode was a 100 ways to make money as an artist without selling your art, because sometimes in order to reach the, the goals that we have, we have to think differently than how we've always been doing it. For whatever reason in society, you know, well, not for whatever reason I know from about the 1800s on until about the crash in 2008, pretty much everybody made their money as artists if they could get a gallery representation, right. Or maybe do some commission work or illustrative work.

Kellee Wynne [00:07:00]:
There really wasn't a lot of wide range possibilities, but the Internet has revolutionized everything. The Internet has democratized our ability to be independent, get our word out there, share our work, make our own businesses, determine exactly what we want for ourselves without other people telling us what we should do. Because you know, we were at the mercy of we were at the mercy of a gallerist telling us whether or not they'd sell our work up until the 2000s. Really, there were very few other options, maybe going to fairs or something. And I grew up in a house hold that was an artist household. I don't know if you know my backstory. My father's an artist. My great uncle's an artist.

Kellee Wynne [00:07:46]:
And I lived in a very unusual art community. The art community was all of these rich artists. They, they literally built a beautiful career out of making art, selling art, selling art for tens of 1,000, even in the eighties. They were represented by galleries. They made sculptures. They made giant paintings and every family in the neighborhood lived in a custom home on 5 acres of land and ran around with, you know, 5 kids having a blissful childhood. At least for a few years until reality sunk in. And for whatever reason, it took me from hitting finishing high school and hitting adulthood until my mid forties before I finally figured out the secret for me and how to make money.

Kellee Wynne [00:08:30]:
And so that's why I really wanted to get in here and talk to you about some of the most important things about how to build your business, how to think differently about your business, and really the most important part that I don't think artists are taught at all, how to market your work, how to sell, how to show up as a personal brand, how to, I don't know, leave a legacy. You know, it's the artwork. It's the determination. It's your voice. It's how you communicate. It's how you show up and how you present it all to this world. So the first step in that though is finding your voice as an artist. If you are not finding your voice, if you are not cutting off the edges of all the millions of things we wanna do and bringing the focus, and it makes it really hard to establish yourself as a professional and to make a good income.

Kellee Wynne [00:09:20]:
Yes, you can do all the things and you're going to make a trickle. You maybe will stumble on a way that you can do all of it, but you're probably going to need help because we are only one person. We only have so much energy and that's what this comes down to. It's not about what's possible to share with the world. It's what we have energy for. So once you realize that you only have so much energy to get the work done and make it the most amazing work you've ever done, and then market that work, build the systems behind it and, you know, be able to deliver that to the customer, whatever it is that product that you're going to create, whether it's artwork or it's courses or it's coaching or it's service based, whatever it is, there's only so much of you. So first we have to start with the one thing, finding your voice, being clear about your style, and learning how to communicate it. And since this is the number one question that people ask me all the time, how do I find my voice as an artist? That's why we're doing the virtual art summit all about that.

Kellee Wynne [00:10:21]:
And I have me plus 15 amazing artists. They're gonna guide you through their story of how they found their voice and show you how they make their signature style of artwork. And I think that that's gonna be a real exciting journey to go on. We elevate virtual art summit each time to the next level. It is a really challenging thing to let go of a few, few of your wild ideas. Put a pin in it for later, put it in your parking lot, save it for another time. You can come back to it. We are not finite.

Kellee Wynne [00:10:52]:
Our brand does not have to define us. Our voice does not have to define us forever. We will evolve and change. We will grow and we can come back to the things that we love. But do you really have the energy to do sculpture and painting and weaving and your craft hobby and sewing and all these things that we love to do? Do you have the energy and the ability to do all those things and do them well? And then talk about them. My guess is it's going to be really hard to be successful. If you are a hobbyist and there's nothing wrong with that, that that word is not meant in any way derogatory, that this is your hobby. This is your outlet.

Kellee Wynne [00:11:32]:
This is your creative juice. Do whatever you want. You have no goals of selling your work. It doesn't matter than what you do, because your goal is to just enjoy the process. But most of us, even if we aren't planning on selling our work, we want to become proficient. We want to be really good at what we do and master it. And that's going to take time and energy and focus on a few things instead of all the things. And so we talk about finding your voice and your style, and that's really about spending long enough with whatever it is that's interesting you right now to discover what works, what doesn't work, what should be abandoned, what should be brought in, what needs to evolve.

Kellee Wynne [00:12:11]:
So if that makes any sense to you, if this is resonating, it's not saying you can never do something again, because now you've picked your lane and all you're going to do is paint oil painting contemporary landscape trees. That's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is, is for this time being, let's focus in and see if this is how you're going to evolve. It's really hard to do one thing really well. So if you can just pick that thing, now, how do we pick that thing? There's gotta be this period of time of exploration. So if you're new at this, or if you're just coming back to making art and it's been a long time, that's the time to play. That's the time to play in all the different mediums. Do you like something more realistic? Do you want something more abstract? Play with it until something starts coming from that.

Kellee Wynne [00:12:57]:
You know, you can scrap the things that don't work completely after you've tried to put your best effort in. I've gone through a lot of iterations of the different types of style that I've made. In all honesty, everything from, you know, very illustrative pop art type of florals to now more abstract and pushing even from the abstract into the non objective. Objective. And I've tried different types of mediums and every couple of years they evolve. There's a few times that I wish that I stuck longer with specific subjects to see where they took me, but I was allowing the outside to influence me. So if you're spending so much time looking at what's happening outside there in the world, who's making what, what's selling, what's popular, you're not coming from here and you need to be genuine. You need the very trendy word of authentic, but it's true.

Kellee Wynne [00:13:48]:
So we may learn from what's outside, but eventually we need to shut that out and focus in on what we love. So if you have questions about this, if you want to jump into this conversation and be like, I disagree with you, that's okay. You don't have to agree with me. If you can prove to me a few people who have been successful at doing all the things, I will tell you they probably have a really good assistant. Because if we're doing this on our own, or even if we're doing it with a little bit of help, it's really challenging to do all the things. So tell me how you are finding your voice. How are you letting go of some of the things that you were thinking about and saving them for another day and just focusing right now? What is it that's lighting you up? I'd love, love to have a discussion with you about this. I'm going to take you through a little bit of this process in the virtual art summit.

Kellee Wynne [00:14:34]:
What I love to call the golden thread. If you are staying true to your voice, you will see something that's common enough through all the work that you make. And when you look at artists, if you were to take an audit of another artist's journey, you will see that their work evolves and change, but there's still some elements that seem to be very true to them. And when they are true to that element, that thing that lights them up, the thing that they're never tired of and they weave it through. Even you can think of famous artists, whether it's Monet and his the way he created, not just the lily pond, but just the way his brushstrokes came together, the colors. And even as he evolved into his late life and everything became very abstract and blurred, you can see that that same voice was coming through. And that's what I really want you to challenge you to do. This can take a little time and you'll go down a little rabbit hole, but I will find an artist that I really love and admire, and I will go all the way back to the beginning of their feed.

Kellee Wynne [00:15:30]:
Have you ever done that? I did that with Lisa Congdon once, and I know you all know who she is because she's amazing. And they went back to the very beginning, which was like 10 years ago and 5000 posts because she's very prolific. And I could see from the very beginning where she was just getting her footing, but I could still see her voice coming through and I could see how it evolved and became clearer and clearer, more defined by colors, by themes, by shapes and not by material. Because if you look at Lisa Cogden's work, she does have quilts and paintings, some abstract, some geometric and illustrations, but there is something about the shapes, the colors, the theme, and and the emotion that comes through her work that always I can tell it's her. So my message to you isn't we have to not do different mediums or not try different things. We need to figure out what that defining thing is and just kind of stick to it for a while. So I'd like to know if anyone else has ever done that. I went back to the beginning of Emily Jeffords and you could see her work has evolved as well, but it's still very beautiful dreamy aesthetic.

Kellee Wynne [00:16:39]:
So, if you've ever done that with an artist that you admire, you can see that golden thread run through it. Do you guys listen to art juice? Everybody who's on right now. I appreciate you listening to my podcast, but Art Juice is my big inspiration. And so I listen and Louise and Alice have talked about finding your voice and developing your style many times. Look at this surprise party. She's still coming in. I would love it. There you go.

Alice Sheridan [00:17:08]:
Hey. There you go.

Kellee Wynne [00:17:10]:
This will be easier. What are you

Alice Sheridan [00:17:13]:
doing, won't you? I just sat down. Let me just put this up. I've got my tripod out because I was actually recording some, how to do videos this morning. I've got my cup of tea because I'm avoiding putting all the new photos on the website. Horrible job.

Kellee Wynne [00:17:30]:
These are the parts that I can't stand either, like, oh, those are the that's the work behind it. But I love watching your process and and how you frame everything and oh, but at least you have a series. I have one that I've been working on for 3 years now

Alice Sheridan [00:17:46]:
and haven't finished it. So It's funny though because I'm sitting I'm listening. Sorry. It's a bit echoey here. You know, this thing about finding your, you know, your voice and your style, and some of these ones that I have just framed out, like, there's one I don't know if you can just see it up there on the wall.

Kellee Wynne [00:18:04]:
Yeah.

Alice Sheridan [00:18:05]:
And it's quite like some of almost the original landscapes that I did maybe you know 9 years ago and work goes off. It it you go off and it explores in a different direction, and then you just get these little resurrections. You know, these little hello appearances

Kellee Wynne [00:18:26]:
of, like, I'm still here. You know, you

Alice Sheridan [00:18:28]:
still paint like this sometimes. And it used to really bother me when that happened. I used to be like, I don't want to keep going back to that. I'm going in this direction. I'm going in this direction. And now I just honor those little ones when they come up. Because I think they I don't know if it's a going back to a comfort thing, but there's always something in those that I think, no. That is still important to me.

Alice Sheridan [00:18:50]:
I still want to do that. So I think we worry too much about finding our style and finding our voice, actually. I think we just keep going with it, and it's it's what happens when you make art.

Kellee Wynne [00:19:03]:
Yeah. If you if you just keep moving forward, I think it does. And I do think we come around to whatever sparked our interest. That's why I say, like, your ideas are never lost. You come around to them when they're ready again. I'd love to come back to some of my original ideas. Some things are definitely worth being done with, but who knows if it will come up again. But if I go to my earliest work, yeah, I can see some of those threads show up again and again.

Kellee Wynne [00:19:32]:
I think I think that the part that I'm hoping people understand though is, you know, Alice, if you were, you know, I don't know, painting teacups at the same time you're trying to sell these abstract landscapes. It would probably be really hard to market. But there might always be a way that they come in. Like if they were really abstract and have the confusion that would, that would be able to market together. It really comes down to how much energy you have to be able to sell it, to find the audience, to talk about it, to show up and be excited about it. These are all things that are really important when we're taking that level to be

Alice Sheridan [00:20:10]:
able to fast. You know, it does help to have clarity, but I think also, you know, we talk about having clarity, but often we don't have that at the beginning. We discover that in the process. So I I feel that quite often, we we talk about those things like, you know, having, communal color palettes or having a subject matter or those kind of things where, actually, you know your your phrase of the golden thread is there is something inside you that connects you to make art and for me it has always been like a balance of control. Like, in some sense, I'm very I'm quite a controlling person. I like to be organized in some ways, and I think art is my route into exploring what happens with control. What happens when I lose control? How much do I want that balance? And when I first started painting, it was like chaos and control. Like, letting things loose and then bringing them back with some kind of structure that I understand.

Alice Sheridan [00:21:17]:
And I think that is the thread that's brought through. And it doesn't matter whether it's a painting that's abstract, that's landscape. There's always that element of losing it and then rediscovering it, losing it and then rediscovering it. So it's more like it's more, almost a conceptual approach or really understanding what drives you when you make your art. So for you, it might be discovering beauty in what you're looking at or, like, the thrill of the way color works together. It's not necessarily just about the end result. It's about what drives you in the process. And I think that's a slightly different way of talking about kind of, you know, finding your style a bit.

Kellee Wynne [00:21:57]:
I love that too in that thought that it's really about maybe it's just about discovering who you are in the journey. Yeah. You know? I I've I remember I think it was in one of your podcast episodes you were talking about like making notes as you go on the wall. Yeah. And I'm just like, well, that's genius. Yeah. That's when you that's when you get a chance to like, really look at yourself deeper from within as you're doing as it's in process, not the end results as it's in process.

Alice Sheridan [00:22:27]:
Yeah.

Kellee Wynne [00:22:27]:
So maybe that is the secret to finding your voice or finding your style is being more in tune with yourself.

Alice Sheridan [00:22:35]:
Yeah. And I think I think you're you're right. The reason why that works for me is that there's, you know, there is there is definitely a place for, you know, consideration after the fact, or for journaling when you're distant. But that approach and and for sketchbooking and all of those kind of things. Mhmm. But that for me was, like, I just, like, kept having these phrases that popped into our our minds. And I think one of the things that we do have to do as artists today and, actually, it doesn't matter whether it's you independently as an artist or whether you're working with a gallery. So, you know, some of this work I've just finished is going off to a gallery.

Alice Sheridan [00:23:11]:
We're open on Friday. I've had to give them written words about the work. Like and that can be quite hard. You know, if you sit down afterwards, you're like, now what was it about again? But because I had that big sheet and I just tape up a big sheet and I have a Sharpie and phrases come to me while I'm working. I don't judge them. I don't think about them. I don't have to make sentences that are coherent. I just write them down.

Alice Sheridan [00:23:38]:
And I'm all right. Because it comes up in the process of working without judgment, that's helpful. And it often it often surprises. You know how when you're in a dream like state, things come and you think, oh, oh, okay. That's the connection. I haven't quite worked that out logically, but I think when you're in the state of painting, when you're in that flow of painting and something just kind of comes up, that's that's the point to catch it.

Kellee Wynne [00:24:05]:
Let's be honest. How many of us spend so much time scrolling, looking, looking? I I did this. So I did this when I was like getting back into making art. I was taking classes and I was like, I had this determination I wanted to be a professional artist because I had been an artist before. I watched my father through that process. I knew that that's where my path was that I wanted to go. However, instead of just practicing and practicing and figuring out my stuff, I would literally go online and Google what's the most popular painting right now, which was not the right answer for being able to figure out how I was gonna ever paint genuine from my heart. You know? So it I think, honestly, it just takes time and it all unfolds.

Kellee Wynne [00:24:48]:
Coincidentally, it all unfolds in front of you. But the the secret then is, listening to yourself more than listening to the outside world. You know? I I mean, that's a great resource to use Instagram, Pinterest, or whatever of ideas and inspiration. I'm always inspired. But if you're looking for it, so that then you mimic what you see rather than taking bits of it and then just seeing how it shows up in yourself, then we we are looking too much for outside validation.

Alice Sheridan [00:25:17]:
And I have to say, I did exactly the same too because it's scary. Like, we want something. We don't know yet if we're capable of it. And I was also guilty of I remember almost, like, discovering YouTube for the first time and just watching, I think, Jane Davis. Just like watching Jane Davis videos. You know? Just what almost like almost like being dare daring yourself to jump in off the high board. You know? It was like, oh, can I do this? Can I do this? It's just paint. Just you know? Why is it so scary? Because it's so scary because we want something from it.

Alice Sheridan [00:25:55]:
But I do think that there is absolutely a role in watching other people do that. And, you know, for me, anybody who follows me, you'll know I've I've talked about Nick Wilson before. Watching him paint broke something open in me without a doubt. And I think, you know, the things that you do, like having the artists in the in the virtual art summit, which is coming up and when the dates are May, isn't it?

Kellee Wynne [00:26:19]:
Just next Monday.

Alice Sheridan [00:26:21]:
Okay. So, you know, what's so nice about that is is that, you know, you've got this tasting board, and you don't have to get something from every artist. You know, when you do that, when you watch that, there might be 3 artists in there that you just think, no. Not for me. But if you get one thing from one of those artists that you just go, that's it. And it can be the way somebody says something, or the way they paint or the way they use their materials or even the way they talk about inspiration. Sometimes all we need is just that little spark to be lit, and then that does it for us.

Kellee Wynne [00:27:00]:
And that's and that's, like, that's why I love still to this day watching painting videos or taking a class. I I mean, I've even bought some recently because I want to expand my mind to new possibilities. But the difference between some of the people who are just starting where they they will literally take my lessons and do them step by step and have the exact same painting, which is fine because if you're new and that's the only thing you know how to figure out how to do it, that's great. But I love it when I see artists evolve to the next step where they watch the videos, learn the ideas, and then incorporate them into however it is that they wanna paint. And that is the beauty of having 16 artists point of view in a summit. And I am making the summits more cohesive. Whereas in the past, it might have been all different types of mediums. I am bringing it in a little bit closer to mixed media and abstract type work.

Kellee Wynne [00:27:53]:
So we have a very amazing group like last year. Of course, you and Louise were in the virtual arts summit and it was that was an unlock for me. How do you work out compositions is really amazing as well. And that lesson was invaluable. But how to take these classes that you're you're watching, you're learning from and then make it your own. Yeah. You know, take from it and take the parts, mix and match, think of it in a new way, take a little bit from this lesson and that lesson and mash it up.

Alice Sheridan [00:28:24]:
In all of these things, I always have this vision in my mind, and I've always had this. And in the memory, I've written on a piece of paper the other day, make an effing video of this because this has been the thing that drives things to me. And I have never done a video that draws or explains it, so I'm gonna try and describe it. It's like, you know what a daisy looks like? It's got the center of the daisy, and then it's got the petals that come out. You are the center of the daisy. Like, connecting with you, like, being at the your art is you at the middle of it. We always have these little explorations where we kind of go away from ourself. We don't know where we're going, and then we come back to us again.

Alice Sheridan [00:29:03]:
And then you do it again, and then you come back to you again. And then, eventually, you get a flower drawn perfect for your bloom. You know? And I think often we see these charts. So, like, everybody's seen that chart that goes, an artist's journey is, like, up and down. And this is really good, and this is rubbish. And I could do it, and I can't. And, yeah, sometimes it's like that. But that always coming back to you is the core.

Kellee Wynne [00:29:27]:
I went to the Baltimore Museum of Art, I think it was 2017 that Richard Diebenkorn came for an exhibit with Matisse. I always forget that other part with Matisse. I mean, Matisse is supposed to be the show, but everyone came for Richard Diebenkorn's work. If you know his work or have seen his work or if you haven't, go look him up. But I went 5 times to that exhibit and you're not allowed to take pictures. So I would go through the entire exhibit on one of the tags I went through, and I took notes on everything that lit me up about those paintings. So I could see what I loved about it was the layers, the way little colors would peek through the textures, the edges where things met. And it's like, oh, now without the photographs, without the wanting to copy, I can see by taking notes exactly what it was that was sparking interest for me.

Kellee Wynne [00:30:19]:
And I think that's a really excellent exercise. And I hope that you all are getting out and going to the museums now because, you know, they're open. They're they've got some great exhibits happening for any of you who are in the Baltimore area or the East Coast at all, but Joan Mitchell's here. So that's a great exercise, especially if you can see it in person. But if you can't, that's what Instagram and Pinterest are for.

Alice Sheridan [00:30:42]:
And I think it's giving yourself the okay to ignore things too. I mean, I remember going to exhibitions and feeling like, you know, I've got to be dutiful here. I've got to be a good student. I've got to go around and look at every painting and, you know, learn in order. And actually now, often, if I go into a room and I'm like,

Kellee Wynne [00:31:01]:
that's the one.

Alice Sheridan [00:31:02]:
Like, that's the one I will pay attention with. And sometimes that means that, you know, obviously, I'll miss out on things that I'm not paying attention to. But I just feel like they'll be learning in that when I'm ready for it, and it's okay to pay attention to to what I'm drawn to now. Any time for painting when you're busy, what do you do?

Kellee Wynne [00:31:21]:
Oh, me? Mhmm. Oh, I think I put it away, but I have this fun little, teeny little notebook and I just do a quick scribble and some collage. You have to like, I've I've been really bad over the last couple of years of just not doing anything for months on time, at a time, but now I'm getting much better about just like just carving out a little bit of time for myself or, like, my notebooks you guys have seen. Because to me, they're little mini paintings. So I've been doing a lot of these where I just have a chance to explore ideas and new new work without, you know, without it having to be a finished product. So that's about the only thing that I can say is put down your freaking phone and go paint people because let's be honest, we have the time if we want it. Ask someone else to make dinner, You know? Let let the bathroom be dirty one more day. You know? Yeah.

Kellee Wynne [00:32:15]:
Maybe if all we can squeeze in is a day or 2 in a whole week, that's great. Or an hour or 2. But we have to make the choice is really what it comes down to.

Alice Sheridan [00:32:25]:
Yeah. I think so. I mean, I always have this thing about, you know, deciding ahead ahead of time because I think we it's the making the decision that's hard. So whatever you can do that takes away the decision. So Oh, no. Yeah. What materials are you going to be working with? Get them ready so that the minute you're ready to do the it's there. You know, are you working with sketchbook and watercolor? Fine.

Alice Sheridan [00:32:48]:
Tidy everything else away. Just do that. Put it all on a tray. Have it where you're going to do it, set a reminder on your phone, decide in advance when you're gonna be working this week. So, you know, I have a an outside home studio now, which means I have to be more organized about it. And so I have certain days in the week where I go and paint and certain days where where I don't.

Kellee Wynne [00:33:11]:
Yeah. Well, I, yeah, I'm guilty of letting that you know, it's sometimes for us who are really busy, especially for those of you who have made art and business your full time, making that time to actually make the art, you feel like all the skill. But I have this email I need to answer. I have this other little these are not these are urgent, but not important things. So if we don't put the important thing and schedule it in, then we're never gonna get to it. So that's why I've been like making a more concerted effort to paint for myself, which is hard because it's almost always painting for a lesson. But I will do exactly that. I will I have like little bins full of different collage color combinations and materials, and I'll just leave this out and pre sketch in those little squares.

Kellee Wynne [00:33:59]:
So it's sitting there when I'm like, okay, I have a half hour waiting to leave to go pick up the kids or whatever, and I'll just okay. I'm gonna spend time doing it. So it's I love that. Ready to go. Limited supplies always makes me create faster.

Alice Sheridan [00:34:13]:
Also, notice where you get stuck. So if you get stuck in the kitchen, like, put put your clock your oven kitchen timer clock on. So I'm gonna do 10 more minutes of this or browsing on my phone. When that beeper goes off, I'm gone. Yeah. Honestly, my entire life these days is run on alarms on my phones on my phone because I I forget everything otherwise.

Kellee Wynne [00:34:38]:
But, yeah, if it's not on my phone, I completely forget all of it. But I'm here, and I am so glad you just, like, popped in and we're willing to do this chat. And the virtual art summit is coming next week. It's pay what you can, which means if you don't have it in your budget to pay for fancy courses right now, you can pay 0. If you do have it in your budget though, you can pay 95 and keep it forever. We make it so that it's accessible to everyone that 16 high quality artists lessons, plus a lot of interviews and fun activities and giveaways. We have sponsors this year from Legion Paper and Stencil Girl. They've donated products to go into our scholarships.

Kellee Wynne [00:35:18]:
It's like growing every year, and I'm really excited about it. So

Alice Sheridan [00:35:23]:
Proper it is proper big girl, like, business organized stuff.

Kellee Wynne [00:35:29]:
Yes. So it's a it's a lot, but I'm ready to do it. I'm ready to bring it on. So, virtual arts summit.com/go, and you'll get notified about it. So everyone come join us, and, there might be an option for adding on last year's add Alice's lesson in it. Alright. Till next time. Thank you so much for joining me.

Kellee Wynne [00:35:54]:
Thank you. Bye.

Alice Sheridan [00:35:54]:
Get back to my peanut butter. Bye.

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