The Making of an Artist

As a professional watercolor artist and teacher since 1993,

I am acutely aware of how difficult (and very tricky) watercolor is to work with. There are lots of tricks to know in trying to work with watercolor…after all, it is painting with colored water. And I share my “tricks” (experience and expertise) gladly with my students. One bit of advice I do share at the beginning of my classes is this:

Artists Are:
1) Mistake Makers
2) Problem Solvers

It is hard work, this creating stuff. Whatever media we choose, we want to do something different, something wonderful, and perhaps something lovely. And this takes a lot of thought, and usually, our brains literally hurt.
And we make lots of mistakes because we try so many new ideas—ideas that don’t work hence mistakes. But errors are good because we learn what doesn’t work. And when we find out what doesn’t work, we then have to figure out what does work. We then become problem solvers.
And a painting that has lots of solved problems then becomes art.
And then on to the next idea…