the Creative Thursday blog

Signing off! {just for a week}

Wishing you a beautiful weekend and this is me SIGNING OFF for the first time in YEARS!!!

If you know me, then you know I have mixed feelings about social media. {maybe I’m not alone?}

A career that started when the internet began {at least the version we publicly started using, not the one Al Gore invented} and a business that has been dedicated to sharing my work, thoughts, person, online consistently for over a decade. I think I could use a little break, don’t you? And maybe you could use a break from me? While I’m not a compulsive poster and I’ve still never fully warmed to FB, it’s fair to say I haven’t taken a break longer than a few days in years, not even when I’ve gone on “vacation” which I haven’t taken a lot of those either. 

 

To be honest I have no idea if I actually can take a solid break, which scares me just a little. I don’t know anymore what life feels like when I’m not posting or “liking” something somewhere on social media. I often complain that I just don’t have time for it all, which I don’t. {which is I’m making another change and hiring someone to help!} I also struggle with the fact that creating art and sharing the process as it’s happening just aren’t always in the same brain hemisphere. But like many of us, I’m adjusting to this new world that I helped to create, that will forever more change daily. 

 

What I want to know with a week away {starting small} is A) can I truly stay away? I might have to sneak posts or stories or likes in there… B) Will I feel like I have more brain power, creative inspiration and energy and focus  C) Will I miss seeing what you all are up to {yes probably} D) will it help me stop what feels like the never-ending cycle of comparison - where nothing ever feels enough anymore or E) will I finally feel like I can be fully, consistently engaged in my life F) Will I realize that I blame a lot on social media that really has to do with my own inner compass. Maybe? but I won’t know until I step away, for the first time ever. 

 

The other truth is I’m thankful to be connected with you in this space, and there’s a lot I’d love to do and share on social media and even here again on this blog. I just haven’t found my way to doing it yet. again with the time…maybe the refresh will be just the thing I need to invite a new perspective and inspire what’s next.

2 years ago

2 years ago April 3rd, escrow closed and we officially became Los Angeles homeowners.

 

A day we will never forget, one that took a village - literally - combined with piecing together of every bit of our financial story to make it happen. (Lenders do not make it easy for the self-employed) 

I’m posting this to celebrate, to mark a turning point and to remind you (and me) that life always has a way of working out. I hesitate to share how “hard" it was to get here, because I’m done perpetuating “the struggle". But sometimes the life and specific direction I’ve chosen has felt like an uphill battle. But that’s why I’m an artist and an entrepreneur - I don’t follow the herd, and I don’t share the same point of view as the masses. I’m the one who thinks outside of the box, asks questions and moves things forward sometimes to places even I wasn’t sure were possible. This isn’t easy and those of you who are also taking this path know what I’m talking about. I’ve learned and am relearning that it always comes down to how I choose to perceive my circumstances that makes all the difference in how “hard” life is going to sometimes feel.

 

Home ownership was not new to me and when I gave up my first home in L.A., the proceeds of the sale became the investment I needed to build Creative Thursday. To find my way back to home ownership again after selling that house to build this same business was a big accomplishment and a dream fulfilled. However, investing in a house at the very moment my business was going through some scary financial shifts, on the heels of failed and expensive fertility treatments, was beyond uncomfortable and stressful. But when the house we fell in love, that we happened to already be renting, was going on the market? we had to try.

 

Buying this house took a big leap of faith, plus persistence in the face of many “no’s”. With a fierce determination, a knowing that there’s always a way and the support of many, Sean and I made it happen and are still making it happen. Two bumpy years in, it feels like we’re gradually finding our footing again. And every day we wake up we could not be more thankful that the perfect timing led us here. We LOVE this house, our neighborhood and our neighbors so, so much, and not to mention the tiny critters (pepita, mae mae and anderson cooper) who unexpectedly found homes with us here. The support, connections and friendships we have on our block are unlike any other neighborhood I’ve ever lived in.

 

We now know that landing here came at the exact perfect timing. We couldn’t always see it...especially that day when our former next door neighbors unexpectedly bought the last house we were renting and we had to move suddenly and the only way to break the news to Sean was a shot of tequila after crying the news to my friend over dinner...If we only knew it was all just leading us here, it might have eliminated the fear accompanied by so much anguish. And now we have this beautiful house as a daily reminder to fear less, trust more - to let go of the struggle and enjoy the process.

 

hello Instagram Stories!

IG Stories!

If you don't know yet? Instagram released it's own version of "SnapChat". When you update your Instagram App, you'll see a row of circles featuring the profile photo of those you follow above the photos feed. Anyone with a circle featured in that row, or with a red circle around their profile photo on their instagram page has created a "story" featuring a 10 second or less series of videos or photographs. 

As you know I've been live streaming for exactly one year, and I was recently trying out Snap Chat. All this familiarity with video made hopping on IG stories an {almost} comfortable next step. Now matter how many times you hit the record button, sharing more of yourself with an audience is always a stretch.

While I'm sure it's the novelty that's getting so many eyeballs on my "stories", I feel especially excited to explore this new short video format. I always want to create thoughtful, fun, creative content for you and this platform is no different.

I will tell you that I'm sharing even more behind the scenes snippets of life and business on IG stories than I have anywhere else. Right when I was done with the polish and perfection of Instagram, a platform I've been consistently posting to since 2010, this new feature came along. And it's basically reathed a new life into social media for me. I love sharing and learning more about all of our worlds in a less polished, real way again. 

They only stay up for 24 hours, so you might catch a glimpse of a few recent stories where I share the importance of hiring help when you need it and not waiting until you think you can budget it {if you're a solo-preneur like me, you'll think you can do it all yourself for far too long}. You can also catch the longer conversation recorded this past Monday, about my thoughts on IG Stoires, SnapChat and live streaming on Periscope. Yes, I'm still live streaming too ;) Watch the broadcast here.

To all of you who continue to follow me and tune into streams and now stories. Thank you for watching! 

2 types of people...which one are you?

The way I see it, there are essentially 2 categories of people {and business owners}; the Early Adopters and the Late Majority. It's not that one is better than the other, because in the cycle of business and technology, we need both. However, having primarily favored the category of the Late Majority up until recently, I have some thoughts on why I think being an early adopter and one who EMBRACES CHANGE is everything in today's world. 

The biggest reason being; when you're first to try, you can change and pivot if it's not right for you. But once something is already started you can never go back and be first.

And the benefits of being first are...? They are BIG and different for each industry. Here's what I see in the industries that are my expertise; creativity and entrepreneurship combined with technology. For art collection and courses, in the beginning the price is less and the personal attention is more. Both the early collector and student influence the development of the artist and if/what they choose to teach. The opportunity for feedback and connection is profound. And when it comes to technology and social media your chance to have a bigger impact through building a genuine following and community is way more when you get there first and get to know the pioneers in the space. {And for my fellow foodies, once everyone knows about the next great L.A. restaurant, it means a way longer wait to get a table}.

Maybe you've seen my recent videos where I've talked about how I've realized my resistance to change - aka stubbornness - has impeded my progress. While I'm still a big believer in trusting your individual timing and choices around what's right for you, I am no longer a supporter of even well intended "stubbornness". Things are never going back to the way "they used to be". And especially as a business owner, recognizing that what worked in the past may not be what works now, is the difference between progressing and quitting. Remaining rigid and fearful about changes that are coming is only an excuse to get in your own way.

As I was writing this email, I stumbled across a live broadcast that emphasized and echoed my sentiments about how the PACE of CHANGE today, is unlike any time before. Instead of seeing change as the result of bad decisions; it's that all the decisions that lead us to this moment are the reason for the awareness that embracing change is always the best choice = me now.

This means that we have to be willing to TRY & Explore, because it's the only way to progress. I get that choosing to be in the Late Majority feels less risky. Why not see how it works out for everyone else? Just because everyone's doing it, still doesn't make it right or mean it will stick? or does it? Today, not trying is what's riskier. It's going too fast. You won't just have FOMO {fear of missing out} but you might miss opportunities entirely.

There's never a crowd on the leading edge. And usually when there's a crowd, I want out. And yes I have vision, comes with the entrepreneurial territory. I've been ahead of my time before in my first e-commerce business to choices I've made with Creative Thursday, like podcasting, online teaching, and video. But I left early. This time, I'm not leaving. Because I've realized more than ever that without the early adopters, all the businesses we support, and the technologies that support our businesses wouldn't be here. My early art collectors, like Sharon who bought one of my first {and still a favorite} character paintings featured above, are the reason I'm here. 

To all of you who collect my art , especially my early adopter/collectors, and to those of you who signed up for my very first online courses, backed my Kickstarter, subscribed to my YouTube channel, attend my live streams, and most recently bought a floral abstract and signed up for my newest course offerings, especially the one with a focus on LIVE video, THANK YOU!

This is why I haven't been blogging {as often}

Simply because, in the decade I've been blogging things have become more, way MORE. And by things I pretty much mean everything. An increase in experience and clarity coupled with a desire to be more efficient have happened for me as a business owner. I would expect this, yes? But the amount of "things" I have to keep up with, keep track of and manage as a solo-preneur have reached a tipping point. I truly can't do it all and I'm sad to say that blogging has been one of them.

I have loved this space and still do. This is not an "I'm quitting" the blog post. It's just an explanation to my less frequent posting in months/years past. 

Let's be honest, the blogging space has changed a lot since many of us started, and while I don't think it's going away any time soon or ever? the way in which we communicate and share or I should say the all of the ways {plural} have changed. They haven't become less but for many of us they became more, much more.

As a creative, an artist who likes to paint it is becoming increasingly difficult to manage my time between social media sharing/marketing and finding quiet time to create from an inspired space. Not good or bad, just how it is now. Rather than resist it as I've done in the past I've embraced it and given in to forging a new strategy on how to continue to evolve my business.

One of the other reasons it's been harder to commit to writing time here is also because I've added 2 additional start up ventures to my life and business goals as well. So in fairness it is not just the social media element, of what to post, when to post and wondering if anyone is really listening? that's hijacking all of my time - it's my choice of following inspiration and ideas that has the potential to take the story I started telling here to a much wider audience. 

With all of that said I realize as I share this with you today,  how nice it is to communicate through the written word. I love writing too. But right now I have to choose the easiest format for me to communicate my ideas and my work and lately it has been live streaming. Makes sense right? I've always enjoyed sharing via my voice, my spoken voice. I started this blog with a podcast back in the day. And this past year I found a medium that fulfills all of my expression in a much quicker format. Writing takes time for me. It takes much thought and editing on some days especially. Lately with so much going on, it's just felt easier to push a button and talk the thoughts I used to blog about, directly to you. And even better, you share back. I get engagement and community that I've missed here since the introduction of mobile devices.

And yet I know live streaming is new and not everyone is on Periscope or following videos on Facebook and reading is an experience far different than listening to and/or watching video. For this reason I don't want to miss those of you coming to visit me here either. 

Remember? when all we did was keep a blog? it feels like it was so much easier back then? Maybe I should re-read old posts and realize I felt overloaded then too ;)  I don't have the answers and I'm not sure where it's all headed - really ever? just trying to go with the flow and squeeze in as much as I can as long as I'm having fun with it all. What I am doing today actually is talking more about this subject of Blogging and What's Next? on my Facebook Page and my Periscope in - especially for those of us who've kept regular blogs for the past decade, like my friend Betz who's celebrating her 10 year blogiversary this month who inspired this live stream and this post ;)

The photo above is when Sean told me to take everything out of my head, write it down on index cards and use magnets and a white board to prioritize it. After years of listening to my constant state of overwhelm... he's been suggesting this...for a while. I finally did it, and it was an eye opener. Obvious, yet not? until I saw the pile of cards/tasks laid out in front of me - that I'm truly trying to do too much at once.

Not an overnight shift, I'm in the beginning stages of unraveling myself from the path I put myself on. While it may take longer than I hope especially as I see these new projects through - or maybe I'll just give into the juggling that I've gotten used to and call it my new normal - as this is not the first post about balance and overwhelm and it won't be the last ;-) I'll let you know how it's going.

In the spirit of not taking too much time to write, forgive the very conversational, not so carefully edited post. I'd rather say something then nothing at all for fear of it not being perfect enough. Something my experience with live streaming has taught me. Until next time! and for now, you can catch me Live Streaming on Facebook and Periscope and occasionally on Snap Chat. "See" you soon! and happy blogiversary BETZ! xo

Why it takes more than Luck to Stay Successful in Business

When I started both of my businesses, first an E-Commerce site in the Interior Design space, and then Creative Thursday, I was fortunate to have mentors to guide and reassure me through those early stages. It takes so much focus, energy and faith to get something new off the ground. 

In my first business I learned how to write a business plan and actually had one in place because I needed it to approach potential investors. For Creative Thursday, I chose a different approach - partly due to the fact that I didn't know I could have a plan as an artist? I mean when I started, most people still thought you were lucky to sell your work as an artist, let alone make a living.

In both businesses I've hustled and created the majority of my own opportunities. Early on in Creative Thursday I was also fortunate to have a couple of "lucky breaks" that helped put me on the map as an Emerging Artist and a voice as a Creative Entrepreneur. I would also say the "lucky breaks" had more to do with good timing, than luck. And they also had to do with learning how to recognize the opportunity as it was happening, and run with it!

Everyone can have a lucky break, but what about afterwards, can you sustain it? 

Even with the help of early mentors, I wasn't really prepared for what it takes to stay in business, to have longevity within an economy and technical landscape that is changing at rapid fire speed, one that is shifting every time we think we have it figured out.

When I wrote my first business plan, I remember addressing what kind of business I envisioned right alongside my exit strategy. While it seems awkward to think about how you might "end" your business before you've even begun, it's a vital step, because it is going to give you clues about what happens in between.

What I see on the teaching landscape today is a lot of excitement and education about beginnings, and who doesn't love the start of something new? however I'm not seeing enough courses addressing a fundamental, must have skill before you ever begin, organization and the desire to build something that lasts. How do you evolve and stay standing well after lucky breaks and changing trends. It takes the same focus, energy and faith to stay as it does to start.

This is my introduction announcing my plans to teach again in 2016!

But first I'm re-opening the class I taught last fall and making it available as a download for a limited time to those of you who missed it. To all of the students planning to join me for upcoming classes this year, I recommend starting with Permission to Be first as it will give you a solid overview and foundation which we will build upon in 2016. Also, all Permission to Be Students will have first access to the next sessions as soon as registration opens.

Here's to LUCK + LONGEVITY and a lot of fun and more ease along the way. That's my idea of business success. 

Episode 1 is LIVE! featuring Erin Dollar

 

I'm writing this to you as I watch the spinning wheel of my 2nd ever YouTube video upload. With 67 minutes remaining until the first episode of a project we've been working on for 2 years and imagining since my podcasting days goes live; this particular creative Thursday is feeling surreal.

When I started Creative Thursday, I wanted to design and make art. I didn't initially realize how valuable hearing others' stories was until I really started going for things in my life, and by things I mean - making the choices that feel risky and require BIG leaps of faith. Knowing that fellow business owners, creatives especially, made it through to the other side of those uncertain times over and over again {both professionally and personally} gave me the determination and confidence to keep going in everything I've had the courage to try. And those same stories have also taught me how to know when it's time to stop and change the direction I'm going.

When you're an artist, a creative business owner, an entrepreneur, especially one who is braving it in the online world in any number of industries, you learn super fast that there is no rule book.  No one, not even the most successful, can tell you the exact path that will work to get you where you want to go. Not only because we are all making it up as we go, but the game has changed. This is why it's more important than ever to hear stories and learn from others, and the reason why I am creating this series. Ultimately though, You will always be the only one who can discover your path. Honestly, minus the fear and sleepless nights, the uncertainty is {supposed to be} one of the most exciting parts of choosing this life. And I know this to be true, because here I stand again, with 48 minutes remaining, headed into a new adventure filled with anticipation and uncertainty. And while it's scary, it's also crazy EXCITING! and worth everything it's taken to get here.

What I also didn't realize when I started out - besides the fact that Creative Thursday is a perfect name for a weekly series ;) - is that I too have a voice, a story to share and a desire to share it. It was podcasting that opened that door for me and then blogging and then my book. And the door has remained open because of you. As I wrote to my Facebook group yesterday, all of you, especially those who have commented, written me emails, taken my classes - over all these years - and most recently supported the Kickstarter for this series - your continued encouragement of me sharing my voice and story has given me the courage and dedication to continue developing this series to share more amazing people and their stories with you. 

We're keeping it real. And by real, I mean genuine not drama. I've always been frustrated with quick snippets of interviews and conversations with all the predictable questions and no substance. I happen to be someone who does have an attention span for compelling, quality, audio and film creations. And I know I'm not the only one. These 6 episodes are long form, with each running between 50 and 55 minutes. There is editing of course, but mostly these are the entire conversations we had. And usually it takes about 20 minutes before we fully get into the focus that the episode reveals to us. While I knew all of the interviewees beforehand, and had a general idea of the topics I wanted to cover, I had no agenda. I wanted the conversation go where it wanted to go, and I knew all of these awesome, inspiring people could go there.

With all of that said, I hope you are going to LOVE this series. 

To view the first episode featuring Erin Dollar of Cotton and Flax, click on the video link above. You can also subscribe to the new Creative Thursday YouTube channel and this way you will be notified every time a new episode is added over the next 5 Thursdays. I will send out an email when they go live as well. And stay tuned to my Periscope channel, as we're working on having live Q&A's with the interviewees. To learn more about Erin and her beautiful work with Cotton and Flax you can find her at cottonandflax.com.

I'm #Periscope-ing

 

I woke up projecting myself into the future saying "Oh, remember the days when we used to Periscope?"

That's what I say about blogging now. I totally have nostalgia for the days when I only kept a blog. Lol. 

Speaking of! Five minutes into deciding to keep my blog and... I'm super excited about this {almost} new App called Periscope. Heard of it yet? I first heard of it only a few weeks ago, and just joined it over the weekend. {My handle is creativethursday if you want to follow me there.}What I've been repeating in every one of my Persicope videos is that I am: #alreadyobsessed. 

Quick Periscope Tutorial:

• Download the App to your Phone. You can now broadcast LIVE VIDEO from your phone {only your phone, not your computer} which means of course you can take Periscope with you everywhere and Scope from anywhere that your phone has service.
• People who follow you, or just decided to pop in on your broadcast, join it and can then chat with you {up to a certain amount viewers. if it's a large group of people who've joined, somewhere in the hundreds I think?, the comments will automatically close so it doesn't get crazy overwhelming. Viewers can also "like" your broadcast by tapping the screen which creates lots of pretty colorful hearts. This is encouraged because apparently your popularity on Periscope grows by the combined number of hearts you receive from all of your broadcasts. One person can "heart" you hundreds of times on one video by the way. If you have any trolls, you can block them easily. You can also do private Periscope chats! Hide the chat altogether or just allow people who follow you to chat, but the recommendation to get your videos seen as well as interact with and meet new people - which is half the fun, is stay open to letting everyone chat
• When you follow people on Periscope either via your twitter follower list or by choosing new people, you will receive phone notifications when they are posting live. I know this can get annoying if you follow a lot of people, but the community is still small-ish and people are not posting all the time {yet!} For now, I recommend leaving your notifications to find out about new videos, as I don't follow my twitter stream all day which is another way you can learn about a live stream. Since Periscope is connected with Twitter, you can choose to have it automatically tweet a link for you every time you post a video. And not to worry if you miss a broadcast, you can view any new videos in your feed on Periscope.
  
• There is no time limit to the length of your broadcast 
• The deal is, the videos only lasts for 24 hours and then it's gone either forever or just from Periscope. You can save it to your phone {this option is available either as soon as you finish streaming or set up within the Periscope settings}, or like I did with the video above, because I didn't know about the save it to your phone option, I screen recorded it from Quicktime on my computer before it disappeared. For nostalgia - I wanted to save my very first Periscope. The rest of my broadcasts, I've been practicing and they are not so much save worthy ;) Apparently there is also a #hashtag you can add to the video to save it as well on Periscope? That's it in a nutshell. It's very new and and I'm very new to it, so don't hold me to everything here. Also, as people continue to use it and offer feedback it will most certainly change.

Honestly, because of Periscope, I haven't been this excited about social media in a long time.

Of course, let's be honest I've been excited every time I joined a new social media channel over the years and then given time, in this order:

1. Everyone jumps on board
2. It becomes less candid and more edited and styled
3. I suddenly don't feel like I'm growing my audience fast enough, so it comes becomes yet another means of measuring my self worth by comparing my life and social media following to others on the internet
4. trolls try to ruin it and
5. then I'm done.

No, not really. I'm still pretty present at most of my social media homes. My theory has been and still remains;  I try not join one unless I feel like I can commit to them fairly consistently. And then, typically I find one that fits, becomes my favorite for the time and I run with it for as long as I feel inspired to and/or have the time to give to it.

Which, let's face it. I've talked about this in my online classes before. For an artist who requires more internal/quiet time to create, engaging on social media frequently is a tough balance. I call it "brain fragmenting".

All this Periscope-ing and reengagement with Twitter this week has me thinking about hosting my first Periscope Chat on this very subject. "Artists vs. Social Media" I'd love to hear from you and get your thoughts on this, especially if you've recently joined Periscope or are thinking about joining?

Today is just one of those days where I suddenly have so much on my mind that I want to share with you. So bear with me here. This is kind of how it happens with me. Bursts of ideas to share and one of the reasons I'm excited about blogging again. Although I guess I could be Periscoping this right now, although it might not come out quite as concise, as even this long blog post. Remember, brevity = not my strong point!

Ok, quick tangent aside - back to my 5 points above. What I've noticed is that actually some social media platforms are hanging in and making a resurgence. Including Blogging, yay!! and because Twitter bought Periscope I think this will be changing the game for Twitter as well. I find this very exciting. And as someone who has complained about the demands of Social Media before, I'm not entirely sure why this excites me?! Possibly because I'm getting ready to release a video series online? and this will be a whole new form of sharing for me and the creatives I'm interviewing. And Periscope is great practice for more on camera time?

If you think about it, Periscope broadcasting is very similar to the videos I used to film from my computer and post here at my blog. Remember? the days when we used to V-Blog? Except it's live and you can chat with me in real time. In an attempt to keep it real, I never edited the videos I posted here. However I did do up to 20 takes to get it right? ha! remember that? Not on Periscope, once you hit broadcast. You are LIVE! you can of course delete your video at any time, but someone probably saw it. Because honestly the first time I posted this past Sunday, barely telling anyone I was on Periscope I had 17 viewers.

Not going to lie, Periscope ups your game in the confidence and being comfortable live and on camera department. It's a little nerve-wracking at first and distracting to try and share something visually compelling while also doing your best to connect with people chatting to you. Oh and then you might also have to start blocking trolls during your broadcast. Yup, the trolls are moving fast on this one.

Alrighty then, let's just close by saying again I'm SO excited! not only about blogging, but about the possibilities with Periscope. It has reignited my love of Social Media. {yes, I did use the words love social media} I've decided not to whine about it anymore, as there's no changing or slowing down the rate at which the internet is moving.  Instead I'm embracing it all {because actually it's a lot of fun} and I will still have time to make art ;)

Want to be a Periscope newbie too?

Found this detailed post on how to get started on Periscope by Meighan

Follow social media experts like Peg Fitzpatrick and Kim Garst on both Twitter and Periscope.They post very candid, friendly, thoughtful, informative videos especially on social media marketing and now Periscope.

And where do I see all of this going? Oh seriously! I just interrupted writing this post to watch a Live Periscope feed of 4 innovators Periscoping simultaneously. Basically it's changing the world. In terms of your business, the usual connecting and meeting new people in a very personal/candid format, offering online classes paid and free, tutorials...the possibilities are endless.

I've changed my mind. This blog is home

The past few months have been filled with editing the Creative Thursday series {we're getting close to a launch date!!!} and it's come up more than once in the conversations we've been having, this idea of nothing is permanent, honoring the right to change. To which I add, the right to change your mind.

I said goodbye to this blog, and I kid you not when I thought about moving on, I had the saddest dream about the loss I would feel if all of it was suddenly deleted. I've been writing here since July 2006. 

Nine years of sharing at this one home. It almost chronicles my entire body of work along with the building of this business from the very beginning. And while I am entering a new phase of Creative Thursday yet again - I've realized that this doesn't mean that I need to leave behind what came before, but rather embrace it in the new evolution.

And the other truth is I tried writing posts on the blog at my new site and it just didn't feel the same. Something about the familiarity of the Typepad interface invites the writing. So with the help of Typepad I figured out a way I can wrap this blog seamlessly into creativethursday.com without having to give it up.

I'm so excited about this decision, that it's like the desire to blog has been reignited. More like the desire to write has been reignited.

Because here's the other thing I realized, I miss writing. Remember? I'm not a journaler but as it turns out this blog has kept me writing regularly. Lately when I've gone to craft even a simple email newsletter, the ability for it to feel effortless has not been happening. My writing is feeling rusty. Just like painting, writing is a skill that I want to keep developing.

Over the past few years, many of us stopped posting to our blogs because social media seems to have taken over. Which it may have? Who takes the time to read blog posts anymore? Actually I think speaking for my own online content absorbing habits; I do still read blog posts, I'm just way more selective about which ones. In fact, in perfect timing, I came across this beautiful post just last week.

When I was still blogging regularly here, it did start to feel like I was writing to the void. It felt a little lonely as I missed the community and the conversations we used to have here.

I know it's ok for me to return because I've accepted that blogging has changed. I have no expectations and yet I do have a curiosity about what it might continue to become? Who knows, right? Maybe it will make a big resurgence as we crave more thoughtful content online vs short sound bites that disappear in seconds into a never-ending  feed? The internet frontier = the great unknown, as if any of us could have predicted what this has all become? What I am most looking forward to in re-entering this space; is having it as my place to write and express thoughts whether anyone reads it or not. The other difference this time is that I won't be keeping up this blog out of any kind of obligation; but rather only post when I have something to communicate about the business and also when I feel like I have something meaningful to share.

I have more paintings,  more classes and more books in me. Since much of the inspiration for my work, especially my written work, was basically born here - I'm certain discoveries for the next book will be forthcoming.

For those of you who wrote to me telling me you would miss this space, it's going to stay! And I'll sign off by saying I'll see you here when I see you xo 

we've moved! please visit us now at creativethursday.com

We adopted a tiny dog. We bought a house. I'm painting really BIG paintings, and created a new fabric collection for Kokka in Japan. I've filmed 6 episodes of my new interview series, Creative Thursday{launching in July + can't wait!!} I've reorganized my studio space again, and I've moved my online home, blog, shop everything to creativethursday.com. And I've grown up ;)

Ok, so I've been stalling on writing this post. Mostly because writing it marks the end of an era in my business. Since my business, my art, is so much a part of me, that means it's the end of an era in my personal life as well. And while I'm ready and excited for this new time, it's also bittersweet. Knowing when to let go is tough. Usually though, if I'm being honest; knowing comes easy, the actual act of letting go is harder, and then comes something I've written about for years here at this blog ~ trusting that what's on the other side is going to be good. And that the timing is always right.

Maybe the best way to close this blog is to say: after working through this process in various incarnations via my many posts, podcasts and creations since 2006 - I get it now; the trust part is everything. And if there's any tiny part of me that is still tentative, I'm deciding to move forward, anyway, once again. And that is all. 

One more time. Thank YOU from my heart, for following along with me, for all your support, and for all of the thoughtful comments and conversation along the way. While this is the end here. It feels like it's just the beginning for Creative Thursday.

see you from now on at creativethursday.com and if you want stay the most up to date with all things Creative Thursday, start with my email list and Instagram, - along with all of the other fun social media formalities, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.