3 Things I've Very Grateful For - Even In These Tough Times
This week last year I was in Paris, in the rain. It actually didn’t rain very much at all during our trip but even when it does, who cares, right? I love Paris under any conditions and this trip is full of wonderful memories for me.
I woke up this morning and realized that I have so much to be grateful for and perhaps focusing on that will help me get through these endless days of sheltering in place, or rather being #artistsinresidence.
#1 My Family
I’m sheltering in place with my husband and it’s been a much easier transition than I was expecting. I’ve been working from home, building my online creative business, for the past 5 years. My husband, however, has a corporate job that he used to commute to every day.
Our house isn’t that big but we do have a guest bedroom that he is now using as his home office. It’s been really nice to have lunch together, take walks before or after dinner, and generally have more time with each other.
The thing about having more time with each other is really interesting. I feel a lot less pressure to make conversation now that we are home together all the time. In the past, I thought I needed to come up with something interesting for us to talk about over dinner. Since time together was more limited, it felt more stressful, at least for me.
Now it’s not and I’m grateful.
#2 My Creative Community
I’m incredibly grateful for you, my creative community. Whether you are in our private Facebook group, Anne’s Art Club, or you’re on my email list and get these blog posts every week, or you’re participating in the Creative Gatherings on zoom that I started over a month ago, I’m grateful for you.
Your creativity and engagement motivates me every day. I’m always inspired by what you are doing and how supportive you are of each other. It’s a joy to learn more about what you are doing. That’s one of the best silver linings to emerge from this whole crazy time in which we now live.
Learning more about you, your dreams and aspirations, your existing creative businesses, your incredible ideas for new businesses… all of it inspires and motivates me to guide and support you as much as I can. I’m so grateful for the opportunity to serve.
#3 Discovering My Passion
You know my story. Corporate job for 25 years. Laid off at 55. Unable to find another corporate opportunity that “stuck”. I’m so grateful to have had, and to still have, the incredible support of my family which allowed me to explore my creativity in my late 50s. I’d never given myself permission to do so.
Art was frivolous, a waste of time, something you could never make any money at… Well, guess what? That’s not the case and I’m very blessed that I discovered surface pattern design and found my passion. My corporate experience has been extremely useful on the business aspects of my creative business. And I love working for myself and not “the man” anymore.
Making money from my art and teaching keeps my heart full and overflowing with gratitude. I wake up every morning and I can’t wait to get started on a new surface pattern design collection or project. And teaching allows me to share my passion with others and introduce them to this amazing industry called surface pattern design that most people have never heard of.
If you’d like to explore this with me, please join my free mini-course, From Doodles to Dollars. The mini-course has three components:
video tutorials you get via email
cheat sheets with written instructions also delivered via email, and
LIVE Q&As with me inside Anne’s Art Club
Everything starts on May 4th. It’s free but you have to register. I only offer this program a few times a year. It’s fun. It’s free. It’s incredibly valuable. This is not a high level strategy session. It’s an in depth mini-course where you’ll discover the step by step process for turning your sketches into a repeating pattern using the magic of Adobe Illustrator.
Click HERE to sign up for a free trial to get started.
I hope you’ll join me and discover your passion surrounded by other like-minded creatives cheering you on every step along the way.
#staysafe #sayhealthy #togetherathome #artistsinresidence
Remember,
It’s Never Too Late to Create
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MEET ANNE
Hi…I’m Anne!
My creative inspiration comes from a lifetime of observation. I grew up in Paris on the Place St. Sulpice and walked to school through the Luxembourg gardens. And that was only the beginning… Learn more by watching the video on my About page.
