I love Juliette’s work. It is playful, mythical and vibrant. Little worlds of magic. Juliette is abundantly of beautiful and full of artful knowledge. She shares so much of these attributes in the many e-courses she has created to inspire your artful living.
Juliette Crane: I’m an artist, teacher, storyteller and adventurer. As often as possible, I paint outside, mostly in the grass surrounded by flower gardens and the tallest trees.
I’m also an avid gardener and enthusiastic cook and would be delighted to have you over for dinner! When I’m not teaching, travelling, and painting in gardens around the world, I live with my bluegrass-singing husband in Madison, Wisconsin. I’m the creator of a series of online courses that encourage thousands around the world to get creative. From my art play mini course Backgrounds and Layers, to my How To Paint An Owl and How To Paint An Owl 2 courses, for bird and whimsy-lovers, to the mixed media workshops How To Paint A Girl and How To Create Whimsical Animals. My work has been published in Oprah.com, Glamour Magazine UK, Somerset Studio, Somerset Studio Gallery, Mingle, and Artful Blogging and on blogs including Crescendoh, My Owl Barn and Do What You Love just to name a few.
On your blog I found this lovely quote by Martin Gayford: “Drawing makes you see things clearer, and clearer, and clearer still.”
I wonder what was not so clear with how you viewed your artistic future or even how you viewed yourself at the onset of this career that drawing has helped define?
I have always been an artist. Whether it was coloring with crayons or fingerpainting as a little kid I always loved to create and had a wild imagination. But I went to college to study environmental biology. Yet I could not stay away from the art room. I didn’t know what to do with art and graduated with degrees in journalism and fine art. At first I went into arts journalism and worked at newspapers.
It took lots of different jobs as a journalist, graphic designer, web programmer and many more before I finally became a full-time artist. All of those different jobs in what seemed like mistakes at the time now help me to run my current business.
“My first blog was titled Inspired By The Little Things… and it is a notion I am really returning to these days.
I used to write weekly posts, sharing my inspirations.”
Oh indulge us please and share your inspirations these days? What are you saying a holy YES to?
These days I am all about clearing my schedule and saying no, so that I can have more time to create, relax and have fun. That way, my imagination and creativity has so many chances to go in new directions. Lately I have been inspired by flowers and trees. That led me to create floral backgrounds out of inks and acrylics instead of using so many layers and papers for my backgrounds. Then those new floral backgrounds inspired me to create flower girls. That seemed to open up a whole new door for my creativity. It inspired me to start sketching again.
Those sketches reminded me of children’s books. So I’ve started putting together the sketches with some of my writing and am hoping to put everything together into a picture book. Once I started writing again, I went back to my mixed-media paintings and started creating new characters. Soon I realized that these new characters, more women with flowers on their heads, were characters that I could add to my books The novel I have been working on the last few years. That’s what I love so much about creativity is that if you continue to follow your intuition and go with whatever is inspiring you you never know where it might lead you.
“It’s become sort of a meditative process to add all of the lines and dots. Slowing down and really getting into the small embellishments and shading.”
Has this slowing transferred to other aspects of life? What have you seen happen? Where is it evolving?
That slowing down is part of my new sketching process, which, I think, is strengthening my intuition, helping me to listen, pause before acting and to look at the why I am doing something rather than just rushing to get to an end result. I think that all has also helped me to follow my creativity without judgment.
I used to always finger paint very quickly and add lots of layers to my mixed-media paintings. Now that I have started sketching with a stabilo pencil which is water soluble, I am adding water to my lines and using a thin brush to create shading. It is also a very slow process because if I use too much water in the pan so will run all over the place.
That slowing down has really helped me to stay more present in my every day. And to appreciate and savor all of the little things.
Would you share with us a memory of a recent time you painted at the beach, what came of it? How did it feel?
A few years ago before I became a full-time artist I was part of an artist’s Way group where we went through the chapters of Julia Cameron’s book together. One of the questions we had to answer was what would we most desire? I said I just want to paint at the beach. That to me felt like complete freedom. And even though everyone in the group thought I was a little bit crazy, now, five years later, every winter I make time and go paint for weeks at the beach.
To me, painting at the beach is the most freeing and inspirational environment. I love to be outside and to listen and watch the waves and the sun. I always take just a few supplies with me when I go to paint at the beach. I have a little 8 x 8″ sketchbook, my stabilo pencil, a white and a neon pink paint pen, and a set of watercolors that I carry with me. I bring a blanket and lay out all of my supplies on the blanket and just paint. To me, it is a combination of two of my favorite things:
Being outside and creating. That combination is my bliss.
What are your tools and teachers? What have you been learning from them personally?
I am always most inspired by whatever it is that is around me. I try consistently to meet new people, listen to their stories, learn new things, and always experience. That keeps my imagination expanding. And it drives my creativity. I try and take everything I learn and experience and filter that into my artwork and stories. Then I love hearing how others perceive and are inspired by my artwork. Maybe they see a painting or take one of my classes and are inspired by a certain project and start to do that project like painting owls with their kids. That creates new experiences and connections for them. And then when they share those experiences with me I put that back into my artwork and what I share. That to me completes the circle.
How do you start your day?
I am super fortunate that I do not need to wake up with an alarm. I don’t have a set schedule during the day. But I definitely follow a morning routine. I start with a cup of warm water with lemon and Cayanne pepper. While I sip my lemon water I journal. I write down anything that is on my mind. Then I have a cup of coffee and check my email. After that, I always have a peanut butter and banana smoothie (unless we go out for breakfast… one of my favorite things).
Whats pulling you forward?
It took me a long time to have the confidence to share my creativity and imagination with the world. For years I thought my creativity was worthless. I saw it as a weakness. My hope is that in sharing what I create and continuing to follow my inspirations, adults and children are inspired to follow their own passions (whatever those may be). Hearing their stories and dreams helps to keep pushing me forward. And that then gets filtered into my artwork and keeps me creating.
What is it you want everyone to know?
I would like everyone to know that your story matters, that it is okay to have big dreams and to follow whatever it is that brings you joy.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild precious life?
I intend to follow the things that bring me joy. To me that means creating as much as possible, being outside as much as possible and having tea with as many people as possible.
“I wanted to create a class that would help you overcome creative blocks and strengthen your own unique style.”
I created this class in response to feedback I’ve gotten from my students. So many have said they want to develop their own style and whenever they learn from another artist they feel like they’re just copying. Well, in this class I’ll share with you how I strengthen and evolve my own style and take what I learn from classes and other inspirations in my every day and incorporate them all into my own paintings in a new and unique way.
In Happy Painting, she shares a variety of techniques and characters to help you overcome creative blocks and easily develop your own style.
By the end of class, you’ll have five gorgeous paintings and the painting template to get you started again and again, so you can keep creating in a style that is unique to YOU.
I met Renee Bryd in our dear friend Kelsie McNair’s kitchen (owner of With Lavender and Lace) we were making guacamole and her husband was schooling me on astrology information. Renee is the sweetest of beings. One of those spirits you can’t help but melt all edges with. She is here today to tell us about her journey and love affair with life and food!
I’m Renee Byrd. I like avocado on/in everything and I never travel without a mini Hario V6 coffee drip filter. I collect handmade mugs like some people collect treasure trolls. I dabble in playing drums and writing poetry. My kitchen is always a mess. I’m a blogger, writer, photographer, and recipe developer and I’ve lived all over Virginia but I currently reside in the small mountain city of Charlottesville, VA with my husband. I blog over at Will Frolic for Food.
How do you start your day?
Cuddling with my husband. Putting the final touches on a blog post while he starts coffee. Making avocado toast and wolfing that down before hitting publish and walking over to catch my favorite ashtanga yoga vinyasa improv class (if I’m lucky).
Describe vibrant living? What does this look like for you?
Vibrant living, to me, starts with practicing love and gratitude: for myself, my blessings, my teachers, my friends, and all beings everywhere. Vibrance, technically, comes from the Sanskrit word vipra which in its most literal translation means “to vibrate.” It’s a word that in Sanskrit is used to describe aspirants (or “the vibrant/vibrating ones”) on their many different paths to self-knowledge, actualization, and realization of the true nature of all things. I bring this up because living a vibrant life, to me, is about experiencing a sense of vibrating with this palpable vitality and grace on our way to ultimate knowledge of the Self or God. Vibrance is about spirit energy supported by internal and external work. A healthy, pure, wholesome diet and balancing physical exertion combined with a centered spiritual practice is what makes living a vibrant life easeful. If you put the work in daily, you can experience vibrance all the time. And begin to share it with others!
You said: “I believe that art and the making of food don’t have to be separate.”
How did you discover that this way your way in life?
After college I started to realize how vital the act of cooking and sharing a lovingly prepared meal or dessert was to my relationships and overall mental health. When my dead-end job was draining me I could touch something beautiful and hopeful and MORE in a pot of curry or a batch of donuts it became essential emotional support. At the time I was working at a grocery store and writing and studying yoga. And making food was the only artistic medium I had that I could share with other humans.
Art elevates our experience of life beyond the mundane. It gives us a sense of the beyond; something emotive and untouchable that exists in our reality but that isn’t often perceived; that we rarely connect with outside of existential or religious experiences.
To me a really fantastic meal can offer illumination and escape;
can act as a salve or a door into experience you otherwise could never touch.
Good food is emotional, nostalgic and yet requires total presence in order to experience it in fullness.
It’s so human.
What does nourishment look like to you?
To me, nourishment is a balance of feeding your heart, soul, body, and mind. Nourishing your heart with loving, supportive relationships (and putting less or no energy towards emotional vampires); your soul with work that feeds you (for me that’s music, yoga, meditation, and cooking); your body with exercise and pure, wholesome foods (mostly plants); and your mind with meditation and the constant pursuit of knowledge.
What would you like everyone to know?
You can do it! Don’t ever let anyone make you feel less than or stop you from pursuing your worthy obsessions. There’s a niche for everything.
Tell me about what you crave?
Avocado toast. Hugs. Hang out times with my husband. Time hiking in the mountains. Coffee. Moving my body.
What are you saying a big Holy YES to these days?
Responding to each and every worthy inquiry and comment with love. Every person deserves to be heard. Especially if they’re taking the time to offer love and support of the work I’m doing! That and reaching out to offer support and love to folks doing good work.
What are your tools and teachers? What have you been learning from them personally?
My teachers are mostly other food bloggers, honestly! I spend a lot of time reading food blogs, and blogs in general. I feel like I’m constantly learning about how to be a better writer, photographer, and recipe developer from the incredible work other bloggers are putting out every day. I sort of feel like the internet is a free workshop for everyone to learn every thing they could possibly want to absorb. My husband calls me Hermione all the time because I’m constantly in study/research mode. I love it.
I also learn a lot through my camera, which — other than my kitchen utensils — is my main tool. I feel like a recently crossed a threshold where I now see terrain and people in terms of colors, light, patterns. I’ve never declared myself to be a visual artist before, and I’m still hesitant to do so. But I’m loving every moment of this journey and what it’s teaching me about how light paints our world and our perceptions.
I read this on your site: “Favorite textures: old cast iron, linen, well-cared-for oiled wood, tarnished silver, coarse sea salt.”
This was so simply soulful. I wonder, what is your favorite sounds? Smells? Sites?
Sounds: my husbands bursting laugh, the sound of coffee being poured into a ceramic mug, an egg being cracked and landing in a gently sizzling pan, the sound of the ocean from far away as you’re driving toward it.
Smells: melting ghee, fresh snow, clean bed linens that smell like my lavender dryer sheets, freshly roasted cacao, the smell tomato plants leave on your hands after you touch them to check on the fruit.
Sights: giant jars of our fresh roasted cacao and coffee, my husband sleeping peacefully, looking out over valleys at the top of a mountain path, early spring asparagus growing in our backyard, blackberry stains on my fingers.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild precious life?
Live. Live fully. Live with stubborn joy.
Wanna follow along with Renee and her chocolate journey? See what they are up to HERE on her website.
***You can also scoop up and try some of her really delightful recipes, she is always posting new ones.
Visit her on Instagram for all kinds of inspiration. (I swoon over her photo’s! Yum…) and on Twitter!
This sweet and beautiful woman lights up a room with her joyful smile. She creates paintings that exemplify this playful joy, which she will tell you about. Im so glad she has graced us with her soulful presences!
Consu Tolosa: I am a curious & creative creature. Always wanting to learn and explore new ideas. I am a friendly introvert — a combination of traits which sometimes confuses people. I was born and raised in Montevideo, Uruguay. I came to the US when I was 17 and I felt at home. I knew I had to stay. After moving around from the gorgeous high desert of northern NM to the gritty urban areas of the Mid-Atlantic region, I settled in Portland, Oregon in 1997.
I enjoy being in the role of the observer, and my favorite thing to observe in this world are People. I am fascinated by the way we think, act, look & interact with one another. And so I paint People, infusing the process with my quirky aesthetic & point of view. In doing so, I transform ‘People’ into ‘Personitas.’ Personitas are often humorous and are born at the junction of play and joy, providing me endless sessions of delight in my studio. The painting process is spontaneous and unstructured at first.
I start without a plan, simply responding to color and form. At some point a tiny window of clarity appears and offers me access to the magical world that will later emerge as the painting itself.
Adding JOY into the world through my artwork is a goal close to my heart, and witnessing a human connection with the audience is the unexpected reward of my work.
Will you please illustrate a children’s book, because I think every mom in the world would buy it. Seriously. Are you planning too?
I would love to illustrate a children’s book but I don’t have a concrete plan yet… I think for this the story and concept will come first, and then the characters will emerge from there… any ideas?
I read you say: “I recognized a desire to anchor the unleashed creativity to a deeper part of myself.”
This statement is part of my reflections in choosing my 2014 word for the year, which was ‘depth.’ In 2013 I emerged from my self-imposed shadows and decided to be brave and vulnerable by sharing my artwork with the world. Coming out was scary, but the response was wonderful and encouraging… so I kept going. It was exhilarating to have the approval of others, but I realized that this could create an unhealthy dependency if I did not tether this newly unleashed creativity to a deeper part of myself. I had to continue to be in touch with my personal ‘why.’
Will you explain a bit about this journey?
Going deeper in 2014 was amazing. I began to play with the ideas of personal power and magic along with courage and accountability. I made it a game of saying yes to things that scared, but thrilled me, and no to things that felt like obligation or some form of a ‘should.’
I reconnected with my ‘why’ {I make the choices I do including delving wholeheartedly into a more creative life} and developed a level of trust in the process that I did not know in this context. As an experiential learner I need to feel and see the outcomes before I deeply ‘get’ that something is true… and for this I had to take some leaps of faith.
“We do not cease to play because we grow old. We grow old because we cease to play.”
-George Bernard Shaw
Ironically, I take play very seriously.
The definition of play in the dictionary will tell you that it is a pleasure-seeking activity rather than one with a ‘serious or practical’ purpose. I beg to differ. Engaging in play allows us to improve our mood, which in turn supports our overall health. When we are more relaxed we are better problem-solvers and have access to deeper insight. Play connects humans to joy. Joyfully connected humans seek peace… you see where I am going with this?
I absolutely and unequivocally trust the need to dedicate ample time to engage in joyful activities. I do recognize the level of privilege that my stance implies and have tried (and will continue to try) to offer others in my community opportunities to experience moments of play and joy.
How do you make time for play? What does play look like?
Making time to play has to do with assessing your priorities and being good at setting boundaries. It means saying ‘no’ more often to things and relationships that are draining, and YES to what your heart whispers and longs for. You practice noticing moments of joy and being grounded in the moment when you allow yourself to be playful.
In practical terms, I made more time to play in the last year by recognizing where my time, and most importantly my energy were going. Changing my work schedule radically and cultivating the habit of showing up to my studio. Every one of the days that I freed-up allowed me to deeply trust that I could honor my needs AND that play does have some amazing fringe benefits. As I got ready to change my routine & schedule, I was wondering if I would be able to relax and play or if I would start doing house work instead… I am happy to report that my vacuum is still in pristine condition…
Play for me looks like this:
picture a little art house nestled in the back corner of your garden (the photo is in my website, but I can send you another if you can’t find it!). There is good lighting, sometimes you can hear music for dancing during breaks, and sometimes you can hear amazing inspiring books on tape. The walls are lined with neatly organized art supplies of every sort and stripe! There are three, four, five pieces going all at once. I let go of expectations & facilitate a dialogue between my ideas and my supplies.
What supports the true expression of your authentic self?
My commitment to show up to those whispers in my heart with a curious and compassionate stance.
What is your mantra, your words to live by?
Hmmm, two of my dad’s sayings come to mind:
“Querer es poder” and “Lo mejor es el enemigo de lo bueno” … which would be equivalent to “Where there’s a will there is a way” and the second one I am still searching for a saying in English… I have heard “Done is best” which comes close in spirit since it’s meant to encourage movement and combat any perfectionistic tendencies. (it literally means ‘the best’ is the enemy of ‘the good’ – i.e. there is no such thing as ‘best’ and its pursuit can keep you from getting things done at all!!).
You said: “I have a blast tuning into my creative impulses each day!”
Tell me dear one, what does your creative impulses look like most days?
Every day that I show up to the studio to start a new piece or indulge on exploration I know I am likely to create a ‘Personita’ (which is what I call my many 2-d children!)… and I am always dying to meet them. It is so much fun to play with color and slowly watch a character emerge. By the time I get to their little faces I am literally smiling with them (or making whatever facial expression they are making). Sometimes I have a flash of awareness at that particular point and I wish I would have a hidden camera to see how often I crack myself up during a painting session.
What are you saying YES to these days?
I am saying YES to acknowledging dreams.
Anything that scares and excites me at the same time gets a YES!
I am saying ‘yes’ to walking out of my comfort zone.
I am saying yes to believing in {my own} magic and power to realize dreams.
What lights you up? What turns you on? What makes your heart quicken?
Laughter, color, thinking of obstacles, solvable puzzles & intelligence. Oh, and cats!
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild precious life?
This question will make my interview be late!! It is so big and so awesome … and I want to get it right!
So I will have to keep my answer as broad as the question. As it deserves to be. And let the details emerge unique for each season of that one precious life.
I think my plan is to always try to walk my talk. I plan to be brave and follow my gut to keep me grounded in my spirit, and be present so that I am able to contribute something relevant to the world at each stage. In this present stage I want to live the idea of turning inward for direction and trusting whatever comes up. My word for 2015 is ‘focus.’
“Honoring your everyday Sacred through grounding, creating and living consciously.”
My Dear Soul,
This moment right here is Sacred. Your voice is Sacred. Your story is Sacred. Your one wild and precious life is Sacred!
Sacredis often very simple.
Making elaborate practices can be tiresome and often times means you won’t get around to doing them.
Sitting in the Sacred is all about honoring your life force, opening, listening and creating!
We will go on Spirit walksto connect with our luscious bodies and inner wisdom. We will forage and collect resources that will help illustrate our Sacred Stories.
We will practice the Art of asking and answeringquestions to open the well of our inner wisdom.
We will create Sacred Vignettes which will be our visual story telling of our everyday Sacred.
(One part Writing Course. One part Visual Story Telling. One part Vignette Exploration. All parts Connecting and honoring the Everyday Sacred!)
You want to know how this course was born?
Out of pure need.
In a time when I was walking through many inner and outward passages Sacred Vignettes emerged out of me.
I was hungry for real connection to life.
I craved emotional and spiritual clarity.
I lacked many resources I “thought” I needed, only to discover I had everything already in front of me.
It was born out of need. It began simple… A little self awareness goes a long way.
A few minuets walk here, a few photos there… connecting the practice of question asking and answering.
I started small…
Day 1: Rooting into yourself.
Day 2: Your senses are your guides.
Day 3: Connections: all of them!
Day 4: Transform unrefined emotions and how this is presence.
Day 5: Desiring to speak your truth? Hear your inner voice?
Day 6: Awakening your inner wisdom.
Day 7: Integration and honoring everyday Sacred…
*Registration starts on June 1st! Sacred Vignettes begins July 1st when the full moon is high in the sky! Price Only 15.00!!!!
*One week of honoring your everyday Sacred.* Email sent to you including all content. Also commune with the Sacred Vignette community over in our Facebook group!
A dear friend recently told me she missed seeing my day to day life on here. It hadn’t occurred to me that I was absent in this way.
I had been photographing and writing as much if not more than I ever have, I had however simply not shared these “livings” here.
I have had an over flow of connections with amazing creatives through a new aspect of my company that I wanted to share everything about their lives and work, forgetting that many people come to this online home to also share in my journey. She reminded me of this.
*In this spirit I want to share some small corners of my life that truly bring me joy on a day to day basis.*
My mother and I go grocery shopping weekly, we sip coffee, pick out produce and laugh together. She bought me these succulents.
This little fellow flits in and out as I spend hours writing. He, the cardinals and the most beautiful cerulean blue jay come to visit me, keeping me company.
Curating Vignettes on my mantle. The center of our home has been adorned with bits of nature that I collect while on my nature walks. These nature walks are the fuel behind my writing, as I get into the wild of the earth I can get into the wild within.
Peonies… Lavish, unraveling and bold. Given to me straight from the belly of mother earth. Abundance is to be shared she said. Come over take some home…
This deer antler which sat on our dinner table as we feasted after our marriage ceremony. Honoring life as well as death…
Our garden filling the spaces of our balcony. Our cherry tomatoes are dangling and the cucumbers are bursting forth.
Writing. Every. Single. Day.
It has taken an immense amount of trust and focus to do this work. Being pulled and poured into so many spaces.
