Today I’m talking with mixed media artist Andrea Lopez about how she makes room for play, experimentation, and surprise in her painting process.

In the conversation you’ll learn how to balance spontaneity with thoughtful decisions about composition, value, and color. You’ll explore options for when you get stuck in the middle of a painting, why you might want to have several paintings going at once, and how learning to trust your process can help you work with more freedom.

Learn more about Andrea Lopez:

Website | Instagram | Facebook:

BONUS EPISODE (Patreon)

In today's bonus conversation, mixed media artist Andrea Lopez shares how a 30-day sketchbook challenge completely changed the way she uses her sketchbooks.

We'll talk about giving yourself permission to make pages you don't love, setting up your studio to make experimentation easier, and how your sketchbooks can become a kind of dictionary of your own artistic vocabulary.

Support the show

Welcome to the conversation with Catherine Freshly. In the interview, you’ll learn how to give yourself permission to explore even when what you're already doing is working, what can stay consistent as your work changes, and why putting in the hours at the easel can lead you somewhere you could never have planned in advance.

Bonus Conversation [Art Club]

For landscape painter Catherine Freshley, light is a huge part of what gives a place its feeling.

In this bonus episode, Freshley talks about what she looks for when painting light, from identifying the light source to noticing how the color of light changes throughout the day. She also walks us through how she builds her skies and clouds in acrylic, and why sometimes capturing the light means moving away from what you see in your reference photo.

Learn more about Catherine Freshley:

WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM | FACEBOOK

The 20for20 Art Challenge is almost here! You’ll commit to your art for 20 minutes a day for 20 days. Prep Week is underway, but there’s still time to join us, choose your project, get your materials ready, and make a plan for your 20 days. Registration is still open, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s the time! Join us here today!

Support the show

Over the past six months, Louise Fletcher (Ep.48) has stepped away from a successful teaching business to devote herself entirely to developing a new body of work.

But this conversation isn't really about making a career change.

It's about something every artist faces sooner or later: what do you do when an instinct about a new direction won’t go away.

In our conversation, you'll learn why artistic clarity doesn't come from thinking—it comes from making the work, discover how to balance exploration without constantly chasing the next new thing, and explore why trusting the next step often means letting go of the certainty you wish you had.

Learn more about Fletcher here:

WEBSITE / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK / YOUTUBE

Support the show

Watercolorist Steve Griggs is back on the show to talk about painting large. But not just large, super super large in what he calls grand. In the conversation you’ll learn how you might need to adjust your materials, how you'll want to rethink your space, and how to work yourself up to paint large or grand.

Past Episodes with Steve Griggs:

The Artistic Power of Sketchbooks with Steve Griggs (Ep.113, Mini)

Episode 59: Feature

Learn more about Steve Griggs here:

WEBSITE / WORKSHOPS / YOUTUBE / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

The 20for20 Art Challenge is almost here! You’ll commit to your art for 20 minutes a day for 20 days. Prep Week is underway, but there’s still time to join us, choose your project, get your materials ready, and make a plan for your 20 days. Registration is still open, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s the time! Join us here today!

Support the show

Past guest (Ep.79) Allison Moir-Smith is back to talk about a project that encourages us all to use the time we do have, to paint. The project: 20 minute portraits from life. That’s start and finish, 20 minutes. And even if you don't paint portraits or want to work in this particular way, I think you’ll find the conversation has great ideas to pull into your own practice especially if you have limited time.

In the conversation you'll learn why Moir-Smith believes "sets and reps" are one of the fastest ways to build your skills, discover how she designed her portrait project around her own personality instead of someone else's expectations, and explore how limitations like a 20-minute timer can actually lead to more joyful, expressive paintings.

Learn more about Moir-Smith here:

INSTAGRAM | WORKSHOPS

The 20for20 Art Challenge is almost here! You’ll commit to your art for 20 minutes a day for 20 days. Prep Week is underway, but there’s still time to join us, choose your project, get your materials ready, and make a plan for your 20 days. Registration is still open, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s the time! Join us here today!

Support the show

The podcast has been on hiatus... but it's back!

Today I'm talking with artist JaFang Lu.

In the conversation you’ll learn how to adjust your paintings based on your light source, how to build up to form, and you’ll explore a process you can try immediately on any subject.

Process is such a big part of what it means to be a painter. And we spend a lot of this episode talking about both the process Lu teachers her students but then also how she changes that process for her own work. And while we’re talking about figures, you can translate this approach to any subject.

Learn more about Lu here:

WEBSITE / WORKSHOPS / INSTAGRAM

Support the show

Welcome to the conversation with watercolorist, Brienne M Brown.

In the conversation, you’ll discover Brown’s pigment strategy, how to use opaques even if you are primarily a transparent painter and why sometimes the goal needs to be an ALMOST finished painting.

Podcast Art Club:

Your bonus conversation is here! In it, Brown talks composition and why you absolutely don’t need to be faithful to your reference photo.

Learn more about Brienne M Brown here:

WEBSITE / WORKSHOPS / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

Recommended books by Brown:

"Mastering Composition" by Ian Roberts

"Picture This" by Molly Banks

Here is a link to the videos about framing without glass on my

For Brown’s videos on framing without glass and making her watercolor panels, head here.

The 20for20 Art Challenge is almost here! You’ll commit to your art for 20 minutes a day for 20 days. Prep Week is underway, but there’s still time to join us, choose your project, get your materials ready, and make a plan for your 20 days. Registration is still open, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s the time! Join us here today!

Support the show

The “I don’t have time to paint” problem is one all of us face. But in today's episode, we explore all the benefits of starting small.

You’re going to learn how to shift your success metrics, get some ideas for what you can do in 20 minutes and how just a small amount of daily practice helps you and those you love get ready for a larger art practice.

Today we’re going to discover the mighty power of 20 minutes.

So if you don’t paint consistently but want to or are struggling with finding time in your schedule, this is the show for you.

Learn more about the #20for20ArtChallenge here.

Article: 20 Ideas for 20 Minute Art Sessions

The 20for20 Art Challenge is almost here! You’ll commit to your art for 20 minutes a day for 20 days. Prep Week is underway, but there’s still time to join us, choose your project, get your materials ready, and make a plan for your 20 days. Registration is still open, so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, now’s the time! Join us here today!

Support the show