The Creative Process I Swear By — And Why It Works Every Time

What's your process for making your art? How do you generate ideas? How do you develop them into something paintings? How do you articulate your intention?

These are all questions I get asked all the time and for years I didn't have an answer. I just knew I did a lot of creative stuff, and paintings somehow happened.

But as the questions came over and over, I started to think about it and I realised it was not as loosy-goosy as I thought. I actually did have a process for making my art and I always followed the same steps - even if not always in strict order.

I realised I always start by making things that make no sense to me - in other words, I play and experiment freely without needing things to be good or without needing them to make sense.

I also always jot down notes in my journals or in sketchbooks. I don't do this every day - just when an idea strikes or a thought comes that seems relevant.

I also realised that my experiments was somewhat structured - I had "go-to" exercises I would do to help my creativity flow. And my journaling was the same - there were certain questions I would ask myself that I found helpful. 

And finally, I saw that my larger paintings always flowed from this process of play and journaling. By sowing seeds, I began to find my way and identify a purpose and intention, and once that intention clicked, I was off making painting after painting. 

This process for making my art has always worked for me - not only in producing work, but also in the way it helps me to speak about my art. The paintings are rooted in all those sketches and studies and journal entires - they have depth and meaning without me even trying, and I can speak fluently about them because I have lived their creation for months.

When all this dawned, I sat down and documented it all, and then put it into a course called Momentum. That course launched last year and I honestly wasn't sure how it would go. Would anyone sign up? And would my process work for them? 

The answers were YES and YES! It turns out that anyone can make a cohesive meaningful body of work if they are willing to a) sow lots of creative seeds and then b) take the time to nurture the best of those seeds, so that they can turn into something larger.

I'm now well on my way with a new series of work that started in exactly the same way. I have sketchbooks filled with ideas and small paintings on paper and two notebooks packed with my thoughts. And now I have 10 large paintings on the go and more blank canvases waiting in the wings.

It's a reliable, repeatable process that can work for anyone, but so many people are impatient to jump right to making a whole series of paintings without first doing the work that underpins it all. Without the experimentation and journaling and working out ideas, how can we know what to make? And how can we confidently discuss it with others?

I'll be teaching Momentum again in January and it will be the last time we do the course until at least 2028. If you have taken my course Find Your Joy, it will be open to you and we'll be sending invites next Saturday. (note the course is open by invite only because it builds on what was learned in FYJ).

If you're interested, keep your eyes peeled! Signs-ups will only be open for a week and then we start the course in mid-January. I'm excited!

If you are not a former student, don't despair. I've just given you the roadmap in this email :)