Dear friend,

Happy Friday! I've just got a little studio update for ya this week. It's been pretty busy here lately, with my "real job" giving me more hours, so I have less time for my art business, unfortunately. One good thing about it though is it is making me be more intentional with my art business time and prioritize things better.

I've realized that I've spent so many hours painting on watercolor paper that I don't have the confidence I need for painting on a canvas... so here goes another round of trying to build my skill and confidence on a canvas. This one is going pretty well so far, but it takes a lot more energy and time to work on a canvas... sometimes at the end of the day I just wanna sit down and not focus on too much haha.

I've been practicing using my colors well in my paintings. There's a concept in oil painting that expands upon color theory. There's cool and warm colors and in oil paint, if you paint with the cool colors first, and then the warm colors where you want the artwork to look like it's in front or closer to the viewer, it creates depth with just a few brushstrokes.

It's really fun to see it come together and I'm starting to get better at my color placements.

Another thing I've been working on is painting light. I enjoyed painting this basil and I actually got to start with watercolor and paint it while sitting outside and it was so wonderful to be able to enjoy some sunshine on my face while I painted and listened to the birds.

Then I brought this little painting inside, sealed it, and decided to make it pop with some oil paint and I really wasn't sure if I'd like it or hate it... but I like it.

I've mentioned before how I always seem to have seasons where I have lots of painting time and energy and other times when I barely have any.... and so I've been leaning into painting small when I can as I've been busier.

These tiny rectangular paintings are called "ACEOs" and they're 2.5x3.5inch paintings. They've been pretty fun to work on and I've started listing them as available on Etsy. What should I paint next in this size??

Sometimes part of being an artist and part of being a small business owner it feels like I'm just taking two steps forward and one step back every day. But really, I've grown so much through this just over a year of my business, and I've got so much excitement for where it can go.

Learning to be patient with the Lord's timing and will in all of it is hard sometimes. In a way, I knew it was going to take a while to improve my artistic skills, grow my business, and be a full time artist, but in a lot of ways it's been going way slower than I was led to expect. There's lots of people who within a year of launching their business are already full-time in their business.... and it's hard not to compare or be discouraged with my business's slower growth.

But honestly, I'm not sure I could have handled any faster growth than I've had. My future is all in the Lord's hands and I know He sees a fuller picture than I do.

Whether you're feeling a bit exhausted like my crazy dog here, or you're struggling with doubt or you're on top of the world with the happy things of life, I hope you remember today that the Lord is in control and He knows every little piece of your heart, even the place where the hurts from the past and the dreams for the future hide. And He is trustworthy to hold your heart, no matter what it's feeling.

Happy Friday!

~Isabel Grace

P.S. Once we reach 100 print club members I'm going to do a giveaway and one of those 100 will get a FREE 5x7 original painting tucked into their print club letter!! If you're excited about this too, please do me a favor and tell a friend what you really think about your print club letter. You can read more about it HERE.