Thanks, Sam! These are good reminders. You are definitely correct that the more we use Substack the better, and easier, it gets. You have built a Learning community for artists of all levels and ages. That’s so hard to do and I salute you. No one out there is doing it as well as you do. And the way you have consistently used words as part of the art process is a big plus. We get so much from you - art skills, books, wide horizons, a caring community….just for a start. Thank you for all you do to make this work for each of us. It’s a gift.
Michele, Midway, Utah - just over the hill from Park City. I live in a nature paradise so I better keep painting.
Thank you so much, Michele! This comment has made my week. :) The next time we go to Park City, I will let you know. My family of boys are all big skiiers. I stay back and paint, so would be lovely to meet up and paint together.
Sam, I really appreciate this post and so glad that you wrote it because now I just have to link your post to all my Substack subscribers who get lost! Lol.
Hello , I’m Char , Charlotta , Charlotte… I get called them all.
I live just outside Toronto but am originally from the UK.
I have been making art my life since the year I left art school in Spain. (I was there for 6 years)
I run online Art classes and free morning Lives.
I have a Substack newsletter here called “A World of Colour” and although I’m not a super active writer here, I love the community and try to make everyone feel welcome no matter where they are in their art journey.
Always reading quickly, so it was foggy in the back of my brain and then you posted that clarification - reading my blurred mind! Art school in Spain sounds really fun and living there that long too!
This informative post has been very helpful. I'm new to Substack and and still learning the ins and outs. It has take me a while to click on the various highlighted segments in your message to be brought up to date.
This is such a nice guide. Really looking forward to your next meetup. Richard's art is so fun and listening to you two chat with everyone will be such a treat! Oh, and SUPER excited to cohost with you in April!
Thanks Beth 😊 I have been wanting to do this for some time, and you and a few others I saw on Notes also have been trying to explain it all as well. Your video is so great. Over time I think we will have to explain less as people get used to it all. And me, too! I can’t wait to draw with you in April!
Thanks Sam! I’ll have to read through and keep this handy! I haven’t really taken advantage of all this, so this helps answer questions and gives info I didn’t know. Have a fabulous time in Paris! Can’t wait to see photos and sketches. We went to Italy 2 yrs ago and I was enchanted by all the door knockers, it got to be a joke w/our friends shouting to me daily, “Look at those knockers”!
Hi Thea! Love that. We had started a special club when boys were little “doorknockers society” because Ian was obsessed with the knockers in Europe and took photos of them.
Sam, your Substack was one of the first I found myself drawn to when I landed here in September. Your work has been an incredible source of joy and inspiration for me, a creative who's found various means of expression over the years, thought not necessarily skill. Writing is the thread that's shown up throughout my life, but I love art, of all kinds. There's something very magic -- to me -- in work like yours.
Creative practices -- like stopping to (poorly) sketch a pile of foam blocks at the trampoline park while my kids play, inside the blank notebook and with the microns I've taken to keeping in my bags -- help me to stop and notice. Noticing, being one of the most important aspects of my life as a writer.
I'm an East Coast native (MD and VA) who made her way to Tennessee some 20+ years ago for college and career in the music industry. Somewhere along the way, I pivoted, pivoted, and then pivoted some more, getting in a master's in education, getting married, starting a photography business, working in higher education, and then letting everything shift again when I became a mother almost thirteen years ago.
At present, I'm a mom of three kids, two in elementary, one in middle, all three at home where we shifted our schooling to, starting in 2020. What was supposed to become a temporary solution to the confusion in our world has become a surprising four years, with maybe a couple more to go (at least for the youngest). The bulk of my days are spent learning alongside my kids who have also, with their art, taught me to see the beauty in every day, and working on my (as yet, unagented and unpublished) novels that hopefully will do the same for others, also.
Thank you so much, Kristine. I am so glad you are part of this group and hope we get to know each other better in coming months. I love this: “Noticing, being one of the most important aspects of my life as a writer.“ so true! Whether you’re writing or drawing. I have a friend who only writes and she describes some of her pieces as drawing with words.
Thanks so much for this extremely helpful post. So generous of you to take the time to do this given all you have on your plate right now. I have enjoyed joining your community recently after taking some of your workshops and find everyone to be compassionate and super creative and stimulating. Thanks for making us all feel welcome and acknowledging all of our work so beautifully.
Hi Wendy, so happy to read this. I agree, the community is truly inspiring. And you’re so welcome for the post. It was a good way to procrastinate this afternoon for about an hour. 😅
I was gifted a subscription so am brand new here! I sketch, paint, collage and write. All the things, not necessarily in that order. I will have to check out the meet ups, although I suspect it will be before my brain is fully awake.
hi Jennifer! I love that you have the architects perspective. I find that the architects education in drawing and writing (and ooh the handwriting!) such a good foundation.
Sam - Thanks so much for this information - it was beyond helpful and a great reminder. I have been in the weeds lately and feeling "behind" with my sketches and daily practice - so this was an incredible motivator for me to remember that I can easily go back - even to the beginning and work at my own pace - slow growth.... and not feel pressured. I love reading everyone's comments and I look forward to getting emails from you with reminders:) I can't wait to attend the next live meet-up.
this was really helpful; thanks! are there any archived lives somewhere? i’m really new to substack (and loving it) and enjoying watching this march one you linked here. would love to watch any others if they’re available.
Thanks, Sam! These are good reminders. You are definitely correct that the more we use Substack the better, and easier, it gets. You have built a Learning community for artists of all levels and ages. That’s so hard to do and I salute you. No one out there is doing it as well as you do. And the way you have consistently used words as part of the art process is a big plus. We get so much from you - art skills, books, wide horizons, a caring community….just for a start. Thank you for all you do to make this work for each of us. It’s a gift.
Michele, Midway, Utah - just over the hill from Park City. I live in a nature paradise so I better keep painting.
Thank you so much, Michele! This comment has made my week. :) The next time we go to Park City, I will let you know. My family of boys are all big skiiers. I stay back and paint, so would be lovely to meet up and paint together.
Yes! It’s a date. And I would love for my 15 year old granddaughter, Sam, to meet you! She’s the real artist in the family.
So well said Michele 🌼
Wow! I needed to know this information! Thank you very much!
You’re welcome!
You’re welcome
Sam, I really appreciate this post and so glad that you wrote it because now I just have to link your post to all my Substack subscribers who get lost! Lol.
Hello , I’m Char , Charlotta , Charlotte… I get called them all.
I live just outside Toronto but am originally from the UK.
I have been making art my life since the year I left art school in Spain. (I was there for 6 years)
I run online Art classes and free morning Lives.
I have a Substack newsletter here called “A World of Colour” and although I’m not a super active writer here, I love the community and try to make everyone feel welcome no matter where they are in their art journey.
Haha yes, I needed a post I can send to people who are lost!
And thanks for sharing about yourself, too! I love all you do, and am so happy we can share together here, Charlotte! Char, Charlotta! ❤️
In Spain for 6 years… not in art school!
lol. I wondered!
Ha, yes I only went to the Spanish Art school for 7 months.
Always reading quickly, so it was foggy in the back of my brain and then you posted that clarification - reading my blurred mind! Art school in Spain sounds really fun and living there that long too!
This informative post has been very helpful. I'm new to Substack and and still learning the ins and outs. It has take me a while to click on the various highlighted segments in your message to be brought up to date.
This is such a nice guide. Really looking forward to your next meetup. Richard's art is so fun and listening to you two chat with everyone will be such a treat! Oh, and SUPER excited to cohost with you in April!
Thanks Beth 😊 I have been wanting to do this for some time, and you and a few others I saw on Notes also have been trying to explain it all as well. Your video is so great. Over time I think we will have to explain less as people get used to it all. And me, too! I can’t wait to draw with you in April!
Thanks Sam! I’ll have to read through and keep this handy! I haven’t really taken advantage of all this, so this helps answer questions and gives info I didn’t know. Have a fabulous time in Paris! Can’t wait to see photos and sketches. We went to Italy 2 yrs ago and I was enchanted by all the door knockers, it got to be a joke w/our friends shouting to me daily, “Look at those knockers”!
Hi Thea! Love that. We had started a special club when boys were little “doorknockers society” because Ian was obsessed with the knockers in Europe and took photos of them.
“Look at those knockers” 😂😂
Sam, your Substack was one of the first I found myself drawn to when I landed here in September. Your work has been an incredible source of joy and inspiration for me, a creative who's found various means of expression over the years, thought not necessarily skill. Writing is the thread that's shown up throughout my life, but I love art, of all kinds. There's something very magic -- to me -- in work like yours.
Creative practices -- like stopping to (poorly) sketch a pile of foam blocks at the trampoline park while my kids play, inside the blank notebook and with the microns I've taken to keeping in my bags -- help me to stop and notice. Noticing, being one of the most important aspects of my life as a writer.
I'm an East Coast native (MD and VA) who made her way to Tennessee some 20+ years ago for college and career in the music industry. Somewhere along the way, I pivoted, pivoted, and then pivoted some more, getting in a master's in education, getting married, starting a photography business, working in higher education, and then letting everything shift again when I became a mother almost thirteen years ago.
At present, I'm a mom of three kids, two in elementary, one in middle, all three at home where we shifted our schooling to, starting in 2020. What was supposed to become a temporary solution to the confusion in our world has become a surprising four years, with maybe a couple more to go (at least for the youngest). The bulk of my days are spent learning alongside my kids who have also, with their art, taught me to see the beauty in every day, and working on my (as yet, unagented and unpublished) novels that hopefully will do the same for others, also.
Thank you so much, Kristine. I am so glad you are part of this group and hope we get to know each other better in coming months. I love this: “Noticing, being one of the most important aspects of my life as a writer.“ so true! Whether you’re writing or drawing. I have a friend who only writes and she describes some of her pieces as drawing with words.
Thanks so much for this extremely helpful post. So generous of you to take the time to do this given all you have on your plate right now. I have enjoyed joining your community recently after taking some of your workshops and find everyone to be compassionate and super creative and stimulating. Thanks for making us all feel welcome and acknowledging all of our work so beautifully.
Hi Wendy, so happy to read this. I agree, the community is truly inspiring. And you’re so welcome for the post. It was a good way to procrastinate this afternoon for about an hour. 😅
I’m new to Substack thank you for this Sam
You’re welcome, Jo!
I was gifted a subscription so am brand new here! I sketch, paint, collage and write. All the things, not necessarily in that order. I will have to check out the meet ups, although I suspect it will be before my brain is fully awake.
Welcome, Leanne! Where are you located? Lately the meet ups have been late afternoon EST to try and catch west coast and Europe.
Hello from a former architect, now photographer & writer who’s REALLY trying to find more time to art for fun in Denver!
hi Jennifer! I love that you have the architects perspective. I find that the architects education in drawing and writing (and ooh the handwriting!) such a good foundation.
honestly it's what first drew me to your work, too :)
Sam - Thanks so much for this information - it was beyond helpful and a great reminder. I have been in the weeds lately and feeling "behind" with my sketches and daily practice - so this was an incredible motivator for me to remember that I can easily go back - even to the beginning and work at my own pace - slow growth.... and not feel pressured. I love reading everyone's comments and I look forward to getting emails from you with reminders:) I can't wait to attend the next live meet-up.
this was really helpful; thanks! are there any archived lives somewhere? i’m really new to substack (and loving it) and enjoying watching this march one you linked here. would love to watch any others if they’re available.
Hi Elly, sure, I am happy to share some links! I will send you a DM shortly.