A Happy Little Update From My Studio to Yours

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I Can’t Stop Smiling. Come in, grab a lemonade, and pull up a chair.

There is something quietly thrilling about a season of change. Not the dramatic, everything-burning-down kind, the other kind. The kind where you look up one morning and realize that the life you've been building is starting to look exactly like what you imagined. That's where I am right now, sweet friends, and I have a lot to tell you.

Pull up a chair. I'll pour the lemonade.

The Studio That Started It All

The last time I wrote one of these updates, I was telling you about building out my physical Yellow Studio space. The neon sign went up – and oh, it is everything. Warm yellow light glowing against the wall, making the whole room feel like a little pocket of creative heaven.

I've also been collecting Milagros hearts, those gorgeous Mexican folk art charms that carry wishes and intentions. They're starting to line the studio walls, and every single one of them feels like a tiny wish for this work we're doing here.

I wrote not long ago about how building The Yellow Studio felt like constructing something real – something with walls and weight and presence – even though it exists online. That feeling hasn't left me. It’s only gotten stronger.

My Original Plan Has Shifted, and Grown

I have become much clearer on what I want my focus to be as I’ve built this wonderful space for all of us.

Originally, I was heading into a heavy filming season – pre-produced video content, planned shoots, the whole production. And then I stopped, looked honestly at what was lighting me up, and made a choice. I walked away from that plan entirely and started doing something I love far more – teaching LIVE. I love answering your questions in the moment, trying out new apps and tools right there with you alongside me, and learning from YOU too. 

I knew that if I were going to teach as many artists as I hope to teach someday, I’m going to need more visibility. So, I started going live on YouTube five nights a week on January 1st, Monday through Friday at 6pm PST. I cannot express how much I love it! Everything I know about print-on-demand, AI tools for artists, marketing, and organic social media. Because I believe that when artists have real knowledge, real things happen for them, meanwhile, I’m slowly and steadily building my reach through doing what I love.

The Yellow Studio Live has become the heartbeat of everything. And being there in real time with you – answering questions as they come, riffing on ideas together, laughing when something unexpected happens – is more energizing than any filmed and polished version of myself could ever be.

If you haven't tuned in yet, you can find all past episodes right here.

Live Multi-Week Classes Coming Soon!

My YouTube lives touch on one subject each evening, but for artists who want to go deeper, I’m building something spectacular. Soon, I’ll be offering my first multi-week live class on Zoom with one to two hours each week and real homework that pushes your art business forward in between sessions. We’ll cover topics including print-on-demand, AI, strategic organic social, and paid marketing. These classes will be focused and genuinely transformative. 

The best of those live classes will eventually be edited and made available as self-led courses in a growing catalogue. If it’s a subject you don’t want to miss, be sure to sign up for the live session in case it’s not included in the self-led catalogue. The live experience is always the richest way to learn too – being able to ask me questions in real time and get specific advice for your business. 

Open Studio Is Almost Here

I feel like that old Mervyn’s commercial where the lady is pressed against the window saying “Open, open, open” as she flashes her hands open and closed over and over, anticipating the opening of the store. I want to open up the Open Studio to all of you like last week! LOL! I’m in the final testing phase and cannot wait to start sharing tips, tools, and behind-the-scenes stories with all of you. I've been testing it as a separate user, clicking through every corner, making sure the experience feels as good from the inside as it looks from the outside. It is so close. Think of it like a Facebook group, but only for all of us Lemon Drops. 

The Open Studio is where we will thrive in our art businesses together. It's where we'll gather, support each other, share our work, and grow. More details are coming very soon – and if you're already on my email list, you'll be the first to know when the doors open. 💛

YELLOW MUSE: A Daily Creative Invitation

I have another exciting project underway that you might not all know about. The YELLOW MUSE!

YELLOW MUSE is a daily art challenge – one new prompt, every single day, posted on LinkedIn at 6am PST, seven days a week. Any artist is welcome to participate. You don't need to be a member of anything or sign up anywhere. Just show up, make something, and share it in the comments of the post.

Each YELLOW MUSE season runs for one month. At the end of every season, I gather my favorite submissions from participating artists and compile them into the YELLOW MUSE Zine. It's become one of the most beautiful things we do here – a real, curated record of creative community. 

Season 4 is active right now. Come play with us!

But Wait, There’s More…

Okay. I've saved the best news for last, and I genuinely cannot stop smiling about it.

My husband is building me a she-shed.

A real, physical, dedicated creative studio right here on our property – and this summer, I am returning to physical art. I've been making digital art and AI art every single day for two years, and I love it deeply. But I realized recently, when I went with the YaYas to paint pottery a couple of weeks ago, just how much my hands had been missing the weight of a real brush, the smell of paint and glue and ink, and the particular joy of making something you can hold. If you watch my YouTube Lives you know that I’m aching to get back into collage art lately. It will be the perfect place to start.

Two years is the longest I've ever gone without creating something physical. I didn't realize how much I missed it until I was sitting there with my friends, painting away, and something in me just... exhaled.

The she-shed is going to be painted a cozy black on the outside (to match the color we’ll be painting our cabin soon) and a happy, sunny yellow on the inside (obviously). I even know what the first piece of art is that I will hang on the walls – a gorgeous artwork by Vesica of a rhinoceros with plaid skin! I hope the space will be conducive to streaming in there as well. It would be fun to have a second space to go live from. A new studio, a new season of making, a new layer of The Yellow Studio story.

I cannot wait to show you every single step of the process once it gets underway.

The Whole Beautiful Picture: My Studio Update

If you zoom out and look at all of this together – the neon sign and the Milagros hearts, the daily lives, the upcoming classes, the Open Studio, the YELLOW MUSE challenge, the she-shed being built just off the side of the deck – it all points to the same thing.

Slow living, big dreams. A life built with intention, not speed. A creative business that supports the art, not the other way around.

This is what The Yellow Studio has always been about. We're just getting more of it, sweet friends.

Stay close. The best parts are still coming. 🍋