Make Art Be Happy

SHOW NOTES I went up to Sausalito for an art business immersion and toured our host’s studio, in a building with about a hundred artist studios in it. It was wonderful. And right there in the hallway my brain handed me a thought, “my studio is in my garage.” In this episode I walk you through what happened next. I talk about coming back to art in my sixties and building confidence one mark at a ti...

A disappointing painting does not settle the question of your talent. In this episode, Lynn talks about the moment when a painting doesn’t turn out the way you hoped, and how quickly disappointment can become a judgment about yourself. You’ll learn how to slow down that moment, separate what you observe from the story you tell about yourself, and make your next creative decision without waiting to...

Originality Comes from Memory: Making Art That Feels Like You Have you ever finished a piece and thought, “I can see everything my teachers taught me, but where am I in this?” In this conversation, I share a discovery that changed how I approach my art: bringing my own feelings and memories into the marks I make. It began with a painting of my mother on her honeymoon. Looking at it, I could see my...

In this episode of The Practice , I’m showing you what happens when you feel an instinctive mark, color, or idea and replace it with the safer choice before your brush ever touches the paper. In this episode, you’ll learn: * Why your brain edits your creative impulses before you consciously make a decision * The difference between a craft edit, an audience edit, and a self-protection edit * A simp...

What if making art is not only about creating something beautiful? What if the things we make can speak back to us? In this conversation, I’m joined by artist, teacher, and intuitive guide Stacey Vajta of The Feisty Crone . Stacey creates spirit dolls and magical creatures that hold stories, emotions, and wisdom. Together, we explore the difference between simply producing art and feeling creative...

What if the secret to making more art is lowering your expectations and using the time you actually have? In this episode, I talk with artist and Substack writer James O’Boyle, creator of The Doodler . James works full time, yet he has built a consistent sketching practice by keeping his materials simple, using small pockets of time, and letting go of the need for every drawing to be perfect. We t...

What happens when two artists pull out the work they usually keep hidden? Mariel and I recently went Live on Substack to share the art we might never show anyone. The pieces that felt ugly. The ones that did not turn out the way we imagined. The experiments we abandoned and the paintings we simply never finished. And we laughed. A lot. Because once we brought those pieces into the light, they did...

What if confidence isn’t something you need before you begin? So many of us wait until we feel confident enough to make the painting, send the email, have the conversation, apply for the job, share our work, or try something new. But confidence may have the whole thing backwards. In this episode of The Art Coach , I’m talking about something I learned from watching my grandson learn to walk. He di...

Make Art Be Happy | 22 minutes 37 seconds | Episode description A piece can be skillful. The proportions can work, the color can work, other people can admire it, and you can still look at it and feel strangely absent from it. Nothing is obviously wrong. Something is missing. This week Lynn makes the case that what is missing is not more skill. It is more of you. She tells the story of the drawing...

Your voice isn't a finished destination, it's the ongoing conversation between you and the work. In this episode I tell the story of one honest mark on a napkin and what it revealed about an artist who, beneath sixty years of beautiful work, was still waiting for permission. It's about the difference between making something beautiful and making something honest, and the mark you almost make but t...

You keep your word to everyone. Your kids, your husband, your friends, the people at church who somehow got your number. But that painting you stopped doing, the walk you keep meaning to take, the book with the bookmark stuck on page 12 since spring? This episode is about the promises you only ever make to yourself, and why those became the ones it feels safe to drop. This isn’t about guilt, and i...

There is a kind of stuck that does not look like stuck. It looks like competence. You are making, you are finishing things, the proportions are right and the color is handled, and anyone looking would say it is pretty good. And then you stand in front of it and feel almost nothing, because you know something they do not. It is correct and empty. It looks like art, and it does not feel like yours....

What if your exhaustion isn’t coming from doing too much, but from giving yourself away before your day even begins? In this episode, Lynn explores a different way of thinking about creative energy. She challenges the belief that we simply need more sleep, better routines, or more discipline. Instead, she reveals why so many creative women feel empty before they ever sit down to paint, write, or m...

MAKE ART BE HAPPY · SHOW NOTES The Chair You Won’t Sit In Self-Worth · why you can’t rest, and the belief underneath it. Episode description You sit down, and within a minute you’re up again. You finally have the time, and you still can’t take it. If that’s you, this episode is about why, and it isn’t what you think. Rest that won’t come is not a discipline problem. It’s a belief. Somewhere a long...

You can decide what everyone else needs in a heartbeat. The dinner, the gift, the hard conversation, the right thing for your kid, your friend, your mother. You’re good at it. People count on it. So why does it go quiet the moment the decision is for you? The studio time. The price. The no. The yes that isn’t useful to anyone but you. Suddenly you need more information. You want to talk it through...

You Don’t Have to Earn Your Way Back I’ll start again when things calm down. That was the sentence running through my head last week. I’d just returned from Paris, an art retreat that filled me up in ways I’m still finding words for and I hadn’t touched my journal since landing. Not once. I know. The irony. Here’s the thing about artists that might surprise you: we don’t always stay. There’s an as...

My numbers for a new launch were slightly down. And I hadn’t made art in five days. I had been pushing and hustling and doing all the things that feel productive but leave you emptier than when you started. I opened my laptop instead of my sketchbook. That was my first mistake. Here is what I know about the weeks I don’t make art. The noise gets louder. Not the outer noise the inner kind. The low...

I need to share with you what happened this year. Not because I have it all figured out. But because I’ve been walking around asking myself how does that happen and I think I finally know. Fourteen months ago I had a mastectomy. A small, dark time. Scary in ways I won’t minimize. And yet, lying there before surgery, I had this belief. Not a wish. A belief. That I was going to beat this. That I was...

This week I read a story about myself. Halfway through, I realized I didn’t recognize the woman in it. The article was written after an interview about my reconstruction journey at Hoag Hospital, after not getting the results I had hoped for at another prestigious health center. I felt grateful they wanted to tell the story. So I sat down with coffee and began reading. She sounded broken. Wounded....

I was out for a walk today. Same pond. Same path. Different body. Different life. Almost exactly one year ago, I was here too. But then, I was walking with a walker after a bilateral mastectomy. One breast removed. One rebuilt using a flap surgery where they take fat from your belly and rebuild the breast. I had no idea what I was getting into. I only knew one thing. My health mattered more than a...

I just got back from my grandson’s transitional kindergarten classroom. There was art. There was relationship. There was that soft, steady feeling that happens when people are making something together. And it stirred up a memory I haven’t shared in a long time. My art practice began in 1989. I was married with a newborn. Elizabeth was just a couple of months old. My oldest son was four. My husban...

Let’s talk about something almost every creative woman has done at least once. We buy the course. We feel hopeful. We feel excited. We feel like “THIS is the one.” And then… We don’t start. Or we start and disappear. Or we finish… and still don’t implement. And we quietly wonder what’s wrong with us. Why we buy courses in the first place Most of the time we’re not buying information. We’re buying...

Most women who are drawn to art carry a quiet belief. I am not an artist. Art belongs to other people. I missed my chance. It often feels like a fact. Something settled long ago. But that belief did not appear out of nowhere. It was shaped by childhood moments. A comment in school. A comparison that stung. A paper that did not look right. A teacher who moved on. A feeling of being behind. So you l...

Most creative women think they need to feel motivated, calm, confident, or inspired before they sit down to make something. So when they feel tired, anxious, sad, flat, or overwhelmed, they wait. They scroll. They clean. They overthink. And the art table stays empty. What I shared in today’s video is simple and important. You do not need the right mood to create. You need permission to bring your...

Most creative women think they are the problem. Not consistent enough. Too scattered. Too late. What if the problem is not you but the way it has been named? Low quality creative problems sound like I am behind I am lazy I never finish anything They create shame and very little art. High quality creative problems sound kinder and more useful. I want a gentle practice that fits my real life I want...