Mastery + Mentors (with Dylan M)

Today’s show in tell is a story of my going to Nashville for Quiltcon in 2019 (I think it was, it was the before COVID times is all I remember). One of the most amazing things we did in Nashville was visiting Jack White’s Third Man Records. Not only was the interior as striking as the exterior, when we went on the studio tour we were shown all the woodwork done by a master builder who also did all the woodwork in Kenny Rogers’ studio. Now the photo is a little hard to see but it’s all I could find on the internet (they don’t allow you to take photos on the tour). Let’s just say it was absolutely amazing and it left me feeling, yes! Mastery, it’s something to aim for.

Spring forward to earlier this year listening to my favourite podcast, The Huberman Lab. I listen to it on Spotify but it’s also available on YouTube and all other major streaming platforms. I was listening to the interview with Cal Newport. I’m now reading his book Deep Work. In that interview they mentioned Robert Greene, which turned out to be one of my favourite interviews. I learned that he wrote a book called Mastery. Now I haven’t read that book YET but I have discussed it with my ADHD coach (did I mention I was diagnosed with ADHD last summer? Let’s just say things make a WHOLE LOT more sense now!) who has read it. I was really craving working one on one with someone and really wanting a mentor. I’ve taken enough online course to know it was time for a change. I didn’t want a whole group setting to get lost in again.

Then, low and behold, in pops this newsletter from Dylan M saying, hey I’m doing 1:1’s through Skillshare! I’ve been following Dylan since 2017 (I remember because I did a floral Skillshare class of hers). Below are my Zinnia Warrior Princesses (* wink!) I did from her class.

She does the dreamiest florals, fascinating lettering and most whimsical creatures. I’ve watched her talents grow from seeing her early gouache studies to her now amazing paintings. Her sketchbooks are to die for! She also does Cozy Painting retreats at her agent, Jennifer Nelson’s, Smiley Manse in Vermont! I’ve got it marked on my todo list! In a nut shell she’s done the work and she’s exceptionally concise and intuitive with the information she shares. Oh and she also does Human Design readings! But that’s for another post!

Okay so where am I going with all this…? Here I am craving to learn mastery and needing a mentor. Hello Dylan! Her call out about doing one to ones popped up in her newsletter and I reached out. Afterwards I sent her a message saying, hey I’m looking for a mentor, are you interested? We’ve been meeting twice each month since and I’ve also just registered for her Patreon. Oh so many goodies in there too!

Since I’ve taken so many online courses I feel like I have gathered all these bits of knowledge but I didn’t necessary understand how they all fit together. Dylan is helping me bridge those gaps. A big gap was how I was doing my portfolio and understanding what a sales sheet is. I have seen photos of them at trade shows but I still didn’t understand; if I’m not doing a trade show at the moment, why would I need to do my portfolio that way? Well, it’s the industry standard and understanding that I completely feel a big shift coming on how I do my work and create collections. In the mean time I had over 175 separate prints and illustrations I’ve been putting on to my very own sale sheets! Here’s a sneak peek at a few of them. I will soon be changing over my portfolio to password protected so enjoy this peek!

It’s been an exciting time and of growing pains, but I know in the end it will be totally worth it in learning mastery over my craft.

P.S. Want to learn more about Dylan M? Click HERE to see her website, Skillshare classes, Patreon, One on Ones, Artist Sanity Checks, Newsletter and Human Design reading. Oh and her Instagram is HERE and her YouTube Channel can be found HERE.

 

what kind of road tripper are you?

1) Are you a Herbie The Love Bug road tripper? You have a car with a mind of it’s own? Beep! Beep!

2 ) Or are you and Almost Famous road tripper? Are road trips about the romance and the music for you?

3) Are you a steady as it goes kind of road tripper? Like in The Straight Story. You get there when you get there. (*one of my personal favourite movies).

4 ) Or! Maybe you’re a rebellious Easy Rider… who’s happy to take it easy the whole way there?

5) Then again, maybe you’re a speed demon throughout a road trip and you take no prisoners like in Fury Road?

6) Do you take your road trips, with your ENTIRE family? In a Van? Like in Little Miss Sunshine? (*again, also one of my very favourite movies!)

Or perhaps you’re a combo of the above? We all have a speed demon in us don’t we?!

 

Do you need some Sunshine Inn too?

 

Each print I make starts with pen and ink drawings. Those get scanned in and become digital prints (of course I’m oversimplifying. How to draw an owl: draw one circle, then three circles and then finish the owl!)

My Sunshine Inn collection was designed in 2021 when we were all in some form of lock down. By then the world, including myself, was itching from cabin fever.

Instead of going on a holiday I scrolled on Instagram.

I saw this post by @modernjunecleaver when she visited Universal Cabana Bay Beach Resort

Rather than floating off to a resort,

I floated off in my imagination on a 60’s inspired resort holiday!

Think of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel goes to Orlando.

My Sunshine Inn collection was licenced by Paintbrush Studio Fabrics.

The fabric was made into quilts…

kid’s clothes…

adult apparel, bags, pillows… you name it!

Then, it became the back drop for my first ever mural, for DRESSEW, in 2023! DREAM COME TRUE!

While my Sunshine Inn collection has had a pretty spectacular ride, I’m dreaming of licencing it for stationary or party products.

Sometimes we get too close to our work and it’s hard to see the obvious options.

So, I’m here to ask your advice. What else can you imagine these designs on? Is there a brand you know of that would look fantastic in these prints?

… I’m asking for a friend. *wink!

 

A DESIGNER DIARY

ILLUSTRATING Find the Calm in the Chaos

Today I’m trying something new. I’m going to start posting about what I work on everyday and here’s why:

My friend Hana, when she was diagnosed cancer, started going outside everyday. A love of gardening was something we shared, although she was much more enthusiastic about raking leaves than I ever was. Everything about someone getting sick is heartbreaking. When she got really sick, she’d say, when I get better, we’ll get together. All I could do was send her texts, telling her she was in my thoughts and I was sending her love, along with photos of my garden. Knowing she was going outside each day, I decided I would go outside each day too. It was my only way of feeling close to her. I would think of her each morning, knowing she’d be so pleased to see things budding or how busy the bees were on the dahlias.

In November, when Hana passed away, I kept going out every morning, comforted with my thoughts of her while I dug a little over here and I clipped a little over there. I went out with no plan, just what ever felt good to work on that day. I’m out there first thing every morning, rain or shine, anywhere from 10-30 mins every morning. We both live(d) on acreages and there’s always a lot to be done, to the point of being overwhelmed… but now instead of resenting it or feeling like it’s a chore, I crave my time outside. What a wonderful gift of a daily ritual Hana left me.

Then I thought, what if I applied this daily ritual to my personal work. Usually I get a deadline and dive head first in and I don’t come back up for air until I’m done. I do love a good deadline but this way of working has left me depleted in the past and what I’ve been craving is consistency. So here we go, an experiment! Every morning I’ll work on new work, a little drawing here, a little painting there! Here we go!

Okay, here we go:

Today I’m starting a new illustration for the Goin’ Surfin’ collection. It will be called “Find the Calm in the Chaos”. Job one is working on the lettering. I’m taking my LET GO letters and converting them into the letters I need. Which means making eight new letters by making a/an:

 

Here is the playlist I listened to whilst working away : April 15th, 2024 Ha! Whilst! It’s such a funny word!