I'm back from my mind blowing trip to Italy with some insights on finding creative inspiration wherever you are and my light bulb moment about finding my creative voice.

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Welcome to The Joyful Creative.

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I'm Deborah O'Toole.

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I'm a multi passionate creative

and I believe regular creativity

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is essential for well being.

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Whether you love painting, writing,

knitting, music, gardening, or any

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other creative pursuit, here you'll

find the inspiration and support

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to make your creative practice a

joyful priority in your busy life.

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So let's get creative.

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Well, hi there.

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I'm back from my little

trip away to Italy.

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If you listen to my last podcast a

few weeks ago, you would have heard

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me talking about the fact that I

was going on my dream trip to Italy.

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Italy has been on my bucket

list for so many years.

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I actually learnt Italian

at school for four years.

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And then during the COVID.

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Locked down.

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I got back onto Duolingo and I was

learning the language and I just

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keep dreaming about going to Italy.

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And I finally decided to do it.

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And it was.

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Just breathtaking.

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Everything I'd wanted it to be.

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I really wasn't there for long

enough, going from Australia to Italy.

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It takes a couple of days of travel.

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And I was really only there for

about 10 days, but gosh, I had a

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great time and I'm so glad I went.

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Um, I joined a group.

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That was organized by ice cap travels

and they do trips all through the year

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where they pick a beautiful destination.

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And take a facilitator that

will teach some sort of.

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autistic.

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Technique or project and everybody

joins in and learn something and

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then goes on tours and whatnot.

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And we went to is here.

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A beautiful little island of Napoli.

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And we had the UK based

artists, Camilla Perkins.

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Teaches her techniques in oil

pastels and acrylic paints.

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Um, and it was just so lovely being

able to go out into the gorgeous

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gardens of this monastery that we were

staying in and paint the landscape

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and the gardens and the little

fishing villages and the colors.

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And.

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The people.

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It was just everything

that you could imagine.

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So I'm just full of inspiration.

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I could gush about this trip

for the whole episode, but of

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course, nobody wants to hear me.

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Going on and on about it when you're

probably all sitting there thinking,

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well, I would love to go overseas as well.

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, get on with it, Deb.

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Um, so look, I just want to make

two points about travel and how it

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can really enhance your creativity.

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And give inspiration.

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It probably goes without saying

that when you are in a different

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environment or around a lot of beauty,

That there is just no end of artistic

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and creative inspiration around you.

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But if you think about it,

there's just so much around us.

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That's there every day, but we just

take it for granted, I suppose.

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And so when I got back to Brisbane,

It really sort of hit me that.

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Well, yes, Italy was gorgeous, but anyone

coming to visit Brisbane right now in

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October, we'd just be hit with the.

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Masses of blooming jacarandas that

are everywhere around the city.

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Trees that you never looked at.

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Any other time, uh, just.

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The testing with these purple blooms

and it's just purple everywhere.

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It's really quite stunning.

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I never lived in a place that had so many

Jacaranda trees, just all over the place.

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That really makes a

beautiful, stunning display.

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That's only for a couple of

weeks, but gosh, it's lovely.

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And.

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It made me think.

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Do you know anybody that came from Italy?

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To visit Brisbane would be

really amazed at, at our.

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Open skies and the colors

that are happening right now.

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In Brisbane.

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And every other city has,

has something similar.

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You know, down south when it's

spring, there's the blossoms or the

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turning of the leaves in autumn.

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The all is beautiful colors and.

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Yeah, cities have their

own beauty about them.

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And unfortunately, when we live in a

city, it can be less than inspiring

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because it's just what we see every day.

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So, I guess the first point

that I wanted to make is that.

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You don't have to go overseas

to get visual inspiration.

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Yes, we can live vicariously through.

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Travel shows and, Pinterest and YouTube.

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But to see it in real life.

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Yes, of course.

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That is lovely.

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But just remember that it is

really all around us all the time.

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You know, we've got the lines of

cityscapes, , we've got wide open spaces

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and rolling Hills in the countryside.

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Depending on where you live.

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And of course, even if you were

just going on a quick weekend,

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Somewhere close-ish to home.

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Maybe it's just a day trip

to the beach or weekend.

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Two.

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Uh, cottage in the Hills or something.

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What have you see that's

different from what.

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You see, every day can be inspiring.

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So I encourage you to.

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To look at your own environment and any

environment that you go and have a holiday

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in, even if it's a short little one.

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And really look at the environment with

your artistic eyes and maybe you want to

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journal it or do some sketches, or just

take out your iPhone and take some photos.

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I'm pretty bad at this, but I know

that what would be good is if I put.

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The photos into some sort of

album, so I could easily access

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them rather than scrolling back.

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Through the years to find

all my travel photos.

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But there is just so much out there.

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I am always taking photos of rocks and

potatoes of stones and bark on trees.

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Because the patterns that nature

creates is just so beautiful to be.

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And I always mean to make some

sort of artwork out of it.

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Um, and in some way it does

inform everything that I do.

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So.

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Going overseas.

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Yes, it's wonderful.

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And it's so inspiring creatively.

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But just as much as that can be the

inspiration that's around you every day

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and even on your little weekend

trips or your day trips.

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Or even non just your nature

walks around wherever you live.

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So.

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That's the first point is you don't need

to be going overseas to be inspired.

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Creatively.

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And the other point I'd like

to make in this episode is

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this light bulb moment that.

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I had, when I was working with Camilla

and we were talking about colors,

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we were doing acrylic painting and

she had taught us to choose a color

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palette of just five or six colors.

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And it made so much sense to me.

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And Camilla is in a former life

was a commercial illustrator.

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So she's used to using a limited palette.

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Usually to do with a client

briefs and branding, whatnot.

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But these days, her artwork.

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Is, it just works so beautifully

because she still uses this.

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Limited palette.

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And when we were using the pastels, it

was really easy because you just picked.

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Five pastels in different

colors and then maybe white.

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And then away you went with just

those, you didn't mix it up.

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But then when we had acrylic

paints and of course with paints,

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you can mix up the colors.

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Instead of just using five or

six colors that I had chosen.

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I started with one color.

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And I applied it to the page.

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And then when I needed another

color, For some reason I sort

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of started mixing them together.

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I think it's something to do with

the fact that I, I really don't

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like to waste paint, so I like

to use whatever's on my palette.

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And then add to it.

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With another color that I've

already put on the pallet.

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And then when I looked at my artwork,

it was really displeasing to me.

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I really didn't like the colors and.

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I just don't even know

why I would paint with.

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Those colors that didn't

seem to appeal to me.

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Because there were so many colors

I could have used and I could have

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chosen a very definite color palette

of colors that I really love.

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But I didn't do that.

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I used what I had.

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Which.

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When you think about the concept

of the way you do, one thing

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is the way you do all things.

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It really hit home to me that.

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I often pride myself.

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And the fact that I can make

good with what I've got.

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I'm quite resourceful.

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I use what I have.

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But then when I think about what

I've done with my artwork is.

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And the other thing is,

yes, I'm very passionate

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About.

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Saving the environment and saving.

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Things from going into landfills.

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So I do tend to save.

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A lot of, , papers and paints and threads

and, you know, all sorts of things,

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thinking that I will use them in artwork.

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But then what would happen there is

that I would use what I have, but

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what I have isn't necessarily what.

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We'll make artwork that

I'm really in love with.

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So, yes, while I think it is

still good to be resourceful and

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it's still good to care about the

environment and not to be wasteful.

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It did really sit in motion, some

thoughts about the way I do things

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and the way I approached my artwork.

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Yes, I want to be creative, but also

I want to make work that I love and

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that I hope that people will love.

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And

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I tend to pivot mediums and.

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Design styles because I'm inspired

by what I've got in front of me.

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Now that might not seem like a bad

thing, but what is happening is that

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I'm just, mucking around with a whole

lot of things and not really getting

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anywhere with my artistic voice, with.

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With my style.

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I suppose.

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So, what am I trying to

say with all this is.

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Yes.

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Be resourceful.

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Yes.

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Save the environment, minimize

waste, all of that sort of thing.

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Yes.

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But if you are trying to find your

artistic voice and your style.

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Then.

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Perhaps you are also just

using what you've got.

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Making do.

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Um, compromising, I suppose, compromising

on, on your artwork based on.

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What you've got available to you.

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And.

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To change that to rectify that

much, just be a matter of.

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Creating your color palette with the

paint colors that you want to use.

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Or.

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Using the paper that really is going

to elevate your artwork rather than

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just using craft paper or whatever

the kids have got left over.

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Perhaps using a tool or investing in

tools or materials that really do.

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Help you to create the artwork

that you want to create.

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That's in your heart.

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That's in your vision.

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Rather than always.

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Making do.

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I don't know if there's anybody else

out there who is in the same boat.

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I'm imagining because it happens

to me that it might be happening

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to other people as well.

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And yes, I would love to

hear from anyone who is.

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Mucking around with different

mediums and materials and colorways

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and styles to find their creative

voice and their artistic vision.

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Um, love to hear from you to

find out what it is that you're

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doing to streamline that or to.

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Get that under control and

yeah, let's, let's share it.

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I do have a little announcement and

that is that I am having a studio sale.

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Coming up.

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I did advertise it to be starting

next Monday, the 21st of October,

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but I've decided to put that off.

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Uh, for another four weeks or so, just

so I can get a little bit more prepared.

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I have a whole bunch of cute

little roundabout, a five size

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mixed media works on paper.

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They're all the pieces that I created in

my experiments and samples with watercolor

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and colored pens and glitter pens.

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I really love them.

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I think they're gorgeous.

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That certainly make

beautiful little presents.

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They could fit into a frame.

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You could make them into cards.

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Good thing to think about

when Christmas is coming up.

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So yes, look out for that on my socials.

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And I am going to be releasing

that to my mailing list initially.

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So if you want to get first dibs

on these pieces, there'll be

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$35 35 Australian dollars each.

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And that includes postage.

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So make sure you're on my

mailing list and I'll make sure

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that link is in the show notes.

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If you want to have first

access to my studio sale.

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Coming up late November.

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Well, I hope that you have found that.

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At least entertaining.

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My ramblings.

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You might have figured out that today.

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I'm just talking off the cuff.

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Have in the past written out.

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Points of what I'm going to talk about.

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And today I just thought I'd sit down

and start talking and see how that goes.

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So I apologize if it's

a little bit rambly.

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Uh, let me know if you prefer

it a little bit more relaxed

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and conversational rather than.

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Um, Too formal.

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Love to know what you think.

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Send me a message.

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Okay.

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I hope you're all well, and

yet keep creative and I'll

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see you in the next episode.

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I hope you enjoyed this

episode of The Joyful Creative.

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If you did, be sure to subscribe

so you catch them every week.

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And if you can, please take a moment

to leave a review or share it with a

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friend so the podcast can reach more

people who need support and inspiration.

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Thanks for listening and keep creative.