My Creative Journey So Far...

Hey Everyone

Today I am brushing up on my newsletter workflow to include a little discount on my printshop and introduce myself and my creative journey.

As I was writing and then checking the post in Grammarly (anyone else uses this? It saved my butt so much for writing!) I realised it's a post I'd like to keep somewhere. A story of my journey to this creative place narrowed down into a few paragraphs.

I was inspired to do this because when I signed up for Ray Dodds's newsletter, her welcome email included the story of her business journey, and it moved me so much that I replied (I don't think I've ever replied to a newsletter!) and told her how much hearing that meant to me. Knowing someone else reached the very bottom and then built themselves back up again feels a lot less lonely. For those who've been there, I know you'll understand that feeling.

If you already know this story no need to read on. I'm even reluctant to post this here as so many of you already know the tale. It's sort of a 'overcoming the monster' meets 'rags to riches' story arc (for my ‘The Seven Basic Plots’ fans) , where creativity triumphs, saving the day.

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2018 was … how do I put this… a life-changing year for me.

Imagine the juiciest storyline in a TV show, I was (unwantedly) thrown into the centre of one of those, but instead of it being made up for dramatical effect, it was my life, which, as you can imagine, left me with several big crossroad decisions. One of those decisions was around my creative practice because it had disappeared whilst I picked up the pieces. (If you'd like a little bit more info on this stage of my life, I've spoken about it in this episode of The Sneaky Artist Podcast and this episode of The Goodship Illustration Podcast)

I had to decide if I should return to my creative work or give up entirely. At the time, I was lecturing at Plymouth University on the wonderful Illustration course - was time to commit to full-time teaching? Or to quit everything, move back home to Worcestershire, and find a job in hospitality; my previous jobs had been in pubs, and I'd enjoyed that. I want to say this was an easy decision, but it wasn't. It didn't feel immediately obvious which road to take. Art and creating had been my passion for years, but I'd never really made money from it, and now being solely responsible for all the bills, I was trying to stay level-headed and sensible. But if I listened, really really really listened, I could hear that tiny voice in my head telling me I could do this, that following the creative path was the right choice, so I listened.

I asked myself when the last time I'd been truly happy with my drawing; what moment from the previous ten years had stood out as a moment of "I love this", and I was transported back to sitting in the Giraffe house in London Zoo, drawing as part of my observational project on the Childrens Book Illustration MA in Cambridge. The project was six weeks of purely observational drawing, so I decided to set myself the same project again, six weeks to draw on location and then see what happened. No harm in trying, right?

Drawings from London Zoo 2012/2013

Six weeks turned into six months, and then very quickly, we were at the end of the year, 2019 looming; what would I do now? At this point, I still wasn't making any money, but I had surrounded myself with the most supportive creative community on Instagram, mainly fueled by Helen Stephens hashtag #walktosee. The plan was always to go "back to work" after this period of drawing, but there was no work to go back to. By this point, I'd closed my Etsy shop, sold my Kiln (did I mention I was making pottery before this?) and left my picture book agent. No projects were waiting for me, and my lecturing job (still just a few days a week) juuussttttt covered the bills (a period of my life when I lived in my overdraft).

So I decided to keep going; drawing on location helped me rediscover what I loved. I enjoyed being in nature, I remembered how connected I was as a child to being outdoors, I grew more confident (both in myself and my work), and people started asking to buy pieces I made. By December 2019, I was making a profit from my work through a print shop, and I still hold these prints so close to my heart. They are prints inspired by finding myself again, with the sea breeze in my hair, watching the sunset, feeling like I'd finally found where home was, rediscovering my creativity and that feeling of togetherness.

Over the last three years, my creative journey has grown and changed; I run an amazing Patreon, which is a space for others to discover their creative practices and journeys, supported by the most wonderful and thoughtful Patreons. A publisher approached me, and we worked together on a really special book 'What do you See When You Look at a Tree?" which recently won an award (actually my first illustration award!! My previous being an under 11's football award in 2000/2001! Still proudly on display on my bookshelf) Last year I self-published a book, which includes ALL my sketchbook drawings, even the ones from my tentative 2018 drawing trips, which you can check out here. I've exhibited my work worldwide and am hosting retreats across Europe and still squeezing in every chance to go and draw on location in Devon and Cornwall. 

I could easily keep going and tell you more, but let's pause here. If you want to know more, please check out my Patreon, it's full of resources to help you on your creative path, and I also share much more about my work. If you are in a similar place right now, the best advice I can give you is to keep going, keep drawing, trust the process and give your art the time and space it needs. You've got this.

Emma x