People will give you all sorts of things. Advice. Old things from their house. Stories. Heavy things. It's easy to feel like you need to keep all that. But you don't. You choose what to keep.
A Beaulieu Studio Tour!
Dusty and I have become pretty smitten with this little town of Woodstock, GA. We are renting the house I grew up in from my parents. It's a pretty good arrangement for the time being. A constant mix of new experiences and nostalgic moments. We're dreaming of our next space. (What will it look like? Where will it be?!) But sometimes, in all that dreaming you can miss the good things that are right in front of you. One thing I love about this house is all the little nooks we have carved out for our art. We've converted the sun porch into a screen printing studio with a little work table for what ever projects we happen to be working on.
Growing up, my mom used the sun porch as our dining room for a while and then as her studio for jewelry making. I had a little desk in there too! She let me tape things to the window. It was a pretty magical space and I spent a lot of time writing and painting in there.
It has the most perfect light and looks out into the forest that surround the back of the house. It's really beautiful.
Dusty and I recently reorganized the space to make a little more room for screen printing. Originally it was our studio for everything, but recently we've been focusing more and more. Hard to do when you love so much. Dusty has such a knack for fixing things and understanding how things work. I feel like he could solve just about any puzzle. (Good candidate for a fixer upper, no!?)
The studio has a door leading to the wrap around deck. So many great moments have been shared back there. It's a great little place to grill out and chat. All of our parties seem to spill out to the deck, even in the winter when it's freezing cold.
Murphy is pretty fond of his "backyard" too. He hangs out, patrols and tends to bark at anything that moves.
We are excited to one day buy our first home together, but this one ain't too shabby. We have plenty of space for our art experiments, guests and parties. It's pretty incredible to think of how much has happened here in this house. It's really special and I'm thankful to be able to live here again as a grown up. What's your studio like?
Photography by the beautiful Angie Webb. Hair and Makeup by the incredibly kind and encouraging Renee Locher.
Summer Rhythms
I seem to fall back into the rhythms of overcommitment so easily. After a relatively peaceful and smooth summer, August is storming in with an extra long to do list and a slew of emails. I honestly can’t complain. 98% of the things I do are fun, and I get to do them with great people. (#blessed) Even so, I see my calendar filling up quickly and I can’t help but feel a little squirmy. I loved the relaxed pace of summer. Fall brings a rush, and I’m not quite sure I want to dive in head first yet.
When I first started working on Mad & Dusty full time, I had confused actual productivity with the feeling that all the things were constantly hitting the fan. I suddenly wasn’t rushed or frantic, and I felt I was getting nothing done. I started sleeping better, and worried that everything wasn’t happening fast enough. There had been so many sleepless nights, zombie like date nights, and just all out terrible days before. When things started settling into a more natural pace, I had this sinking feeling that I wasn’t being productive. I was terrified to slow down.
Now, I’m honestly a little scared to speed up. Things are different now. Now I know that accomplishing things is not synonymous with glorified work stress or a big paycheck. Accomplishing things looks more like a client hosting a successful fundraiser or the courage and tools to make a big ask. Accomplishing things is an email being thoughtfully written and sent during work hours. Accomplishments are cooking dinner, going on bike rides and laughing at Pokemon Go with Dusty. Painting, writing and having open space - all huge accomplishments.
As things heat back up, I’m working to find peace and preserve open space in the small things: a short walk between design projects, chocolate breaks, and even sleeping in a little later these days. My priorities are in a different order. My frame of success is a little different too. I’m excited to see how these things make this busy season different from last years busy season. I know how easy it will be to revert to old patterns, but I feel like this slow summer has fortified me. Let’s see how it goes!
How to Build a Practice Around Your Creative Work
Let me talk with you about a maker's dilemma.
Starting a project, brainstorming, building mood boards on Pinterest - super fun. The edits, revisions, tweaking, and translating feedback - not always super fun. When you get down to it, the work that pays your bills and feeds your dog, is not always what your creative mind wants to do.
You can treat this like a battle and feel anger towards any client who dares to interrupt your creative process with emails. Or fight the part of you that needs to make things late into the night. You can try to work/life balance it all to death. Or maybe, just maybe, you can make this work for you.
As a maker, you have control over your process. Unless you're in art school, there is no one telling you how/when/where/what. Someone might make suggestions, but those are just suggestions. It is up to you to grasp the freedom of your craft.
I try not to fight my mind. I take her to the playground. Every morning before work I spend 1 or 2 hours drawing, reading, dreaming, and writing. This is the hour that I build my creative practice. Just like a kid, my creative mind is able to release any excess energy or tension.
I find I am much more focused and disciplined with myself after "my practice hour." I am able to relax into the work. I look forward to the steady even keel of a day spent working on graphic design.
