In today’s episode (Part 1), I sat down with several of my artist members for a heartfelt conversation about something many creatives quietly experience — the life of a lonely artist.

We spoke openly about imposter syndrome (because it keeps resurfacing), painting by yourself, and what it truly means to call yourself an artist — even if it’s “just” a hobby.

We explored:
• How to get started when you feel stuck
• What to do when life feels grey
• Why live workshops may not work for everyone
• Starting your own art group
• Finding a safe creative community
• How to rise up and paint when confidence is low

This conversation only scratches the surface. In future episodes, we’ll continue unpacking what it means to pursue art in a way that feels authentic, sustainable, and supportive.

If you’ve ever questioned whether you belong as a watercolor artist — this conversation is for you.

More episodes you might enjoy

When You Feel Stuck: How to Begin Anyway

Online school, courses, and creative path

In this episode, I share a short segment from my Nature’s Abstraction (Yellow Rose & Calla Lily six-week course), exploring how intuition can guide composition in floral abstraction.

Rather than planning or arranging elements in advance, we look at how to listen for what the painting needs — noticing movement, balance, and where the energy wants to settle. This approach allows composition to emerge naturally, through awareness and response rather than rules.

If you’ve ever felt unsure about where to place forms, when to stop adjusting, or how to trust your instincts, this episode offers a gentler way forward — one that values curiosity, observation, and letting go of control.

A link to learn more about the full Nature’s Abstraction course is included for those who’d like to continue exploring this way of painting.

Feeling stuck can make even the smallest step feel overwhelming. In this episode, we talk about why getting started feels so hard—and how to gently remove the obstacles that keep you frozen in place. This isn’t about pushing harder or forcing motivation. It’s about understanding what’s in the way, softening the resistance, and finding a simple, honest way forward.

In this conversation, I sit down with student Gloria Andison to talk about her journey painting the Northern Lights in watercolor. Gloria shares how she transitioned from acrylic to watercolor, what it took to let go of control, and how learning to paint with atmosphere helped her express light, mood, and movement more freely.

We talk about trusting water, embracing softness, and finding confidence through an expressive approach to landscape painting. This is a thoughtful, inspiring conversation for artists interested in atmosphere, emotion, and growth in watercolor. This conversation reflects ideas explored in my Atmospheric Landscapes course, which focuses on light, mood, and expressive simplicity in watercolor.

Website     Facebook Page 

First get rid of the expecations of what you do in the studio, and be willing to learn a lot about creativity, focus and a get ready to have some fun, consider Plein air painting. 

Here easle I used is a Traveler Series Watercolor Package click here

View the Beach painting demo on Youtube

Online courses

Join the mailing list on my Home website

Instagram

Based on my "Fearless flowers" courses, in this episode, we explore when painting how to get out of your comfort zone, and grow to be more bold and dynamic.

In the Fearless Flowers series, both the interactive and independent study options are available. For immediate access to any of the lessons I suggest the independent study option, full courses

Single lessons

Schedule of interactive courses

Join my mailing list, courses, brushes and more at www.birgitoconnor.com

Today were talking about what if you’re doing a painting and use photos that someone else took as your reference material, can you use it for a show, can you sell it, can you claim it as your own?

Are you using your artistic vision or copying an image?

What if you took a class and are inspired by the instructor, and use their lesson and reference material, is it now yours?

Is there a subject matter that you would like to hear about? Drop us a line and let us know 

Online courses

Join the mailing list

Pushing through the fear.

Do you feel the need to always be perfect?

What kind of artist do you want to be?

Do you want to have the control you want over your brushstrokes, and if you don’t it can depend on the brush and the amount of water it’s holding?

Are your paintings to weak and wimpy, and are you afraid of the darks? Try to relax and think of every painting as an experiment.

We will be looking at a few white flower paintings and talking about the brushstrokestrokes, background and where do you want to direct the viewers eye?

How to get the wobble out of the paper, try ironing it.

Framing options

When painting on a half sheet size painting 15"x22" the standard size frame I usually use is a standard 22"x28".

The standard mat never seems to work as well so I have mine custom.

You can go to your local craft store or framer for more information or custom frames, which can be pricy.

I was looking online for online frame options, and the standard frame size can work but again, I'm not sure if the online mat option is as good as custom cut.

I like Cheap Pete's but they don't ship the larger size frames

Here are some online companies you can try, but you may want to call them before ordering.

ArtoFrame

Picture Frames

Website  www.birgitoconnor.com

Online courses Watercolor courses

The course we reviewed today was from the interactive 6-week course

Interactive white flower (runs in sessions) 

Independent study

Sometimes it’s difficult to get started and paint again, it can be because of some life circumstance, the holidays, or we're just not inspired.  Not everyone enjoys the isolation of the studio or is a self-motivated artist, some enjoy painting with other artists, especially watercolor.

With the pandemic, many people haven’t felt creative and have been absolutely paralyzed, so what are some of the things you can do, let’s talk about it.

 If you’re interested in taking an online course, or joining “Watercolor in Motion” take a look at my upcoming schedule on my website or go directly to my school 

In this episode, we discuss the approach of painting a cluster of Monarch Butterflies.

We will be covering what you might think might be a failure could be an incredible abstraction, along with paper surfaces and color mingling.

Online Courses

Website 

Monarch Butterfly Mug 

Monarch Tote bag

Values help to invite the viewer into the painting, so in today's episode we are having a discussion about why they are important, to help create a push pull effect and prevent paintings from looking flat.