Explore every episode of the podcast Watercolor Conversations with Cara Brown

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Fifteen years ago, five artists joined my first watercolor group. We painted on folding tables in the sanctuary of the sweet church I was part of at the time.  Two never came back. Three have never left. 

This episode is about what happens when we paint long enough, about what comes through our work, whether we realize it or not.  

It's also the introduction to a new series of conversations with some of my artists about their watercolor life, and why they stay. 

See the collages of the first few artists whose work I saw (or heard) their visual voices, and read the orgin of this whole idea:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/october-25-2016-visual-voice/.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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This is an accidental episode that came out of a conversation with my Claude.ai, of all things.  It used a word that sent me into my archive to an episode that gets at a mysterious aspect of art-making.  I take a stab at it, though it may not be something that can truely be put into words.  

The post that Claude's word sent me to is here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/april-19-2016-ordinary-sacred-stillness-every-painting/.  You can see the painting Douce that I describe here. 

I end with a teaser about episodes to come - actual watercolor conversations with other watercolorists!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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A tender episode about how we can look at big disappointments in life in a way that both allows our grief and loss - and mines the power in them - to live our lives  with meaning that we'd not have without the loss.  This is my story - my watercolor story, specifically. 

I'm a big fan of singer-songrwriter Sara Bareilles.  Immersing myself in her new album, Good Grief, sent me to a related post that I share in this episode.  Go to  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/june-9-2015-the-gift-in-our-unlived-life/, to read what I wrote and see the paintings that were in the big plastic bag under my bed. 

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Ten years ago I pulled an oracle card that gave me this edgy message - "destruction before creation."  At first I recoiled from it - no, not this one!  I invite you to hear how I soon found my way to the wisdom in it - and to how it's guiding my creative life again - right now.

The post that I landed on while cooking the vegetables I'd just picked from our garden is here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/june-28-2016-destruction-creation/ if you'd like to read.  

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Underneath the color, the water, the light, the composition — woven through it all— is ingredient we haven't expressly talked about.  You.

No matter how much experience you have, or how much success you've found, you are never NOT in your paintings.  There is only one of you that will ever exist in all of time. Only one person who can make the art you're here to make.

Learning to paint mostly isn't about the techniques. It's about becoming more yourself — and revealing that to the rest of us in what you make.  

This episode is my spiel about how precious it is that we do this thing, this making of paintings on watercolor paper - as only we each can.  

Thank you for being here. I'm so glad you're listening - and painting.

Cara Brown — Watercolorist — Teacher — lifeinfullcolor.com

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Composition!  It's a step back to consider what goes in and what doesn't, what variety to include, how elements relate to each other - and then how all of that will be bounded in shape and size.  I'm sharing my thoughts on how it is that consider all of this in my paintings - my process of composing a painting.  I don't follow rules, I don't even think too much.  It's a felt thing.  In case reflecting on my process is helpful, here it is!

The "round" painting I menonted in the episode is here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/gallery-available-originals/eternal/

Go to my website - below - to see the outcome of composing all my paintings over the years.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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We started this series with color. Now, with several episodes of painting experience behind us, we come back to it — and it looks different from here.

This episode draws from my second color workshop - where we limit the paints we work with.  I start with an idea that genuinely blew my mind when I first realized it:  the primary colors we all learned in grade school aren't the real primary colors.  

We also look at what happens when you deliberately limit your palette. I've painted with six paints, with four, and with just three. What I've found is that a limited palette doesn't just create harmony and cohesion in a painting — it grows you as a color mixer. 

And there's an exercise: invent colors in your head and try to mix them. Olive green. Straw gold. Terra cotta. Navy blue. Red wine. Sepia. It sounds simple. It's kind of mind-blowing. And it is how you actually learn to mix color — by doing it.

I periodically offer Color II - Limiting, Layering and Claiming Your Colors in person in the studio and live online.  You can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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My antidote for overwhelm.  If when faced with a complicated section of a painting, you've thought:  how on earth am I going to paint this? — this episode is for you.  It's the other half of the Making it Real pair of workshops.  

Painting detail isn't about special techniques or clever tools. For me it's more about strategies to stay with it, keep from trying to "organize" the detail in your reference, and paint just enough detail to make the point, but not so much it becomes distracting.  

I've found that crazy-detailed sections reveal themselves progressively — once you've painted something, the next steps become clearer. 

Here's Blush - a painting I mention in this epside:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/gallery-floral-still-life/blush-2/  It was the lower part of the right-hand peony that sent me on tilt.  

This is a workshop in my series Watercolor Basics and Beyond.  I plan to offer it in segments online coming soon. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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This episode is one half of the Making it Real  workshops from Watercolor Basics and Beyond. Creating volume — when it seems like you could reach out and actually grab the subjects of a painting.  

In order to do so, we make use of what I shared in the past three episodes.  Water and edges. Shape, shade, color. Light and dark. Soft backgrounds. All of it comes together here, helping our art to look like its subjects come off the paper!

Link to the painting Fascination, I mentined:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/gallery-available-originals/fascination/

This is a workshop in my series Watercolor Basics and Beyond.  I plan to offer it in segments online coming soon. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Besides "the light,"  a characteristic of my paintings are my out-of-focus backgrounds.  I'm asked often how to make this happen.  I this episode I share my thoughts - about working with the paint and brushes to make distinct shapes with soft edges.  it can be tricky!

They are more work than some artists want to put into the areas around their subjects, but I find them an important part of the story our paintings are telling.

This is a workshop in my series Watercolor Basics and Beyond.  I plan to offer it in segments online coming soon. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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The illusion of light in our paintings is a magical thing.  Using just contrast between dark and light  - and the subtleties of relative shades between, we can create a world.  In this episode, the forth in our series, hear how in response to a short question, I came up with the four aspects of how it is that I (at least) create worlds of light in my paintings. 

Includes ideas from a post orignally published under the same title "Painting the Light" on May 31, 2017 which can be found  here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/may-31-2017-painting-light/ 
This page includes photos of example paintings.

This is the second workshop in my series Watercolor Basics and Beyond.  I plan to offer it in segments online coming soon. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I made something for you!  My first intentional series of Watercolor Conversation episodes.  They are a visit to the ideas and information I share in my regular workshops.  Teaching from me - right here - for you to take on the go.

I arranged them in the same sequence that I teach - as a progression of what I have to say about making watercolor paintings in the way that I do.  For regular listeners, you'll find some of them familiar.  I've re-purposed existing episodes.  There are a number that are brand new, as well. 

You don't need to listen to them all at once, or in this order, even.  Of course, follow your own curiosity and inspiration.   I'm hoping they will accompany you when you want a little guidance, orientation and encouragement. 

I plan to offer a series of online, live workshops - coming soon.  If you want to be notified, signup to be on my email list on my website: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com 

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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In this next stop we head inside - our brains and our perception.  Our brains are brilliant shortcut machines — and when we're painting, that can get completely in the way. This episode is about how we see — or rather, how we can learn to see again, as if for the first time. 

Shape Shade Color is a practical strategy for those moments when you're stuck in front of a painting and your inner critic is picking apart what you've just painted. Have it help you figure out where to go next. 

This is the second workshop in my series Watercolor Basics and Beyond.  I plan to offer it in segments online coming soon. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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This is the second episode in this series - all about the water.  Watercolor isn't watercolor without water — and yet it's the water that trips most of us up. In this episode I share three principles I keep coming back to, what I think of as the physics of watercolor on paper. Once you understand them, so much of what this medium does starts to make sense.  

This is the first workshop in my series Watercolor Basics and Beyond.  I plan to offer it in segments online coming soon. If you'd like to be notified, you can sign up for my email newlsetters on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com, where you can also see all my art and the workshops I offer, incuding this one!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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We begin with color — not as a set of rules, but as a relationship.  I don't teach color theory, I teach color practice.  I can think of  no better way to start - especially if you are starting from scratch, than what I share here.

In this episode I share sections from two previously published episodes: The Two Faces of Color, which looks at color as an idea — abstract, personal, full of surprises — and Starting at the Beginning with Paint, which starts at that beginning place -  with a practical exercise:  swatching.

It's like a handshake, an introduction to a tube or pan of watercolor.  How can we really know until we see what it does mixed with water on paper?

I plan to offer the Get Intimate Workshop online in the next few months.  If you'd like to be notified, you can signup for my email list here:  http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com - where you can also see the description of that workshop and the others I offer.  

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I take a bit of a departure in this episode.  I share my thoughts about a poem called "Mameen" by David Whyte.  When I first read it, this poem reflected for me the remarkable life of my friend Vicki - Dr. Victoria Bentley - and the courage and freedom she lived inside.  

Vicki passed away recently, which brought this poem back to me again.  I'm sharing it with you, in memory and appreciation of my dear friend who accompanied me in the early stages of painting, showing my work and teaching.  I'm not sure how Life in Full Color would have come to be without her.  I will be forever grateful.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I share the outcome of this past summer's 92 Days of Watercolor and a project I embarked upon to paint more loosely.  I was inspired by a long-ago painting that came back to me.  The idea came to me that I could paint eleven more paintings in a similar style and make a mini calendar out of them.  When I recorded this I had only painted four of them and was uncertain about the outcome.  

I finished the paintings and put together a small calendar I call "Momentos."  You can see - and purchase for yourself if you like - on my website:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/2026-mini-calendar/.

The painting that I found so hard ended up the October image.  

Here are the other two paintings I mentioned:

Blue Door:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/gallery-other-flowers/blue-door-2/

Returning:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/gallery-available-originals/returning/

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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In this episode I share how I find continued value in the way Iain McGilchrist's book The Master and His Emissary reframed my understanding of our left and right brains - not only as it applies to our creative process and working with our craft, but how it can guide us in how we work with artificial intelligence.  No doubt it will be a major aspect of our future.    

My original post that inspired this is here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/january-19-2016-left-and-right-brain-not-what-we-thought/

I tell of  a painting and its evolution, which you can see here:  

https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/january-5-2016-the-story-of-a-painting-and-a-video/

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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In this - a little bit longer episode - I share the story behind writing my interpretation of The Beatitudes - eight ancient teachings -  for those of us who dare to create.  My wish is to support us in creating with our singular vision and voice.  Then, I share each of the eight Beatitudes.

It's a combination of three consecutive journal entries, the first of which I called Supremely Blessed.  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/april-26-2017-supreme-blessings/.  You can see the painting I called Beatitude here too.

The teachings themselves start at minute 7:50, if you'd like to jump right there.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Here's an art-making-oriented episode - a practical one. I'm sharing my thoughts on how it is that I decide the form of my paintings - my process of composing a painting.  I don't follow rules, I don't even think too much.  It's a felt thing.  

In case reflecting on my process is helpful, here it is!

There's no post on my (now new!) website about this. And, you can go there to see all the results of my composing paintings over the years!

www.lifeinfullcolor.com

The "round" painting I've done is here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/gallery-available-originals/eternal/

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Doing all this myself, this was bound to happen.  A big silent space ended up right in the middle.  It's now fixed.  

I'm sharing this one again, with a short intro and update on an interaction I had with the mailman that I mentioned in the original episode.  

I felt the need to hear this message today. Here it is on the top of the stack in case you want to hear it - or hear it again - too.  

This is a calendar time-specific episode, though the ideas are applicable for any time in life.  I wrote a journal entry in the spring of 2016 when I was in a place of sorrow that coinsided with Holy Week - between Palm Sunday and Easter.  I drew upon something I'd learned about a day that isn't talked about - Easter Saturday - for solace and for the reminder, the permission to honor my time of grief.   Having a creative practice is a form of the light of love that can transform our suffering.  

My original writing, and a the painting I had just finished that was meaningful for me - to this time - can be found here:  https://https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-22-2016-easter-saturday.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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We get crucial life-fuel from what lights us up.  I am here to say that doing what brings us alive is worth the effort to carve out time for.  This episode was inspired by a recent experience where I felt this kind of energy - and it reminded me of a journal post I wrote in April of 2016.  

https://lifeinfullcolor.com/journal/art-life-stories/april-5-2016-brings-us-alive/

Here you'll find my words and the photos of Lenore, Sue and I - and the beauty in the gardens of Filoli that took our breath from us.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.  Very soon (after putting this episode out there) this will be a whole NEW site!!!! 

When it does launch I will put the links here to the two paintings that I reference in this episode.  My current site won't let me link to one specific painting - part of why it's being replaced! 

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I get really practical in this episode.  I share with you the very best way to start out your watercolor experience - as well a great exercise if you've been painting forever and what is in all those tubes is still somewhat a mystery.

Get Intimate with Color is a workshop I teach - and there is one coming up on January 25-26 - in person, in the studio in Novato, CA.  If you are local, or able to come to the Bay Area then, I invite you to join in and do the exercise with me in real life!

Happy painting everyone!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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A recording I made in the swirl of uncertainty that so many of us humans are feeling at this time.  Speaking for myself - I'm compelled to know - to understand, to be able to predict what will happen.  It's a comfort.  In this episode I take a look at the flip side - the wisdom in being in the place of "I don't know."

I reference a journal post from September of 2016.  You can read what  wrote here:
https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/july-26-2016-wisdom-not-knowing/
I
Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I just discovered a recording I made - and then in the swirl of my life this past summer, I completely forgotten about.  It was late one night and I was in the car with the dog, while waiting at the emergency. I was prompted to share it here after reading a Facebook post from my dear friend Betsy Graziani Fasbinder about the lifecycle of butterflies.

Just before recording I read about an aspect of this creature's makeup that I found fascinating - and applicable to human unfolding:  imaginal cells. 

This episode stands on its own without a journal post on my website.  However, I came across one whose ideas are adjacent to those I talk about here.  It seems nature has similar processes that impact life and life cycles.  "Destruction Before Creation" can be read here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/june-28-2016-destruction-creation.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Recorded early one morning while on vacation at the end of a supercharged summer, sitting on the shores of Lake Tahoe.  A rare moment of solitude on vacation, shared with you, including reflections on my experience of committing to paint every day the summer of 2024.

In this episode I refer to a post, written at the end of 2016, when I shared my thoughts at end of a year-long commitment to paint.  You can read it here:
https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/dev/life-stories/december-27-2016-futureless-moment/.

You can see the sketchy, loose paintings that accompanied me the late evenings many nights this summer, online here:
https://www.facebook.com/cara.brown.75033
Or
https://www.facebook.com/LifeinFullColor
Or
On Instagram: fullcolorcara.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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A short-ish episode to update you on how my 92 Days of Watercolor are going, amidst a life that suddenly became very full of everything else besides art. 

While recording the previous episode I was inspired to spontaneously make a commitment to paint every day the summer of 2024 - and invite others to join me.  Check it out on my Facebook pages:  Cara Brown and Life in Full Color - join the Facebook Group:  92 Days of Watercolor if you like too.  I'm also on Instagram: fullcolorcara.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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In this episode I share some fresh thoughts about something that I was left wondering about at the time I was writing my online journal every week.  Something came to me early one morning that I jumped out of bed to share.  

It's the interplay and intersection between two ideas - creative confidence and commitment.  While recording I was inspired to spontaneously make a commitment to paint every day the summer of 2024 - and invite others to join me.  Check it out on my Facebook pages:  Cara Brown and Life in Full Color - and on Instagram: fullcolorcara

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Another episode exploring the challenge of time and attention for our creative work in our lives.  I take the "both-and" point of view in debates.  We do need to corral ourselves to get to our studios, *and* there are natural rhythms that directs all of life on earth.  What if we learn to really pay attention to ourselves and follow our inner direction?

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Trusting your own rhythm"  on March 1, 2017, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-1-2017-trusting-rhythm/" if you'd like to read what I wrote, and see the chart I made of my productivity!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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This is a calendar time-specific episode, though the ideas are applicable for any time in life.  I wrote a journal entry in the spring of 2016 when I was in a place of sorrow that coinsided with Holy Week - between Palm Sunday and Easter.  I drew upon something I'd learned about a day that isn't talked about - Easter Saturday - for solace and for the reminder, the permission to honor my time of grief.   Having a creative practice is a form of the light of love that can transform our suffering.  

My original writing, and a the painting I had just finished that was meaningful for me - to this time - can be found here:  https://https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-22-2016-easter-saturday.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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What is beauty - how is it part of life on earth?  And most importantly what is its impact on us - and does it matter?  These are the questions I ponder and muse upon in this episode.  

The story of the restorative weekend that I told  in this epsode  came from this post: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/my-art-and-process/august-16-2016-just-make-beauty.  It's where you can see a little photo collage in bright summer color - and read the whole story.  

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I took inspiration from something that Martha Graham famously said.  Humans can be blessed by a certain unrest, by an inner disturbance, of sorts, that causes us to take action to make stuff happen in the world.  It had me clean up my studio, and it keeps me making one new piece of art after the next.  It also causes us to do all kinds of things, like tending to some aspect of brokenness in our beautiful world.   

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Blessed Unrest"  on September 27, 2017, which is here: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/september-27-2017-blessed-unrest/,  if you'd like to read what I wrote and see a photo of my cleaned-up home studio.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I'm here to support and encourage each of us to follow our own breadcrumbs towards our art.  There are strong opinions about whether or not making art based on photos ought to be done.  As with all aspects of art-making whether or not to use photos is up to each of us.  

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Photos or life - we get to decide"  on February 9, 2016, which is here: https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/february-9-2016-photos-life-get-decide,  if you'd like to read what I wrote and see some photos that give a peek into my Photoshop editing process.

It was also inspired by a journal entry at the same time as I recorded this episode, where I show a few of my early paintings along with their reference images. https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/my-art-and-process/paintings-and-the-images-they-came-out-of-november-14-2023

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I'm trying something different with this episode.  I thought I'd offer some "how it works" insights I have about the very basics of watercolor - the water!  There isn't a journal post from my website to point you to with the same general message.  

Though some of the ideas that I share I first wrote about in a post on painting "fuzzy backgrounds" on June 14, 2017. https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/june-14-2017-learning-paint-fuzzy/
I hope you enjoy!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Focusing - in order to get stuff done - is more natural for some of us than others.  In this episode I take a look at how this is and offer a point of view for those of us who lack the natural abiltiy to easily shut out the world - and the gift in this way of being.

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "When it's hard to focus"  on July 12, 2017, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/july-12-2017-hard-focus/" if you'd like to read what I wrote.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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The story behind the environment that has been created through gathering with watercolor artists and students  over these past dozen years - and how surrounding ourselves with this kind of support impacts the art we make.

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Like Potatoes on Mars"  on April 12, 2016, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/april-12-2016-like-potatoes-mars/" if you'd like to read what I wrote.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Examining the "why" that has us do whatever we do is an interesting and potenitally powerful exercise.  I look at this idea with regard to what drives my/our painting efforts - with a little Henry Miller thrown in for fun and inspiration!

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Why make art?"  on March 29, 2017, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-29-2017-why-make-art" if you'd like to read what I wrote.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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In this episode I explore the relationship between our inner and outer rooms - that is the space inside that holds aspects of ourselves - especially our creative parts - and the places outside where we actually do our creating.  It's about creating and claiming space for what we are called to do.

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "A room of one's own"  on September 20, 2017, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/september-20-2017-room-ones/" if you'd like to read what I wrote and see photos of Sue's studio.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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I am a let's-get-personal-kind-of-person.  I am oriented subjectively - in pretty much all aspects of my life - but this is especially so in my art-making life.  In this episode I make the case for giving ourselves the permission to get as personal as we are so inclined in the how and what of our art.  This is the only way we can really speak with our visual voice.

This eposide was inspired by a post that I published under the title "Painting the truth"  on March 15, 2017, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-15-2017-getting-personal/" if you'd like to read what I wrote and see the images that I refer to.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Two incidents, two days in a row had me go looking for something I'd written, and wisdom I'd shared from other sources, that reminded me of the full story behind the protestations that arose in me from each of these two interactions.  This one has to do with whether or not we intentionally imbue our creations with messages, emotions, etc - and ultimately simply appreciating the magic of how our art is received by others.

All of this was in a post that I published under the title "Painting the truth"  on May 17, 2017, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/may-17-2017-painting-truth/" if you'd like to read what I wrote - and to see the paintings that I refer to in this episode.  

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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It's been a busy, distracted and chaotic-feeling year so far. And I've not been painting much at all!  I went searching through my posts for inspiration and wisdom that *I* needed to hear in this moment to get re-connected with my painting-self.  I need a reminder of how it can be when painting is a heart-centered devotion, rather than something to check off the list.

I found the reminder in a post that I published under the title "Fine tuning my promise to paint every day"  on March 8, 2016, which is here: "https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-8-2016-fine-tuning-my-promise-to-paint-every-day" if you'd like to read what I wrote.  

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...is where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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The illusion of light in our paintings is a magical thing.  Using just contrast of and dark and the subtleties of relative lights and darks in between, we can create a world.  In this episode, hear how in response to a short question, I came up with the four aspects of how it is that I (at least) create worlds of light in my paintings. 

Includes ideas from a post orignally published under the same title "Painting the Light" on May 31, 2017 which can be found  here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/may-31-2017-painting-light/ 
This page includes photos of example paintings  and it's where you can read what I originally wrote.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Color!  It's such a *deal* for those of us who make art.  It can variously be an obsession,  a challenge, a tool -  as well as a source of fear and/or curiosity.  I posit that each of us has some kind of relationship with it.   I myself am a self-professed color nerd and daily appreciator of it in my life.   

In this episode I explore at least two aspects of color - our personal and unique relationship with it and the realities of working with it in the real world, in the process of making art.  

Includes ideas from a post orignally published under the same title "The Two Faces of Color" on June 17, 2017 which can be found  here:  https://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/june-7-2017-two-faces-color/  
This page includes photos of example paintings  and it's where you can read what I originally wrote.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Yes! We are related to our creations - our paintings for those of us who paint.  I outline some of the stages in these relationships in an amusing - but true - way.  And, I explore the practice and the value of the standard art critique - and how much it honors these relationships.

Includes ideas from a post orignally published under the title "Our love affairs with our paintings" on August 30, 2016 here:  http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/august-30-2016-love-affairs-paintings/ where you can see photos of example paintings  and read what I wrote.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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How I came to understand just what kind of artist I am - and let go of any idea that I'm not a real artist - for all those who are journalist-artists too!

Orignally published under the title "I am a journalist!" on September 15, 2015 here:  http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/september-15-2015-i-am-a-journalist/ where you can see photos and read what I wrote.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing.

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Hear about the role that work and the energy to do work plays out in our lives and art-making - and learn a word in Croatian!

Orignally published under the title "Renewing my Appreciation for Work" on March 17, 2015 here:  http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/march-17-2015-renewing-my-appreciation-for-work/

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing

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What I've come to believe about painting, learning, pursuing a creative endeavor - a little longer episode, with a couple of personal anecdotes.

Originally published on my website under "About My Teaching"  here:  http://http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/about/my-teaching/

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing

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How inner and outer criticism plays in our creating - and in our relationships.  

Orignally published under the title "On the way to Hallelujah" on October 28, 2014 here:  http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/october-28-2014-on-the-way-to-hallelujah
which includes pictures!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing

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Are we selling ourselves short by limiting how we define the word talent?  What if it's not what we usually think?

Originally published under the title "Firsts, beginnings, starting out" on October 21, 2014 here:  http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/october-21-2014-firsts-beginnings-starting-out
which has pictures!

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing

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A revisit of my very first public writing!  Hear the wise message of patience I discovered in a tree that could be centuries old.  

Originally published under the title "The Old Oak Tree" on October 1, 2014 here:  http://www.lifeinfullcolor.com/life-stories/october-1-2014-the-old-oak-tree
which includes photos of the tree.

Cara Brown - Watercolorist - Teacher - www.lifeinfullcolor.com
...where you can find all my paintings, workshop offerings and the entire archive of my writing