April + May 2019
Hello friends. It’s been a busy spring and although I meant to send an email a month, April got away from me with a trip to California and spring break and Easter and now HERE WE ARE. So, here’s the April-May email.
I quietly (silently) celebrated Three Letter Birds’ FIFTH anniversary on April 18th. I’ve been in a weird emotional/mental health/creative state for a while and I just didn’t have the oomph to really make a big deal about it. But here I am telling you, my favorite people, about it.
This month’s email is going to be all about art and creativity. I hope that it will touch you in some way, even if you don’t consider yourself an “artist” necessarily. Believe it or not, I didn’t consider myself an artist a mere five and a half years ago. Truth be told, I still have a hard time calling myself that. One of my favorite quotes about art is from Liz Gilbert in her book, Big Magic, “I have never created anything in my life that did not make me feel, at some point or another, like I was the guy who just walked into a fancy ball wearing a homemade lobster costume.” LIZ GILBERT. The Eat, Pray, Love lady. Feels like a guy in a homemade lobster costume EVERY TIME SHE MAKES SOMETHING.
In just a minute I’m going to tell you about:
- The humble beginnings of Three Letter Birds
- The different ways and reasons I feel like my work has evolved over the years
- How to get started if you’re feeling like you just can’t
- My favorite art and lettering things
Few people may know that I can be a pretty impulsive person. I quickly let my daydreams spiral, scan all of the available choices, and then make a very quick decision. So, basically, I can hardly remember my decision-making process to open an Etsy shop; it all happened very fast. On April 18th, 2014 I opened my shop and received one VERY meaningful order: a custom print from my first college roommate and dear friend to write Howard Thurman’s quote about “Coming Alive” (a quote still available in my shop today). I didn’t use a print shop. I had no packing materials. I made prints to order by hand. I wrote my business name by hand on stickers I bought at Paper Source. I wrapped my prints in wax paper from my kitchen.
I just kept figuring it all out. I learned almost all of my lessons by experience. I finally figured out it was cheaper and WAY EASIER to order shipping labels from Etsy and print them at home than to HANDWRITE PEOPLE’S ADDRESSES AND STAND IN LINE AT THE POST OFFICE. I slowly invested in more professional branding materials like stickers and a stamp and business cards. I Googled and YouTubed EVERYTHING. I subscribed to Adobe and taught myself how to use Illustrator and Photoshop on Google and Skillshare. I picked up little helpful lessons here and there and just kept adding them to my toolbox.
In January of 2018, post- WHIRLWIND holiday season after being on Jen Hatmaker’s podcast, I needed to BREATHE. I committed the year to learning more about and practicing the craft of lettering and really saw my style evolve. I compiled all of the things I love about the whimsy of Lindsay Letters and the genuine real-ness of Emily McDowell and the vintage hand-lettered charm of Mary Kate McDevitt and so many other of my muses and created so many pieces last year that I’m so, SO proud of.
I hit a major slump in January of 2019. My seasonal depression seems to be worsening year-by-year with age. And it’s been difficult slowly walking down the peak of a Jen-Hatmaker-induced professional mountain and trying to figure out WHAT NOW? I’ve committed this year to deeply submerging myself in creative pursuits. Reading more. Learning to paint. Writing. Making art for fun for people I love. It’s kind of launched me into an existential crisis of being an artist versus being a brand. And figuring out if it’s possible for me to be both. I hope it is.
Writing feels like a huge white light yanking me towards it like a small, helpless bug. I so badly want to create lettered work that is meaningful and original. I am not a writer. But I want to be. And although I’m a terribly impatient person and have historically mostly stuck to pursuits that I am good at IMMEDIATELY, I’m practicing. And so, here I am. Practicing. Mostly feeling like I suck. But loving it all too much to quit just yet.
Want to learn how to suck at things, but practice anyway, like me? Keep reading below about some of my favorite art things!
First things first: If you are not familiar with Austin Kleon’s work, then buy his books immediately. They are quick and fun and interesting but also SUPER HELPFUL AND STRANGELY PROFOUND. If any of you saw my post about switching to separate digital and analogue desks, THAT IS HIS BRILLIANCE AND IT HAS BEEN A GAME CHANGER. Secondly, my absolute favorite lettering artist is a woman named Mary Kate McDevitt. She has so many wonderful books and things out in the world and, chances are, you’ve seen her lettering somewhere before- in magazines, on book covers, etc. My oldest, trustiest, favoritest book by her is called Hand Lettering Ledger. It’s a really fun primer on the art of hand lettering. If you’ve never tried it before, but you’ve always wanted to, I highly recommend her book- it’s the cutest.
Thirdly, I feel like I’ve mentioned it so many times before, but I still talk to people who have never heard of it before, so I thought it was worth mentioning again: I LOVE SKILLSHARE. It’s an online learning community (with a pretty low yearly subscription) where you can take virtual classes (at your own pace and WITHOUT OTHER PEOPLE) on a variety of creative and business topics from other creatives around the country. Highly recommend. And finally, I’ve begun to dabble in watercolor painting. It is easily my most unsuccessful creative pursuit to date. But I keep on trying. I started with Jenna Rainey’s Everyday Watercolor and have loved the short, simple daily lessons (although I tend to do them every few days).
I hope, so badly, that if you’ve been dying to get creative in some way (or in a new way) that you’ll just pick something and try it. My most helpful mental trick lately has been to make things to give away to friends and family. It keeps me making things everyday and helps me release the things that I think are messy or mistake-filled because I get to seal them in an envelope and make them go away. And then other people never think your work is as bad as you do and EVERYONE likes to get fun things in the mail. It’s a win all around. So pick a thing, buy a book (or not, but that’s usually my next step), and make some things for some people.
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