I knew I'd missed the boat

…7 years without painting ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Hello {NAME}, If you want to be an artist, you need to: - spend a lifetime mastering the skills - have a beautiful, dedicated studio space to work from - create every day, for hours, producing gallery-worthy artwork Right? Wrong, wrong and wrong. But for the 7 years when I stopped painting, something deep within me believed all of that. I felt I’d missed the boat and I couldn’t become an artist. I'd loved being creative when I was younger, but I was caught up in the demands of being an adult. I had a full time job, people in my life to take care of, and laundry to do. By the time I’d got home each day, cooked dinner and unwound, I was too exhausted to think about making art. That all changed when my garden ignited my creativity. 💥 Once I created something from soil, seeds, water, and sun… I realised I wanted to create something that captured nature on paper. It started as a whim. I just wanted to see if I could do it. (I'd enjoyed painting at school, so felt it was possible). Of course my first attempts weren't great. I was very rusty. But it felt so good to be trying. Somehow, I felt more alive. And as I began to paint, I became more and more enthralled by the beauty of the nature subjects I was capturing - even when I had picked them up from the fruit & veg section of the supermarket! Every time I sat down to paint after a long day of work, I could see my skills growing. Each painting looked better than the last. Before this, I had the idea that there was no point doing ANY painting, unless I could set aside whole days at a time for it. When I finally started looking for bits of time that were ‘good enough’ to paint, I found pockets of it everywhere. I was making art, and painting regularly. Where before I’d been feeling the ache of unfulfilled creativity, I now felt a burning desire to capture the beauty of nature on my paper as often as I could. This energised me to get up earlier in the mornings and fit in 30 minutes of painting before work. 🕓 It felt like an amazing way to start each day, knowing that no matter what else came up, I’d already given time to the activity that lit me up. And setting up my paints at the dining room table became my favourite way to unwind in the evenings too. Here I was, back in 2006 at my dining table, starting to explore my creativity. One of the BEST things I discovered about watercolor was that you can re-wet your paints when they dry. Which means you can easily work in short bursts when you only have a little time here and there, picking up where you left off. All this made me see that I hadn’t missed the boat after all. The boat was waiting for me in the harbour - every morning. ⛵ [And it's waiting there for you too, {NAME}.]( 🧩 You don’t need big chunks of time to create. You can fit watercolour painting into your busy schedule in short sessions, just like I did. 🪑 You don’t need a dedicated place to paint. Setting up at your dining table is perfect. (I didn’t have a dedicated studio until this year - 15 years after I became a professional artist!) 🕓 You don’t need to spend years practicing before you’ll be proud of your work. Members of my online School find more time to create When we surveyed our former members, most told us they found more time to create when they were a member than they've managed since they'd left. I wonder if it's been the same for you. [When you rejoin the School]( there’ll be no more need for googling techniques you haven’t learned, wondering what paint to use for a subject, or wishing you had feedback on why your painting isn't turning out how you want. 🤔  You'll get back onto a progressive pathway, using the right tooks. You'll build your skills brushstroke by brushstroke, always knowing what your next step needs to be. 🧩 You can pick up where you left off... Because I've been hoping you'd come back, I've made sure your progress and paintings have been saved in the School. When you rejoin, you'll be able to carry on from where you left off. But it's not just the website that will remember the skills you've learned. When you took the tutorials before, your brain changed physically to develop muscle memory. 🧠 So don't worry if you're feeling rusty. Your muscle memory is going to help you get back to the standard you've reached more quickly that you might expect. You won't be starting again from scratch, even if it's been a long time. And you won’t be alone. Our members come from all walks of life, with lives that are packed to the brim - and they’re painting anyway. Among our diverse community are: - Working parents, whose art time comes after their children have finished their homework and are tucked up in bed - Busy professionals and executives, with limited free time, who grow their art skills after dinner, while unwinding from work - People caring for their elderly or sick loved ones. They find that taking moments to create helps increase their capacity to help others - and to take care of themselves too. - Plenty of people who are all of the above! All of them wanted to learn how to paint realistic watercolors, and wanted to have lives where they expressed their creativity. They all began by finding a few minutes to watch their first videos. ☕ They set aside an hour to paint. They were willing to experiment with when to schedule sessions, and keep trying until they found the timing that worked for their lives. 📅 Their painting sessions weren’t all perfect. They got interrupted by things like their young children coming down from bed and wanting to be cuddled. 🧸 Their good friend calling for a catch up. 📞 Their cat bringing them an unwanted gift 🐭 But they kept going back. And painting started to become the thing they looked forward to and thought about. They began to see progress in their work. They got feedback when they asked for it. And because they had a process that let them focus on what they love - the painting - making the time wasn’t the struggle it used to be. You can learn how to paint, and reconnect with your creativity, one hour at a time. The boat’s waiting in the harbour for you, {NAME}. ⛵ And to make boarding that boat as easy as possible, I’m offering you a special Black Friday price: Get 50% off an annual subscription FOREVER - and enjoy a year of creativity for less than the cost of one take out lunch a month! Lock in the best possible savings now. Your annual plan is only… In the US: $87.50 USD (That’s only $7.29 USD a month!) In the UK: £59.50 GBP (Only £4.95 a month!) Based somewhere else? Perfect! We accept 19 currencies, and our website automatically uses your local currency. At checkout enter code: SPARKME Hit the button below for full details: [Learn more and save 50%]( And to make joining even easier, we now accept payment by credit card, Apple Pay and Google Pay. Believe me {NAME}, this ship has not sailed. Climb aboard my online School, and prepare to be amazed at where your voyage takes you - one hour at a time. Anna x *You’ll be signing up to a recurring annual subscription for which you will be automatically re-billed every year, with a 50% discount, for as long as you keep your subscription active. You can of course cancel your subscription at the click of a button anytime.  This message was sent to you because you've subscribed to receive my emails. If you wish to change this or any other details please reply to this email to let us know.  [Unsubscribe](  Anna Mason Art Ltd, 106 London Road, East Grinstead, RH14 1EP, United Kingdom