Go Where There’s Resistance

The Monday after a festival weekend always carries a very specific feeling — some level of exhaustion combined with this strange emptiness that arrives upon the completion of something that has taken much time and energy for which to prepare. Another event down, a few more to go. There is sometimes a feeling of gratitude and security and sometimes a feeling of disappointment. Ah, the artist’s life.

But today, as I sit in my studio, sipping my coffee and admiring the piles of framed originals and plastic totes filled with prints and cards that were loaded back into the house upon our arrival back home, I’m overflowing with gratitude. This past weekend filled me to my brim and surprised me beyond my wildest expectations.

Before I start, I’ll provide a little backstory. In January of this year, I was in the process of filling out all the applications for the markets and art fairs I wanted to attend this year, one of them being the Grand Marais Arts Festival. All of my other applications were repeats from the year before, but this one was new, I’d heard awesome things about it, and I really wanted to get in.

Grand Marais Arts Festival has a question on their application “will you be willing to do a live demo?” At the time of filling out applications, I would have done anything to get in, so I checked ‘Yes'.

Life went on, I got a notification in May that I was waitlisted, then two weeks later, my application was accepted, I paid my booth fee, and I was in!

Fast-forward to 3 days before the event in mid-July. Of course, I had forgotten about my application because, that was back in the dead of winter. But I kept getting this nagging feeling, did I check ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to do a live demo? Did I actually say I would paint in front of people? What the heck was I thinking? I went back to review my application and sure enough, I had clicked ‘yes’. Apparently, past Katie felt the impulse to catapult me directly out of my comfort zone come summer.

So in this moment, I’m faced with a dilemma, to paint live or not to. I know I said I would, but there is always the option to feign ignorance — like anything in life, we have choices.

I did what I always do when I have to make a decision, I went for a very long walk. What I’ve found is that in my journey as an artist, the things that propel me in the direction of growth and eventually success are always the things I feel major resistance to at first. In fact, I’ve come to a space now where if I feel terrified to do something, that is almost always an indicator that I need to do it.

So that was my answer. Paint. In front of people.

I packed up my plein air easel and all my favorite paints and brushes and a 12x16” watercolor block and off I went to Grand Marais!

I’ll spare you the boring details of me tossing and turning in bed on Friday night, and waking up way before my alarm to think about what I was going to paint. Setup time on Saturday morning came. Spencer and I put up as many originals as we could squeeze onto the walls of my booth, set out all my prints and cards, and I got out my easel and started to paint.

The feeling of dread melted away like ice in the sun as soon as my pigment laden brush hit the wet paper. It felt like being home. “Oh, this is just painting.” I suddenly felt silly for being worried at all.

Then something magical happened. As I was in the flow of creating, I noticed in my periphery, a small crowd gathering, and looked up to find Ruth, the Artistic Director of the Grand Marais Art Colony, holding a banner for the Best Booth Award. I had been so present with my painting and chatting with people that in the moment I could barely process what was happening. What came next was an absolute blur — a radio interview with WTIP, an endless thread of congratulations, and more success in sales than I’ve ever had in a given weekend.

Now, I don’t know if it was the live painting demo that did the trick, or some synchronicity in the cosmos that brought me luck, or if it was some combination of my daring and intention to show up authentically that brought me so much success in one weekend. But I will tell you this — over and over again, I am being presented with proof, that when I step into the world, raw and vulnerable, I reap more rewards than I could ever imagine. That, and people are generally amazing and generous and just exquisitely lovely.

I also found that I far more enjoyed painting outside my booth in front of passersby than I ever have sitting in my booth feeling awkward about how to talk to people about my art and my process. There was now a natural segue between me, my paintings, and the people who wanted to hear about them and it’s definitely something I’m going to continue to do.

Thank you to each and every one of you who came out and supported me this past weekend. I’m still over the moon and so honored and humbled to have received recognition for my booth setup and my art and I am truly grateful to all of you who bought original art, prints, and cards. Thank you for making me feel like I belong and for loving these creations of mine. I wish I could bottle up this feeling and give it to every person in the world, we all deserve to feel this happy.

Best Booth Award at the Grand Marais Arts Festival, Saturday 7/13/24

Getting a new painting underway, Sunday 7/14/24

Almost finished with my second painting of the weekend!

Curious where you can find me next?

Click below for my 2024 event lineup!