My Creative Journey from Music to Watercolors
Hi and welcome to my watercolor blog! I’m Beth Smith, the artist behind MamaDuck Art, and I’ve discovered a passion for watercolors. I’m excited you have found my website and blog where I’ll share my watercolor journey and insights as well as some tidbits of “watercolor wisdom”… lessons I’ve learned through watercolor that can be applied to life.
Before we jump into insights and tidbits of wisdom, let’s begin with the journey. I’m not the type of artist who has been drawing or sketching her whole life or who always knew that art was her destiny. My creative path began with music… piano lessons from 1st grade through middle school with flute added in 5th grade through high school. I sang in choirs at church and eventually sang solos and duets. I accompanied children’s choirs at church and then moved into directing them for 30+ years. Music was my passion. I was sure it would be part of my life forever. But, that didn’t happen.
Just when we think we know what the future holds, the path sometimes becomes rocky or shifts or takes a turn or is completely blocked, and we have to find a new way, a new path. And it’s during these challenging and trying times that we grow and learn and maybe even find something new within ourselves.
After my dad passed away, I was primarily responsible for caring for my mom who was in assisted living about 5 hours away. My daughter was in middle school, and my brother was dealing with health issues. Life took over, and music was put into the background. My brother passed away, and four months later my mom passed away. Of the family I grew up with, I was the only one remaining, and I really struggled with such an immense loss. It was a challenging time for sure. My path was definitely taking a number of shifts and turns as grief and responsibilities abounded. And as my daughter entered high school, I found myself struggling to figure out my next step… my next phase… my purpose…
Enter watercolor. I started seeing adds for a company that offers watercolor subscription boxes, Let’s Make Art. And I discovered that they also offered tutorial videos online for free. I started watching those tutorials and eventually added videos from YouTube. Through all of these videos with different styles and approaches and through lots and LOTS of painting practice, I taught myself how to paint; and over time I determined my style… how I best like to paint. And here we are! I’m a self-taught, nature-inspired, realistic-leaning watercolor artist.
My life path certainly became rocky with many shifts and turns, and through that struggle I discovered a new passion… a new calling… a new purpose. Now I spend my days capturing nature through water, pigments, and paper. I took a leap of faith and started a small business and created an online studio. And I dream of sending my art into homes everywhere (or at least in the US for now), so we can all bring a little nature inside.
Life includes beauty, laughter, and even struggles. But when we allow those struggles to teach us and sometimes redirect us, something even more beautiful can appear. Thanks for joining me on this journey. Let’s see where it takes us and what we can learn along the way…