What Else Could This Become? The Creative Possibilities Inside One Watercolor Painting

Lately, I’ve been asking myself one question over and over again while I’m creating:

What happens if I try this?

What happens if I put soft pastel over watercolor?

What happens if I drop a little more water right there?

What happens if I let those two colors run into each other instead of trying to control them?

What happens if I try tea staining the paper?

What happens if it doesn’t work?

And maybe my favorite question of all:

What else could this become?

Those questions have changed the way I’ve been creating lately.

Not because everything I’ve tried has worked. Trust me—it hasn’t. 😂

But because somewhere along the way, I stopped needing to know exactly where the painting was going before I allowed myself to begin.

And I think a lot of us need more of that.

Somewhere Along the Way, Creating Became Something We Had to Earn

I’ve been talking about this a lot during my recent Dionne Daily videos on YouTube.

For years, creativity could easily become something I would “get to.”

I’ll paint after I answer these emails.

I’ll create after I run these errands.

I’ll go into the studio after I finish everything else.

Except, of course, everything else is never finished.

And what I’ve realized about myself is that when I go too long without creating, I can feel it.

I don’t think as clearly. I don’t communicate as well. I feel more chaotic. Something just feels off.

Then I create.

Sometimes for only 10 or 15 minutes.

And things begin falling back into place.

I’ve said for years that creating calms my chaos, yet I was still sometimes treating creativity like a luxury instead of recognizing it as one of the things that helps me function at my best.

That realization is part of what led me to challenge myself—and the people creating alongside me—to spend just 10 minutes a day making something.

Not selling something.

Not perfecting something.

Not creating content from something.

Just creating.

The Process Doesn’t Have to Perform

One day during this challenge, I pulled out a piece of paper, set a timer and did a quick fashion sketch.

And before we even started, I said something I think we all need to hear:

I don’t want to hear that you can’t draw.

Because I don’t consider myself someone who “knows how to draw” either.

But if you can hold something in your hand that makes a line, you can draw.

The point of the exercise wasn’t to create something worthy of framing or selling.

It was the process.

At my retreats, I sometimes give people three minutes to create a sketch. Then five. Then ten.

You should see what happens when people don’t have enough time to overthink themselves out of creating.

They loosen up.

They laugh.

They make marks they wouldn’t normally make.

And nine times out of ten, they surprise themselves.

I finished that particular little sketch in about seven and a half minutes.

Was it perfect?

No.

Did it need to be?

Also no.

Because not everything we create needs to perform for us.

Sometimes the value of making art is what happens to us while we’re making it.

And I think that’s especially important to remember when you’re learning watercolor.

Watercolor Has Taught Me to Give Up a Little Control

I’ve painted for years.

Furniture was a huge part of my creative life for about 16 years, and when I moved more deeply into painting canvases, I tended to work BIG.

Big canvases. Full-body movement. Finger painting. Standing up. Moving around.

So one of the things that has surprised me most about watercolor is how much I love sitting still with it.

I can sit at my table with a few brushes, paper and color and create something in a relatively small amount of time.

That was foreign to me.

And I had no idea how much I was going to love it.

During one recent Dionne Daily, I actually caught myself saying:

“Now I just want more of that in my life.”

I do.

There’s something about watching watercolor move that asks you to loosen your grip a little.

It bleeds.

It blooms.

Two colors meet and create a third color you didn’t plan.

An edge disappears.

Water travels somewhere you weren’t expecting.

And yes, sometimes it turns into mud.

But even that can teach you something.

Watercolor has become this beautiful practice of responding instead of controlling.

What Happens If I Try This?

Recently, I had a watercolor in front of me and decided to pull out some vintage soft pastels.

I couldn’t remember ever using soft pastel directly with my watercolor before.

So naturally, I wanted to try it.

There wasn’t some elaborate mixed-media technique behind the decision.

I simply thought:

I want to see what happens.

I worked a brown pastel softly into the background, added water and started moving it around with my brush. It created subtle changes in depth and variation that I wouldn’t have gotten if I hadn’t been willing to experiment.

That’s it.

That’s curiosity.

And I think curiosity is one of the most underused tools we have as artists.

What happens if I mix these?

What happens if I use more water?

What happens if I use less?

What happens if I add ink?

What happens if I put pastel over watercolor?

What happens if I leave that weird little bloom alone instead of fixing it?

You don’t need to know the answer before you try.

The trying is how you find the answer.

And sometimes it’s also how you begin developing a creative voice that actually feels like yours.

And Sometimes It Doesn’t Work

This may be my favorite part.

I decided I wanted to experiment with tea staining watercolor paper.

I tried it.

It didn’t really work the way I expected.

So I tried again.

Still not what I had envisioned.

Now I had failed at tea staining watercolor paper twice—publicly, I might add. 😂

But then something wonderful happened.

Someone watching was inspired by my experiment and started playing with coffee grounds and painting herself.

Another woman reached out to me and shared her own experience. She explained what she knew about tea and coffee staining, talked with me about archival considerations, showed me examples and even took the time to send me a video.

And suddenly my “failed” experiment had turned into a conversation.

I was learning.

Someone else was creating.

We were exchanging ideas.

That’s creativity.

I never want to believe that because I’m the one teaching, mentoring or holding the paintbrush on camera, I’m the only one with something to teach.

We all bring different creative experiences to the table.

Sometimes you teach me.

Sometimes I teach you.

Sometimes neither one of us knows, so we try it and find out together.

That’s the kind of creative community I want to be part of.

Your Flower Doesn’t Need to Look Like Mine

This is going to be a big part of the way I teach my upcoming watercolor workshop.

I don’t want you to learn to paint like me.

I want to help you loosen up enough to discover how you paint.

There’s a difference.

We can learn about water.

Color.

Brush movement.

Layering.

Composition.

Simple floral shapes.

We can talk about what happens when colors run together and what to do when watercolor surprises us.

But I don’t want 50 identical flowers at the end.

In fact:

NO PERFECT FLOWERS ALLOWED.

Because nature didn’t make them that way either.

Your hand moves differently from mine. You reach for different colors. You see a flower differently. You make decisions I wouldn’t make.

That’s the good stuff.

But Then…What Else Could This Become?

This is where my creative brain gets REALLY excited.

Imagine you’ve spent the afternoon creating a loose watercolor floral.

You love it.

Maybe you frame the original and that’s where the story ends.

Wonderful.

Your art never has to become a product to be valuable.

Creating it was already worthwhile.

But…

What if you asked one more question?

What else could this become?

I’ve spent years taking my artwork and designs beyond the original.

I’ve turned artwork into purses, notebooks, greeting cards, silk scarves and other products. I’ve photographed it for websites, magazines and social media. I’ve styled it in flat lays and used one creative idea in multiple ways.

One painting might become:

• a print or greeting card
• stationery or a journal cover
• a gift tag
• a pattern or digital product
• a beautiful photograph
• content you can share throughout the week
• or the beginning of an entirely new idea

One painting.

So many possibilities.

And no—you don’t need a professional photography studio to begin exploring them.

During a recent workshop here in my studio, I showed a group of women how much we could do by simply moving things closer to a window, gathering objects we already owned and thinking differently about composition.

Natural light.

A few props.

Your phone.

Your artwork.

That’s enough to start.

And that’s really where the idea for Petals to Products came together.

Come Paint, Style & Multiply With Me

On Saturday, October 10, I’m hosting Petals to Products: A Live Loose Watercolor Floral Workshop online.

And we’re going to spend the afternoon doing exactly what I’ve been talking about here.

PAINT. STYLE. MULTIPLY.

First, we’ll paint.

I’ll walk you step-by-step through creating loose, expressive watercolor florals using color, water, brush movement, layering and simple shapes.

You don’t need watercolor experience.

You don’t need to know how to draw.

And remember—no perfect flowers allowed.

Then we’ll style.

I’ll show you simple ways to style your finished artwork, find natural light and photograph your work with your iPhone. We’ll talk about overhead shots, detail shots, lifestyle images, backgrounds and props—and how to create photographs that make someone stop long enough to actually see what you’ve made.

And then we’ll multiply.

We’ll look at ways one original piece of artwork can become something more if you want it to.

I’ll share examples, ideas and some of the resources I’ve used throughout my own creative business.

But more than anything, I want you to leave asking a different question.

Not:

“Did I do it right?”

But:

“What else could I make?”

Petals to Products: Paint. Style. Multiply.

Saturday, October 10
1–4 PM Central
Live Online Workshop
Replay Included
$49

Come pull up a chair and paint with me.

Learn more about Petals to Products

Your Creativity Doesn’t Need to Wait

Maybe you’re reading this thinking you don’t have three hours today.

That’s okay.

Start with ten minutes.

Leave your watercolor supplies somewhere you can reach them easily. I’ve learned that I’m much more likely to create when I don’t have to unpack and set up everything every single time.

Put some water on the paper.

Choose a color.

Make a mark.

Let another color touch it.

See what happens.

Don’t ask it to become a product yet.

Don’t ask whether it’s good enough to sell.

Don’t even ask whether it looks like a flower.

Just create.

Because perhaps the first question isn’t:

What can I make from this?

Maybe it’s simply:

What happens if I begin?

And once you do…

then we can ask:

What else could this become?