What it really means to be an artist (even when you’re not making art)
A funny thing has happened over the past few years. If someone asked me what I do for a living, I’d answer without hesitation, “I’m an artist.”
But if they asked what I actually spent my days doing, they might be surprised.
Most days, I’m not in my studio making collage.
Instead, I’m writing lessons. Filming classes. Preparing for workshops in France, Egypt, and Morocco. Answering emails. Recording YouTube videos. Meeting with my team. Planning Collage Joy months before anyone ever sees it.
Right now, I’m already deep into creating Collage Joy 2027. It’s a process that takes the better part of six months. There’s writing and filming and editing, thinking through the order of each lesson, imagining the questions students might have before they even ask them.
Some days I look up and realize I haven’t picked up a paintbrush at all. There was a time when that would have bothered me. Actually, it would have bothered me a lot.
If I wasn’t surrounded by paint, paper, and glue, I quietly wondered if I was drifting away from the very thing I loved most.
These days, my life looks very different.
Creativity Shows Up in More Places Than the Studio
Many of us define creativity far too narrowly.
We imagine creativity only counts when we’re holding a paintbrush, finishing a quilt, writing a poem, or sitting at the pottery wheel. While those moments matter, they aren’t the only expression of a creative life. Creativity also lives in what we build for other people.
A course that gives someone permission to trust themselves in their creativity, an encouraging conversation that helps a friend believe in their own ideas, or the care you pour into a project that may never hang on a gallery wall but still changes someone’s life.
The older I get, the more I believe my creativity isn’t confined to the studio. It follows me into every part of my life.
Every Season of an Artist’s Life Looks Different
One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves is permission to honor the season we’re in.
Some seasons overflow with making, while others are devoted to learning.
Some seasons ask us to teach, while others invite us to rest.
For a long time, I resisted changing seasons because I believed I should always be producing artwork. Now I see that every season has its own purpose.
The workshops I’m preparing are creative work. The hours spent refining lessons, solving problems, and imagining new possibilities are creative work. Not because they replace making art, but because they grow from the same creative heart.
You Don’t Have to Earn the Title “Artist”
I hear this concern from so many people.
“I haven’t made anything in weeks.”
“My supplies have been sitting untouched.”
“I’ve been caring for family.”
Somewhere along the way, we begin believing we’ve lost our identity as artists whenever life pulls us away from the studio, but I don’t think that’s true. Being an artist isn’t something you clock in and out of.
It’s a way of seeing. A way of noticing beauty and a willingness to remain curious.
Those qualities don’t disappear simply because life asks something different of you for a while.
If you’re in a season where your hands aren’t making as much as your heart would like, I hope you’ll offer yourself a little grace.
Perhaps your creativity is showing up in ways you haven’t fully recognized. Through encouraging another artist, collecting ideas, or caring for people you love. None of those things make you any less creative.
In fact, they may be exactly what this season is asking of you.
So if you’ve been wondering whether you still “count” as an artist, let me gently remind you:
You do.
You are creative even on the days you don’t touch a brush.
I’d love to hear from you. What season of creativity are you in right now? Leave a comment below and share how your creative life has been showing up lately.
Are you interested in learning more about how to incorporate your collage papers into your art?
Check out my Collage Workshops!
