Returning to My Studio: How Time Away Shaped My Creative Process

After months away, I was finally returning to my art studio this month — and honestly, it felt amazing. I was lucky to do some small bits ‘n’ bobs of painting at home, but nothing beats having your own space to get truly stuck in. There’s something so freeing about not worrying if you get paint everywhere!

Even though I managed to stay creative while working from home, returning to my art studio feels like a major breath of fresh air.

Turning Time at Home Into a Personal Art Residency

During my time working from home, I had to find new ways to stay motivated. I spent a lot of time developing my visual diaries, treating the experience almost like a personal art residency.

Framing it that way helped me stay positive. I gave myself permission to dive into new ideas, experiment with collage, and sketch without needing every mark to be perfect.

It was all about keeping my creative energy alive, even without my usual materials and studio set-up.

Growing Ideas: From Visual Diary to Large-Scale Paintings

Now that I’m back in my studio, I’m excited to dig into the studies I made at home. Taking those small experiments from my diary and transferring them onto larger canvases feels incredibly rewarding.

I’m letting the playful marks, unexpected color palettes, and collage elements guide the new pieces. It’s amazing how seeds planted during quiet, experimental moments have now grown into something more expansive.

No Pressure, Just Play: Embracing the Adventure

One major shift for me right now is that I’m not putting pressure on myself to “finish” work quickly.

Partly because I don’t have the looming deadlines I used to — many exhibitions have been postponed — but more importantly, I’m genuinely enjoying the freedom of playing. It feels so good to make work simply for the love of making, exploring where paint and imagination take me.

This return to playfulness is reminding me that art isn’t always about the final piece. Sometimes, the real magic is in the messy, unpredictable process itself.

I’m leaning into the unknown, trusting that creativity, like life, unfolds in its own time.

Thanks,

Aisling