Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Darcy Saxton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Darcy, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Learning the craft is often a unique journey from every creative – we’d love to hear about your journey and if knowing what you know now, you would have done anything differently to speed up the learning process.

I’ve been making art for as long as I can remember, so there isn’t a single starting point. While I studied art formally, most of my growth happened in the studio through repetition and risk. I learned that if I stayed with a painting long enough, something beneath the surface would begin to emerge. That discovery shaped my approach. My work is less about planning and more about attention.

Over time, the figures, energy, and layered color relationships became a language built through return. Looking back, the one thing that would have accelerated my growth is trust. Confidence changes the work itself. When decisions come from inner conviction rather than external influence, the painting carries more strength. There were seasons when I filtered my instincts, responding to what felt valued around me instead of fully committing to my voice. Hesitation softens a piece. Growth deepened when I stopped negotiating with myself.

The most essential skills have been resilience and discernment. Painting requires staying present through uncertainty and knowing when to push a surface further and when to leave it alone. Technical understanding matters, but emotional honesty matters more. The work shifts when I am fully engaged and not hiding behind technique.

Balancing motherhood, teaching, and a studio practice has required clarity about what truly matters. Time and energy are finite, so intention becomes essential.

Darcy, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a painter and art educator currently based in Southern Utah. I create and sign my work as Darcy Lee, using my first and middle name, though my full name is Darcy Lee Saxton. The work I create now has evolved through years of exploration in the studio, where intuition and layering guide much of the process. The figures and themes in my paintings are rarely predetermined. They unfold organically, guided by response.

My work centers on feminine source, ancestry and lineage, transformation, and the wisdom of the natural world. I paint in layered acrylic, allowing color to guide the movement within each piece. Color feels alive to me. It carries emotion and memory, and its shifts often determine the painting’s direction. I work in conversation with it, building depth until the piece feels internally aligned.

Alongside my studio practice, I teach art at the high school level online and lead local workshops centered on intuitive process and creative exploration. Through both painting and teaching, I create spaces where people can reconnect with their own creative authority. The work is less about decoration and more about alignment. It invites a return to what is innate and steady, to the deeper knowing beneath noise and expectation.

What I am most proud of is staying with the work over time. The paintings have matured alongside my life, shaped by experience. At its core, my practice is about honoring lineage, cultivating inner clarity, and creating from a place of alignment.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

There is. Painting has become a form of meditation for me. When I am working, I enter a different state, one that feels quieter and more expansive at the same time. I am often surprised by what surfaces. The act of co-creation is alive and full of discovery. I may begin with color and movement, but what emerges feels guided by something deeper than conscious planning.

It goes beyond translating what I see or feel. It feels more like organizing matter without a reference, allowing form to arise from something unseen. That process is deeply nurturing and steadying. When I paint, I feel connected to the divine, and that sense of peace often carries into the rest of my day.

If there is a mission driving my journey, it is to live in that alignment and to create work that invites others to remember their own power and creative authority. Part of being human is learning to create consciously, to bring into form what does not yet exist. Painting is one way I live into that truth.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

One lesson I am still unlearning is the instinct to measure myself against external standards. Much of our education and culture subtly trains us to look outward for validation, to adjust ourselves to what seems rewarded or acceptable. I carried that into my creative life without fully realizing it. At times, I would soften decisions or hesitate before committing to what felt bold or deeply personal.

Over time, I gained enough perspective to look at my life more honestly. I began to see where I was performing rather than creating from conviction, where I was seeking affirmation instead of trusting my own voice. That realization emerged gradually and continues to deepen.

It also revealed itself in how I managed my time and energy. I tend to take on too much, often out of responsibility or a desire to be capable. Eventually, I recognized how that diluted not only the work, but my presence within it. I am learning that meaningful creation requires spaciousness and clear boundaries, and that protecting both is part of honoring what matters most.

The shift has been toward letting authority come from within. When I filter my work through outside expectations, it weakens. When I overextend myself, the work thins. I am still practicing the discipline of choosing honesty over performance and alignment over approval.

If anything, I hope that process encourages others to examine where they may be editing themselves or stretching beyond their capacity in ways that pull them away from what feels most true. Clarity comes through stripping away what is not essential until only what truly matters remains.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://darcyleeart.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darcyleeart
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darcyleeart

Image Credits

Art wall photo by Mark Marabeti
Headshot by Aline Memmott
Artwork photography by Frank Carter