We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Meg Delagrange a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Meg, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about how you learned to do what you do?

I’ve wanted to be an artist since the age of 5, at least that’s the first time I remember picturing my life as one. When I started kindergarten, there was a certain art project that required paints in order to paint a tree. Just the thought of painting a tree made my brain come alive with possibilities!

However, my dad said no to paints. You see, I was born Amish and brought up in a plain lifestyle. Buying paints for his daughter would have been a waste of money and far too worldly an activity. I felt silly for even asking. As time went on, I found that crayons and coloring pencils could create very colorful pictures and I spent hours coloring!

When I was 21, I did two very naughty things. It wasn’t drinking alcohol, as one might think, though I did have some of that. The first thing I did was getting myself excommunicated and cut off from everything I’d ever known. Thankfully I was still able to go home to visit my family so I did the next naughty thing. I bought paints for my younger siblings so they could get creative in ways I was never given the opportunity to.

I thought the time had probably passed for me to learn how to paint, but I was wrong. One night I stayed up until 2 am, following a paint tutorial that I found online. I was surprised and delighted to realize that I could, in fact, paint! Fifteen years have passed since that night and I’m still painting.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I was born Amish, with a curious soul and messy hair. Now I fill my world with color everywhere I go! With over 22 moves between my birthplace in New York to living abroad in Tokyo, Japan, my life has been nothing short of a colorful adventure.

Within the past ten years, my journey has taken me on a personal evolution. From working three jobs after a divorce to cofounding a successful leather handbag brand to becoming a mom to five in a large, blended family — it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin! I stay grounded in my creative work which always reminds me of who I am.

Currently, I’m working at a digital publishing company, painting on leather bags and canvases, and hosting guests via Airbnb.

Connect with me:

Art: www.coloringspirit.com
Airbnb: www.airbnb.com/users/show/59149316
Family Blog: www.blendedmix.life
Personal Instagram: www.instagram.com/megdelagrange

Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

The Artist Way — by Julia Cameron

I haven’t actually gotten very far into the book because I’m applying the practices as I go along, but so far it’s been a brilliant, life changing book for my creative process!

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

In my early twenties, I had a great desire to be a mum. Maybe it’s because I’d been raised to want a family or maybe because I loved babies, who knows. After losing four babies, two of which were a week shy of being still born, I found myself in a place of deep grief. Painting healed me when nothing else could.

Eventually, I had a miracle daughter. I brought her into the creative process of painting with me. I’ve watched art heal her soul and guide her through her own challenges. Today, I’m a bonus mom to four children and I’ve brought art into their lives as well. We all love making art!

Being creative is a restorative practice that I will continue to do for as long as I live!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.coloringspirit.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coloringspirit/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/megdelagrange/
• Other: Airbnb: www.airbnb.com/users/show/59149316 Family Blog: www.blendedmix.life