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

Sarah, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. We’d love to hear about when you first realized that you wanted to pursue a creative path professionally.

“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us.” – Steven Pressfield As artists, we are usually aware of the desire to create even if it is something we have buried deep inside. It may be a voracious need or a quiet hunger, but we know it’s there. We long to feel the freedom of the creative life and yet we often argue against it. We may talk or dream about it more than we actually sit down and do it.
There are different reasons for everyone: not enough time, none of our own ideas, not enough skills to match the pictures we imagine in our minds. It can lead to a fair amount of discouragement and if we don’t give up outright, we at least push it to the side… day after day.
Growing up, I always loved creating—drawing, painting, sketching. Even more, I had no problem thinking of myself as an artist.

Then I became an “adult,” with very “important” grown-up responsibilities and concerns. I headed to college to pursue a practical “dollars and cents” degree, one that would guarantee a career after graduation. There was logic in this: I would be able to pay my bills and survive on my own in the world—a world that measured success in financial terms. Although I dabbled with artistic side jobs as I worked my way through school (my favorite was one where I soldered kaleidoscopes), I mostly stuffed my creative urges down deep inside and worked my way along a safer path. I graduated with a degree in economics and had some fantastic adventures as a young adult. I traveled, began a successful career at a Seattle tech firm, and was “doing well.”

And then one day, I broke my foot.

Confession: I tripped while wearing flip-flops. The most frustrating part of having a broken foot was having to slow down and sit still—definitely not my style. It was during this time that my best friend, Lauren (who had an art degree) insisted that I take advantage of this forced period of rest. “You have to sit still, so you will paint!” she cheered.

Suddenly, I was face-to-face with my resistance and forced to examine the real reason why I fought my artistic urges. Now that I had no reasonable excuses left, why shouldn’t I paint? The truth was that I was afraid. I felt more like an imposter than an artist. What could I say or contribute that hadn’t been said or done before? What if what I created wasn’t good enough—for me? For everyone else?

Lauren simply wouldn’t listen to my excuses. She drove me to the art store and piled supplies in the cart as I crutched along behind her. She added a big tube of white paint, “An artist always needs a good white” she said. I gulped and confessed that I didn’t know what to paint—I didn’t even know what my style was. She suggested that I paint something for my fiancé, Colin, because at least I knew what he liked.

Colin and I often traveled together and visiting art museums was one of our favorite things to do. We loved to wander through rooms of incredible art, soaking up the atmosphere, standing in awe of the Greats—van Gogh, Picasso, John Singer Sargent, or Rembrandt. I knew that one of Colin’s favorite paintings was “The Great Wave” by Katsushika Hokusai, the Japanese woodblock master and legend. I thought perhaps I could embark on my new painting journey like many before me, by copying a master and hopefully learning a few things in the process.

I dove in, bolstered by Lauren’s belief in me, spending every Saturday on a secret “mystery project.” I didn’t tell anyone that I was painting, just in case it was a total failure. The unveiling happened on Christmas Eve at Colin’s grandparents’ home. Both of our families were there. My heart was beating out of my chest. Colin opened the framed canvas and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh—I love Hokusai! It has all the texture of a real painting—where did you buy this?”

I proudly told him that I painted it; my journey back to art had begun.

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 have started several careers in my adult life, many of which did NOT involve art. I was always teaching in some way though, whether it was adults, kids or teens. I secretly always wanted to pursue art in my heart of hearts, but it felt so scary and vulnerable, so I side-stepped every chance I was given to claim it. I was able to ignore the call to create until I broke my foot and sprained my ankle after a few years in the corporate world. I was forced to slow down, sit still, reevaluate…and when I did – I began to create again. And I was reminded WHY I ever wanted to be an artist in the first place. I love to create so much : it feels good, and it’s the best way I have to express my feelings and thoughts. And now, getting to write books and teach workshops is the best role for me in every way. Teaching others how accessible art can be, and how wonderful it is…it’s like teaching my friends how to fly.

I am the Artist, Educator and Author at TheMintGardener. Finding inspiration in the ever-blooming variety of textures and colors in my Seattle-based urban farm, I creates and teaches lush Watercolors inspired by the diverse variety of herbs, flowers, and trees grown in my garden. With a continually blooming following of botanical and art lovers alike, I have had the privilege of teaching thousands of people the joy of creating. My teaching has received worldwide attention with my online and in-person painting courses and art retreats, my internationally best-selling books and my monthly live zoom teaching sessions with the Flower Painting Club. Day to day, you can find me painting and sharing creativity on my Instagram, @themintgardener as well as hosting exciting events for an online community of painting-lovers worldwide at themintgardener.com.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

As good as it may feel to sell a piece of your work or to get some solid “likes” on social media, I am here to tell you that the accolades and praise you receive for your work will not be enough to keep you creating. The worth or your art, and your journey as an artist, is not defined by other people’s opinion or measurement of it. If you love to create, there is a fountain deep inside of you that must flow wildly free. A wellspring, as I like to say, that needs to be expressed.

Think about the great artists throughout history. Many of them did not sell many pieces of work during their lifetime. Some were even ridiculed, yet they persisted because they simply had to create. They showed up for the day with brush in hand because the work demanded to be created. They were essentially a channel and had to bring something new into the world, acknowledged by others or not. Van Gogh, El Greco, Vermeer, and so many others—they each have a unique story to tell.

So often, we allow busyness to consume us. We allow it to be our excuse to not create. Work harder, work more. Achieve. But in our efforts to do, what if we forget that we are meant to grow and evolve, to become? If you lose track of who you want to be…pause, breathe, and look at the path you are on.

Create something for the joy of it—for the thrill of seeing something come from your hands, a shape or color that would not exist but for you. Paint for the joy of moving your paint with a brush. To pursue a passion to feel a deeper purpose, to create rather than consume. This is why we paint. Pause in the busyness, and you will find time to make something the world needs from you, and simultaneously – you refuel your soul. This is a path worth traveling, even if it’s “just” something you do on the side. Work with your hands, open the channel of creativity, and let it flow.
This is your journey. Embrace the learning process: the awkward shapes, wobbly lines, and the frustrating gaps between what your mind sees and what you paint. You are growing. You are creating.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

“The Way of Art” by Steven Pressfield “Walking on Water” by Madeleine l”Engle

Contact Info:

• Website: themintgardener.com/links
• Instagram: themintgarder
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/themintgardener/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sesimon/