Artväna paint and sip logo
Menu

learn to paint

by
Crafty activities and events in Washington State

???? Spring is just around the corner—it’s peeking at us, ready to bloom! ????✨ This season is all about fresh beginnings and growth, both in nature and within ourselves. Whether you’re a brand-new creator or you’ve been making and painting for years, spring is the perfect time to challenge yourself and nurture your creativity.

One of the biggest hurdles for any creator? Simply feeling creative. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard, “I’m not creative at all—I don’t have a single creative bone in my body!” On the other hand, even experienced artists sometimes hit a wall, feeling uninspired and stuck. But trust me—losing your creative spark doesn’t mean it’s gone forever.

Creativity is like a seed ????

It needs water, sunlight, and the right conditions to grow. If a seed is left to freeze in the snow or dry out in the heat, it won’t sprout. The same goes for creativity—it doesn’t disappear, it just needs to be nurtured! If you’ve ever felt creatively blocked, the best way to break free is through action.

How do you wake up your creativity?

You have to get moving—experiment, make a mess, take risks, and embrace the process without fear. The hardest thing to do when you’re not feeling creative is to create, but that’s exactly what unlocks the flow again. Think of it like starting a rusty engine—it might take a few tries, but once it’s running, it hums along beautifully.

This is the heart of Artvana—creating an environment where creativity can thrive. Just like a plant needs water and sunlight, we need time, materials, and inspiration to create. That’s exactly what our paint-and-sip classes offer—a space where your creativity can take a deep drink and come back to life!

The benefits of rekindling your creative spark are priceless. Creativity seeps into every part of life—from your wardrobe to home décor to problem-solving at work. The more you practice, the more it flows into everything you do!

My Top 3 Ways to Jumpstart Your Creativity This Spring

???? Get Inspired – Inspiration is the fuel for creativity. Visit a local art museum and explore the colors, styles, and stories behind the artwork. What draws you in? What makes you feel something? Some museums even offer studio spaces where you can create on the spot! (Check out my recommended museums at the end of this post.)

???? Make a Mess – If creativity feels intimidating, start by playing! Gather any fun supplies—paint, glue, magazines, fabric scraps—and create a mixed-media piece with no pressure or plan. Just let go and see what emerges. Sometimes, the best way to find your style is to get messy and explore!

Art museums in Seattle Wa, Tacoma Wa

????️ Take a Class – If making a mess on your own feels overwhelming, take an art or craft class! Classes provide an easy, structured way to dive into creativity without having to buy supplies or figure things out alone. Plus, you’ll meet others and feed off their energy and ideas.

???? Remember: We all have creativity inside us. It’s just waiting to bloom! Stop telling yourself “I’m not creative” and start exploring. This spring, give yourself permission to create, play, and grow. ????✨

If you live in Washington State here are some of my favorite Museums and creative experiences you can enjoy today!

  1. Frye Art Museum Located in Seattle WA, Frye Art Museum is FREE and a great place to immerse yourself in art for a few hours, they offer sketch pads and pencils and have helpful and knowledgeable staff.
  2. Tacoma Art Museum Located in Tacoma Washington TAM is a fairly large museum focused on local art.  Some of their recent exhibits have included Chihuly Glass, Charles Petersons Nirvana, and Karen Hackenburgs Sea Change
  3. Seattle Art Museum Located in Seattle Washington this museum is large and boasts a number of ongoing exhibits including Yiirkala Art from Australia’s Top End, Impressionism in the Global Nineteenth Century, and more.

A visit to any one of these Museums in Washington State will be sure to inspire you! Enjoy!

by
painting to go kits, art kits for travel, acrylic painting kits

Warm weather is coming which may mean packing up and hitting the road for many of us this Summer!

Whether you are making plans to hit the cabin, the beach or the trails this summer Artvana has creative projects that are road ready!

Summer is one of the best times to let our creativity run wild! Being such a busy time with so many activities on our schedules finding time to pack up your art supplies or even knowing what to bring can be a challenge.

You may also be wondering, what will I create on vacation? How will I pack all of my supplies, will they fit?

The good news is, we have made creating on the go this summer EASY! Artvana paint club members get an exclusive shipment each month with a travel ready art kit. All you need to do is sign up, grab your art supply drop when it arrives in the mail, and throw it in your adventure wagon!

All you need is a device to watch the tutorial on and you can create ANYWHERE!

We have some super fun summer paintings coming up in the club that you won’t want to miss. Register before June 1st to get our painting ‘Summer Arrangement’ shipped to your door in your welcome kit.

Join the paint club CLICK HERE

At Artvana we believe creating should be fun and easy! We strive to make painting accessible so all you need to do is sit out and let your creativity take over. We take care of paint and materials so you don’t have to worry about getting the right colors, brands and amounts. You don’t need to stock an entire studio to start learning to paint.

Wherever your creative adventures lead you this Summer we would love to see your projects in our members section. Happy painting and travels!

painting to go kits art kits acrylic painitng kits

by

Why Are Winter Months are the BEST for Crafting in Tacoma?

New Year’s resolutions aside, January is an excellent time of year to get your arts and crafts on! Here are the reasons that come to mind for me (if you are not already using these as excuses for unlimited craft time, feel free to use them):

  1. Winter is cold, inside is better
  2. If you feel cooped up inside, you can use your imagination to escape
  3. Feeling productive in the slower times of the year still feels good
  4. If one of your crafts involves sewing, knitting or crocheting, you can make yourself cozy clothes…like socks and scarves and hats…maybe a tea cozy.
  5. If you don’t know how to knit, crochet or sew, you have all winter to learn and work on your project, and winter is long.

Now for those of you living in or visiting the Pacific Northwest, today I am going to take you on a tour of 5 artsy things to do in Tacoma Washington.

Artsy thing #1 – Tacoma Museum of Glass

I was impressed by this museum because aside from the beautiful exhibits they feature a hot shop! The hotshop is a viewing gallery where you can watch artists create blown glass pieces in real time. Watching them create is entertaining in itself, but they also offer workshops.

Learn More about the Tacoma Museum of Glass & Get Tickets!

Note: As of this writing (01/10/2024) they have a special Goblet Week coming up – find out more about the Tacoma Museum of Glass Goblet week.

Artsy thing #2 – Tacoma Book Center

Yes, a bookstore might not be your first thought for an artsy thing to do but, think about it; Where better to unleash your imagination, pick up a new hobby, learn something new…it’s checking all of the boxes for me!

I can spend hours browsing books and you can too at Washington state’s largest collection of used books. Think of the hidden gems that have been waiting on these shelves for you. A little trip here will be sure to light your sense of adventure and creativity.

Get directions to the Tacoma Book Center – Happy Browsing!

 

Crafty thing #3 – Corina Bakery

This was my absolute favorite place to grab coffee when I had an office in downtown Tacoma!

What really sets them apart though is their pastries and cakes. They craft all of their delicious offerings in-house and THIS is where I get my Birthday cake every year.

While talking about hand-crafted pastries doesn’t make a creative outing, grabbing a sketchbook and a cozy table at this neighborhood hotspot does! It’s the perfect place to post up and spend some time with yourself, drawing, reading, daydreaming….everything is better with cake and coffee.

Explore Corina Bakery’s menu & order online.

 

Crafty thing #4 – Tacoma Arts Live

This place has it all! If you need to quench your creative thirst you can do so here with live performances, plays, concerts, and more. TAL hosted the very successful Imagine Van Gogh experience and is returning in 2024 with an Imagine Monet experience, which I am definitely going to!

Immerse and surround yourself with art and creative culture at Tacoma Arts Live.

 

Artsy thing #5 – Take a class, get your hands dirty, and experience art firsthand

Tacoma offers many classes and experiences for you to step out of the role of the viewer and participate in a creative moment.

Of course here at Artväna we offer many Acrylic Painting classes during the month at different Tacoma, Lakewood, Puyallup, and Sumner Artväna venues, but if painting is not quite what you are looking for this time around you may want to check out these other classes and workshops offered in the Tacoma area:

 

 

Alright so this post involved almost as much cake as it did crafts, but I’m not sorry!

I hope you find a few fun and wonderful creative things to do in the Tacoma area, who knows maybe I will even see you down at Corina Bakery!

 

Disclaimer – None of the links in this article have been sponsored in any way. Artväna is not affiliated with the organizations mentioned above.

by
fall painting colors you will love to create with
Hello, painter! Do you want to create a beautiful Fall painting this year?  Today I’m here to share my favorite fall-inspired acrylic paint colors. When autumn rolls around and the leaves start changing, it’s kind of like living in a painting. You might be tempted to re-create some of the beautiful fall scenes around you. These colors are a great place to start! 
When I think of fall, I think of rich, dark, velvety colors and textures contrasted with the crisp vibrant colors of the changing season. This combination of colors and textures is so fun to play with! It can almost feel like someone has slipped an autumn filter over our lives.
Here are some of the colors that call to me while I create this season. I hope they will inspire you as well! I have selected a variety of my favorite brands for you to explore and a short description of why I love each paint color. Different paints have different textures so you may find yourself dabbling in texture without even trying. Happy Fall painting! 
RAW UMBER by Winsor & Newton
I LOVE this color. It is the best for painting deep, dark shadows. It has a thick consistency and is opaque, which means you can’t really see through it. It is nice and rich right out of the tube!
Find it HERE – https://amzn.to/3M2PAO0
GREEN GOLD by Golden
Ahhhh gold paints – some of my all–time favorites! All around, this green–gold color will knock your socks off. It‘s a little hard to describe, but think of a dark green with a golden–yellow undertone. It’s brilliant! I love using this color to add luster and rich highlights to foliage and other areas of a fall painting that may need some light brought in or enhanced. I have included a fluid, more transparent version and a thicker, more opaque version. Which will you choose? 
Find the fluid version HERE – https://amzn.to/48S3rQV
Find the thicker version HERE – https://amzn.to/46TIu6k
Dioxazine Purple by SOHO
Purple is often overlooked as a fall color but I think it serves as a nice transition into the holiday season. It’s great for shadows, water, and dead or dying foliage if this is the direction your artwork is taking. SOHO can be an overlooked brand as well but they are on my list for some of the richest, most vibrant colors. This purple will not disappoint!
Find it HERE – https://amzn.to/3Qk6Q3M
AZO Red Deep by SOHO
Appearing again from SOHO is the AZO deep red! Red can be a tricky color to work with because it normally has so much transparency to it. I love this deep red because it mixes well with other colors to create oranges, and it can be darkened to create maroons and burgundies. Mix it with some purple and you will have a whole new set of colors to create your fall painting with!
Find it HERE – https://amzn.to/48UB3h0
I hope you enjoy my favorite fall painting colors! Let us know what you create with them on our Facebook page.
by
my 4 must-have art supplies

  Hello, my name is Rikki and I am an Artist and art coach.  A huge part of what I help my clients do is create space for their creativity. Today I am going to share with you my 4 must-have art supplies when setting up your art studio or creative space.
When it comes to your art journey, the hardest part is always starting.

  So many times I hear people say they just don’t have the time to be creative, the truth is they do not make the time to be creative. This is easy to do, it is so easy to get wrapped up with everything else in our lives, things that don’t always benefit us, and it squeezes out any extra time we had for ourselves.

 

  The first thing I always want my painters to do is to start making space, setting up your creative space is a great first step. You have to make it EASY to just jump in and create, I myself will lose my creative steam if it takes me too long to get set up, by then the creative bug may have flown away.

For those new to painting, knowing what you need to start can be daunting.

I have compiled this list of my 4 must-have art supplies to start building your creative space with:

 

My 4 MUST-HAVE art supplies for beginner artists

I love THIS easel because it packs down if you want to take it somewhere, it also moves easily (no pun intended) from table top to standing height and fits a wide variety of canvas sizes.

Easel – https://amzn.to/3mxKRdv

 

I recommend getting something to store some of your art supplies in, just so they don’t end up all over the floor (like mine do) while you are painting. This cart allows you to store your paints and even some small canvas underneath and I like to use the top tray to set up my rinse water and towels and palette. It also so rolls around so you can move it if needed while you create.

Rolling cart – https://amzn.to/3nVK6eC

 

Here is my best tip, unless you have a space that you don’t care if paint gets on the floor etc. Lay some of these drop cloths down all around your painting area. The last thing we want to be thinking of when we get in the zone is worrying if we are going to drip paint or if its going to run off the canvas onto the floor. Just prepare to get messy ahead of time and then enjoy the fun of it! I leave my dropcloths out in my creative space 24/7 and no matter which size you choose you can easily cut these up to cover your space.

Dropcloths – https://amzn.to/412NGCs

 

It is also super handy to have your brushes standing up and out where you can see them and grab them easily. I love to use these lids on different jars that I already have. The grid helps to keep your brushes seperated and easy to grab. It also keeps me from overstuffing the jar!

Jar lid organizers – https://amzn.to/3KQlOMh  

How to set up an art studio with these 4 must-have art supplies

Have your creative space and supplies ready! This is one reason the Artvana paint club membership is so great because no matter what you will have one project ready for you during the month, you won’t need to think about WHAT to create you can just jump in and start creating.  If you want to learn more about the Artvana Painting of the Month Club Click HERE

Aside from being able to sit and create whenever the bug might bite us, it is also an important part of building a practice to schedule creative time, even if this is just your paint club project each month, even if it’s just 20 minutes on Saturday morning before you go to yoga.

Keep in mind you don’t always need to be working on a project, just sit down and start doodling, start cutting paper, start mixing paint and see what happens. The more often you do this the easier and more natural it will become. You will feel less resistance each time you sit down at your easel.
I want you to enjoy creating as much as I do and I hope these tips will help you build your creative practice!

What are your 4 must-have art supplies?  Share them in the comments!

Happy painting – Rikki

*This post contains affiliate links

by
How to focus on the process of painting with 3 easy tips

Hey there painter! Have you ever wondered how you can enjoy the act of creating more?  How to enjoy the process of painting and dip into your creativity without worrying about making a mistake?

Imagine, letting color and creativity flow freely, being able to instinctively make choices of what your next color will be and what to do with it…this is called intuitive painting, and it’s REALLY FUN! But it’s HARD to let go!!
Even professional artists struggle to get into this zone sometimes. I want to give you my tips and tricks on this because it is so worth it once you experience it and at the heart of this, lies the process vs product problem.

I hear new painters become so concerned with doing a ‘good’ job on their artwork, of placing every little mark exactly where it is in the example painting. Pretty soon they stressed out, a little cross-eyed from staring at their painting so hard and not having a good time, not in a flow state, and certainly not intuitive painting. Don’t worry almost all of us start here. The secret to creative freedom is to switch your focus, from the product (end result) to the process of painting (the making of). Here are some ways you can start doing this when you create: Try to look at your example if you are using one, only once or twice. That’s right let your creativity take over, you have the ‘idea’ see what you can do without being glued to your inspiration

Follow your joy, imagine pulling a long thick swipe of yellow ochre down your canvas, if that color brings you joy follow it…see what that color looks like contrasted next to another….if an idea sparks, follow it…see what happens!

Lastly, if you feel yourself getting frustrated, take a break, and step away. Set your half-finished painting somewhere you can look at it and let it ‘talk’ to you. You may be surprised when one day you look at it and know what you want to do next, that is your intuition getting stronger. That is the process guiding you, rather than the result.

Below I am including a great article about process art VS product art.  Once you get into the article you will see itis directed towards children but this is for everyone!  Process art has benefits for adults just like it does for children so as you read, apply it to yourself.  These excercises can really open up your mind creatively to new ideas and possibilities!  Try these out and let me know how it went in the comments!

Find process art activities and read the article here.

by
Why am I not learning from art tutorials on youtube

Hello my name is Rikki, I am an Artist and a therapeutic art coach. A question I get from clients often is
“I tried a few  art tutorials on youtube but my painting still looks bad, why can’t I do it?”

I LOVE this questions and I am here to answer it for you today. This is a common frustration people face when they just begin painting. How do we accomplish anything we can be proud of when we are literally just starting our painting journey?

Theres more to the story…

The fact is, there is so so so much to learn about painting that you could probabaly study it your whole life and still learn new things. So when we jump into a tutorial, we often don’t have event the basic knowledge of that art form and we are trying to accomplish something that may look simple and easy but still has a lot of know how built into it that we may not yet have.
So what is the solution?

It takes time to grow…

Practice. Yes, I see so many painters get frustrated and think they have no skill before they even give themselves a chance to grow that knowledge and skill base. Also depending on the tutorial, they may be explaining one technique in the video and assuming you already know the other basics or techniques, which if you don’t can be very overwhelming. So how do we paint more successfully using art tutorials?

How to use art tutorials for success…

Well of course I am going to recommend the Artvana paint club, which I designed specifically to help you burst through these common hurdles that stop new painters, with new art tutorials each month. Aside from joining me in the club I can tell you that you need to give yourself some grace, some space and some time to grow! Commend yourself on the one things you are working on and learn to relax a little if the rest of your painting isn’t up to speed yet. It will come, with time and practice.

Art is a journey and learning and making mistakes is half the fun. I hope you paint soon.  You can learn more about our paint club here – LEARN ABOUT THE PAINT CLUB

I also wanted to include some additional information in this great article from the Cleveland Clinic on how and why patience is important for our health and how we can be more patient when learning new things – READ IT HERE

by
online painting courses, art memberships, art subscription box, painting tutorials, easy paintings, beginner art classes

Good morning beautiful soul! Today I want you to slow down and think when the last time you let loose was? And I am not talking about getting tipsy, but letting go inside, you know in that place in your chest where we ball up tension just under our ribcage, the place that moves when you realize you have forgotten to breathe! Let’s let it out, big breath in……..
And let it out……..Ahh better right?

Today I am going to talk to you about this aspect of letting go, of surrendering to flow and discovering where the fun really happens when we are creating.
When we create we have a choice, to strive for an outcome or to play and experiment. So many of my painters get stuck in the first aspect of striving for an outcome in their work. Today I wanted to shed some light on the other aspect of creating that seems to go almost completely ignored.

Chaos. Well it can feel like that sometimes, this part of creating is a super special part of the process and even the best and most famous artists take part in this aspect. This part of the process is vital for you to get in touch with your creative source, to hear your creative voice and to create the momentum for you to discover what you are truly capable of.
Now you might be thinking, I want to be able to create a pretty picture though! Of course you do, the reward of art is creating something you like. Learning techniques, rules of art and how to achieve certain values and textures is the other side, striving for an outcome. I belive both of these aspects are necessary to truly grow and improve as an artist or creator and to feel fulfilled in your art practice and painting classes.

This month in the paint club we are diving deep into play and seeing how it can help us grow and shape our artistic style and creative voice. We will be making a mess and loving every minute of it! If you want to join a supportive community of fun loving creators, no matter your skill level or prior painting experience I want you to join me in the Artvana paint club.online painting courses, art memberships, art subscription box, painting tutorials, easy paintings, beginner art classes

Each month I curate a special project for my painters and send them a fresh art kit supply box in the mail. You get to create on your schedule and join us in a live group coaching session each month to discuss and get one on one coaching from me if you need it, its like book club for painting! See what you are capable of and start your membership at www.artvana.life

Artväna paint and sip logo
Facebook Instagram
© 2025 Artväna, LLC || All Rights Reserved
Designed by Soper, LLC

News

Subscribe for the latest news and events: