I love drawing. I love sharing what I’ve learned. That’s why I created the FSketcher project.

I keep returning to the idea that creativity isn’t a mysterious gift reserved for a few people. It’s definitely not a talent. I loved drawing from childhood, yet I wasn’t the kind of artist who grew consistently, like Georgia O’Keeffe, for example. I explored many different things and moved in different directions. Confusion was my constant companion.

Creativity is a relationship that needs to be nurtured. It requires effort. What’s interesting is that the effort doesn’t come only from drawing. If you carry responsibilities that seem beyond your capacity, if you rarely complain and instead keep learning and becoming stronger, somehow it affects your art as well. Your entire being grows, and your work grows with it.

There is no need to be discouraged by someone else’s success. Every artist creates differently because every life is different - our memories, cultures, experiences, mistakes, and curiosities shape the way we see the world. No one else can make work exactly as we can. Add curiosity and dedication to your craft, and it will flourish. You have your place in this peculiar world. So does your art.

Inspiration rarely arrives before we begin. Work brings it to us through sketching, collecting, playing, making mistakes, and noticing unexpected connections. I have to admit that I never had a consistent relationship with keeping an artist’s notebook until recently. Many of the ideas that appear while you’re casually sketching seem unimportant at first. But every now and then, you uncover a piece of gold. That’s what matters. You find the gold. Every page is another step deeper into the ground.

I know these ideas because I’ve had to live them. I’ve experienced the excitement of building a large creative community, the disappointment of losing creative momentum, years devoted to motherhood and growth away from the camera, and the slow return to making with my hands. Along the way, I discovered that inspiration follows work, that attention can be cultivated, and that the most meaningful creative practice is one you can sustain for a lifetime.