November is just around the corner, and I couldn’t be more excited to celebrate a very special milestone, the one year anniversary of my book, Watercolor Made Simple! To commemorate the occasion, I’m launching something extra special for all of you who have supported me along the way: a Creative Book Club, featuring live painting sessions that will bring the pages of Watercolor Made Simple to life, giveaways, and more!

When I released my

last year, I wanted it to be available to as many people as possible. So I’ve worked with my publishers to release a Spanish version and it is now available! I was also surprised the other day with the Italian translation at my front door!

I took some time this morning to write a “Note from Nicki” which I used to send out to my email list quite frequently. As of recently, I’ve been enjoying bringing it back here and there and today I wanted to share it with you on the blog! When I started writing, I let the words flow, and it was quite a long email. So, I’ve actually shared the complete note below with you. Consider this a sneak peek of what my subscribers get sent to their inbox!

I am so excited to announce this! I’ve been fascinated by portraits for as long as I can remember. Seriously, anytime I'm at an art gallery or museum, I'm usually standing in front of the portraits, observing ALL the details and creative style of the artist, whether they are large, expressive ones or simple sketches found in glass enclosures in the museum.

Growing up the term “starving artist” was something I heard over and over again which was one of the main reasons I didn’t pursue art in the first place. So when I started life i design, I wanted to create a world where I could pursue art full-time and earn a full-time income from it too. I’m grateful to be able to do that and I want to share my knowledge with all of you!

I am the queen of procrastination when I have too much on my plate or days like today when the sun is shining and I just want to be out in my greenhouse. If you don’t follow me on Instagram and haven’t seen the greenhouse my husband and I built last month, check it out here.

Color mixing has been a topic of discussion lately so here are some of my color mixing tips and some tutorials to help you on your color mixing journey.

The Watercolor Art Retreat of a Lifetime: join me in France, nestled in a private, 19th-century French château. I’m so excited to lead the upcoming Creative Watercolor Art Retreat hosted by UpTrek, where we’ll have the entire chateau to ourselves for 8 days with a private chef and staff to help us with whatever we need throughout the week!

As an avid reader constantly seeking inspiration or learning something new, I’ve read many books over the years. In this blog post, I wanted to highlight the 5 best books for watercolor painting artists and a few other resources to help inspire your next art project.

Watercolor pencils are great when you’re on the go, which makes them easy to take anywhere for practice. Here are some of my favorites and ones I’ve seen good reviews on.

Planning your art process is a critical part of growing as an artist. Before using this planner, I would create an initial sketch and just start. Don’t get me wrong, there’s no correct way to plan or create when it comes to your artistic process, but I realized I needed a more organized way to capture all of my ideas. Enter: The Artist Project Planner!

After releasing my newest book, Watercolor Made Simple, I asked for honest reviews in exchange for an invite to my (then) live painting session to paint the swallow project from the book!

I’m happy to be able to share that I am a guest instructor for Wanderlust 2024 and to celebrate, you’re invited to join me for a LIVE painting session where we’ll be painting mini abstracts in our sketchbooks! Sign up and download a fun freebie here!

Wanting to start a new skill is daunting. It's overwhelming with all of the free and even costly online tutorials, courses, and blog posts.

Mother’s Day is around the corner. I like to make my Mother’s Day gifts personal and add a mix of valuable and personalized items. Here are a few of my favorites:

If you’ve been around for a while, you know I’ve created my Trace and Paint books to help you practice your watercolor technique without the stress of drawing or sketching before you paint. I get asked how to use these books or why they’re helpful in your art practice.

Enjoy a tutorial taken from a live session hosted for Watercolors Made Simple Students. Learn how to add easily depth to your watercolor paintings.

This Northern Lights watercolor tutorial is going to be so much fun! On January 17 at 1 PM CT, I’ll be going live with Winsor & Newton to offer this 100% free watercolor class. Join me in this Paint-With-Me style watercolor tutorial session hosted by Winsor & Newton and Michaels Craft stroes, where we’ll explore bright and dark colors for this exciting piece.

Hey Watercolors Made Simple students! I’m going LIVE on January 12th in the Student’s Facebook group! Last month, I asked our students a few questions in a survey I sent out, as I wanted to learn more about how I can best support you in your art journey!

10 years ago, life i design was brought to life and it has been a whirlwind ever since. I started this creative space when I turned 40, and was so nervous to even call myself an artist at first!