Processing Ideas Archives - Peony and Parakeet

I Did the Same Drawing Twice!

Päivi — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 14:26:49 +0000

I rarely sketch my drawings beforehand, but this time I wanted to try something different: creating the same piece twice and recording the process. The first version was done freely with watercolor pencils. The second was a study of the first, but created using traditional colored pencils. These drawings have many kinds of flowers, including […]

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Inside the Creative Process: Art, Words, and Morning Robes

Päivi — Thu, 05 Feb 2026 10:51:55 +0000

I often find that the bridge between painting and words is a difficult one to cross – especially when your latest work decides to speak a language of its own. Even though I’ve always loved writing, being a visual artist often brings moments inside the creative process where words simply disappear. Lately, I’ve been painting […]

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Making a Creative Impact – My Words for 2025 and 2026

Päivi — Fri, 09 Jan 2026 13:16:24 +0000

I like to choose a word for the year that guides my actions. In 2025, it was “Release”. This year, it’s “Impact”. I think that Impact is a natural continuum of the word Release. Once you have learned to release a lot, it’s time to learn more about making a creative impact. Have You Chosen […]

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Building a Mystical Course with Hilma, Georgiana, and Virginia

Päivi — Thu, 11 Dec 2025 12:26:49 +0000

Usually, after making a course, I think: never again! It takes time to get new ideas and energy. But this time, after finishing Wild Garden, I had a new idea right away, and it felt like someone was talking to me: “You must do this, Päivi. If you don’t, nobody else will.” The upcoming course […]

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Flower Painting Comes to Life – Watch the Video!

Päivi — Thu, 20 Feb 2025 22:05:58 +0000

This week you get to paint with me in my little studio. We follow the birth of this flower painting from blank canvas to an exhibition. In the video, you see me painting and chatting, and also get to visit my current exhibition at the gallery Gumbostrand Konst & Form. The exhibition is from Feb […]

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Choosing the Word for 2025

Päivi — Thu, 02 Jan 2025 12:14:17 +0000

Have you ever chosen the word for the new year and then happily forgotten it? Me too! But last year, I had a word that stuck in my mind. It was “Integrate”. My word for 2025 is “Release”. Here’s what I have learned about choosing the word! Too Much Emotion, Too Little Impact Some words […]

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Watercolor Flower Obsession

Päivi — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 15:28:41 +0000

This week, I have a fun video for you. In the video, I create a watercolor greeting card and talk about my obsession of painting flowers. The card is A5 in size, so about 6 x 8 inches and I have painted it on watercolor paper. My smallest brush is very narrow and I could […]

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Weekly Art – Creating Regularly in Any Mood

Päivi — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 13:56:28 +0000

This week, I talk about making weekly art and the feelings behind creating regularly. I feel that although artists talk a lot about techniques and creative process, something gets left out. It’s a time perspective. I don’t mean how much time it takes to make one piece, but what it’s like to make art week […]

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“Start Small”

Päivi — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 13:00:50 +0000

In the spirit of “Start small”, have you tried this? Draw lines and color the shapes! Art can be this simple. But isn’t it so, that everything just flows when you have the inspiration, and when you don’t, even a simple exercise (picked from the new course Joyful Coloring) can feel tedious. Browsing for inspiration […]

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Drawing Sceneries with Watercolor Pencils

Päivi — Thu, 20 Jun 2024 13:22:31 +0000

This week, I have a fun drawing idea: fill a paper with many small sceneries! For this project, I have used watercolor pencils and Fabriano Accademia drawing paper (size: A4). The paper is very nice with colored pencils and goes well with watercolor pencils too. Inspiration for Drawing Sceneries Creating mini-sceneries is easy when you start […]

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Selling Watercolor Paintings as Gifts

Päivi — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 13:14:22 +0000

This week, I talk about making and selling watercolor paintings as gifts. At the same time, we celebrate the playfulness of watercolors. I love gift shops. My dream for a long time has been that, in addition to large oil paintings, I could sell smaller pieces as gifts. Recently, this has come true. I have […]

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Liberated Inspiration – Painting Freely

Päivi — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 15:09:42 +0000

This week, I talk about liberated inspiration and share what I discovered about 8 years ago. Liberated Inspiration from 2015-2016 Recently, I have been thinking a lot about the years 2015 and 2016. Then I combined watercolors, acrylic paints, and colored pencils for intuitive still lives. At the same time, I thought about how complex […]

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