The World of Watercolor Painting with Birgit O’Connor

The Next Step in My Creative Journey

In this members discussion, we chat about the growing excitement around Bohan watercolor paper, how it compares to other surfaces, and what students are experiencing whil

Moving Forward - The Creative Seasons of an Artist - Part 4

Season of an Artist – Part 4: Moving Forward In this episode of the World of Watercolor podcast, Birgit O’Connor shares an honest conversation about moving forward creat

Finding Your Creative Flow: Seeing Shapes and Letting Go

How do you create flow in your painting—and why does it sometimes feel stuck or overworked? In this episode, we explore how to create flow in watercolor by simplifying s

The Creative Process, Guest Artist Sha Sha Higby

Today, I’m joined by performance artist Sha Sha Higby—a truly unique creative whose work blends watercolor, sculpture, costume design, and shadow performance into immersi

The Plateau – The Creative Seasons of an Artist (Part 3)

In Part 3 of The Creative Seasons of an Artist, we explore the season many artists quietly fear — the plateau. This is the stage where growth slows. Ideas feel distant.

The Creative Season of an Artist: Growth (Part 2)

In Part 2 of The Creative Seasons of an Artist, we step into the Growth Season — the stage where things begin to click. This is the season of momentum. Your washes star

The Courage to Begin – The Creative Seasons of an Artist (Part 1)

The Creative Seasons of an Artist – A 4-Part Watercolor Podcast Series What season are you in as an artist? In this four-part podcast series from The World of Watercolor

Can You Support Yourself as an Artist — and Stay Sane? The Lonely Artist (Part 4)

In Part 4 of The Lonely Artist series, we ask the big questions. Are all artists a little crazy? Can you really be successful as an artist? Can you support yourself doi

Making a Place to Paint — Even If It’s Small: The Lonely Artist (Part 3)

In Part 3 of The Lonely Artist series, we talk about something practical — but deeply emotional. Do you even have a place to paint? What if your “studio” is the corner

Growing with Confidence: The Lonely Artist (Part 2)

In Part 2 of The Lonely Artist series, we move from isolation into connection. We talk about what it really means to grow as an artist — not just technically, but emotio

Finding Your Community: The Lonely Artist (Part 1)

In today’s episode (Part 1), I sat down with several of my artist members for a heartfelt conversation about something many creatives quietly experience — the life of a l

Listening for the Painting: Finding Composition Through Intuition

In this episode, I share a short segment from my Nature’s Abstraction exploring how intuition can guide composition in floral abstraction. Rather than planning or arrang

When You Feel Stuck: How to Begin Anyway

Feeling stuck can make even the smallest step feel overwhelming. In this episode, we talk about why getting started feels so hard—and how to gently remove the obstacles t

Painting the Northern Lights in Watercolor: A Student's Journey

In this conversation, I sit down with student Gloria Andison to talk about her journey painting the Northern Lights in watercolor. Gloria shares how she transitioned from

Plein air painting, Getting started

First get rid of the expecations of what you do in the studio, and be willing to learn a lot about creativity, focus and a get ready to have some fun, consider Plein air

Feeling ”Fearless” or fearful?

Based on my "Fearless flowers" courses, in this episode, we explore when painting how to get out of your comfort zone, and grow to be more bold and dynamic. In the Fearl

Reference photos and licensing

Today were talking about what if you’re doing a painting and use photos that someone else took as your reference material, can you use it for a show, can you sell it, can

Pushing through the fear, do you need to be perfect?

Pushing through the fear. Do you feel the need to always be perfect? What kind of artist do you want to be? Do you want to have the control you want over your brushstr

How to get motivated when you’re just not feeling it

Sometimes it’s difficult to get started and paint again, it can be because of some life circumstance, the holidays, or we're just not inspired.  Not everyone enjoys the i

Realism or Abstraction, painting a cluster of Monarch Butterflies

In this episode, we discuss the approach of painting a cluster of Monarch Butterflies. We will be covering what you might think might be a failure could be an incredible