What a wonderful month of creativity, friendship, and inspiration! September marked another year of The Creative Gathering, and together we created and shared 511incredible works of art. What a great way to celebrate 6 years of gathering, creating, and connecting!
Once again, our talented artists brought an amazing variety of styles, mediums, ideas, and perspectives to the gathering. From beautiful paintings & drawings to photography, mixed media, assemblage, and imaginative experiments like puppetry. Every contribution reflected a unique creative voice. What a joy it has been to see everyone’s work!
To every artist who participated, congratulations! Whether you created something every day or joined us when you were able, your contributions mattered. Every piece symbolizes time, imagination, and a willingness to explore and share your creative vision. We can all take pride in what we’ve accomplished together!
Celebrating Art, Friendship, and Connection
One of the best things about The Creative Gathering is how we encourage one another. We exchange ideas & celebrate each other’s accomplishments. We may live in different corners of the world, but our shared love of creativity brings us together. The friendships and connections we’ve made are every bit as special as the art itself.
Our Gallery Video is a celebration of all of us. It’s a chance to look back, revisit favorite pieces, and appreciate the incredible talent and individuality within our creative community.
To those who weren’t able to join us this time, you were truly missed! We hope to see you when we gather again in February 2027.
Thank you all for sharing your talents, your enthusiasm, and your friendship. You make The Creative Gathering something truly special. I’m so grateful to be part of this creative journey with you.
Congratulations, everyone!
You created with imagination and spirit, showing generosity to others & grace to yourselves.
The Gathering wouldn’t be the same without your creativity, enthusiasm, and friendship!
My August included a two-week stay in the hospital. I was having trouble breathing when I walked, although I was fine when sitting still. I was diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension. High blood pressure in the arteries that carry blood from the heart to the lungs, which makes the right side of the heart work harder. It is related to my COPD and pulmonary fibrosis. Interstitial lung disease contributes as well, and lupus contributes to the ILD.
It came on slowly over a couple of weeks, but I just thought I was tired and needed more sleep. Then one day, I could barely make it to the kitchen and had a hypoxic anxiety attack.
During that same time, I was slowly losing my appetite. Prescription side effects were causing several gastrointestinal issues, including nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Between the loss of appetite and the GI problems, I became underweight and malnourished. It was further complicated by the specific dietary requirements I have because of a previous Roux-en-Y surgery to control the acid reflux that was damaging my lungs.
The doctors wanted to feed me through an NG tube. After three days of monitoring my food intake, though, I convinced the nutritionist that I could maintain a healthy diet at home on my own. I was released on August 24—the very day the procedure was scheduled! 🙏🙏🙏
Creating with ChatGPT… From a Hospital Bed
While hospitalized, I worked on the materials for The Creative Gathering. All I had was my phone. I used ChatGPT to create the banner, invitations, countdown images, album covers, and inspirational quotes. It did a great job overall, but apparently some of my instructions were lacking! 😂
I asked for watercolor splatter effects, and it gave me little flower shapes. In fact, on the banner, even the oil paint looks like little flowers—I never mentioned flowers! For the countdown and albums, I asked it to keep the same design and change only the number. But the backgrounds in the countdown images ended up completely different. It was even more noticeable in the album covers. As I went along, the colors became darker and muddier, and the images became more pixelated and “piecey.”
Creating all 31 album covers was very time-consuming. It actually would have been quicker for me to do them in Photoshop. Once I have a design worked out, changing the numbers and saving each album cover takes about ten minutes.
Still, I am very grateful I had the option to get the materials completed. I even started the countdown on time! 🤣😆🙏
For the challenge itself, I decided abstract art would be a good place to start. I thought it would take some of the stress out of creating something every day. I began with watercolor. As always, I veered off in other directions. My graphics background definitely showed up in about half of my pieces.
Digital collage and digital art continue to draw me in. So often, I start a mixed-media piece with something particular in mind. But I have absolutely no idea how to make it work. I have to experiment and research—and how do you research something when you don’t even know what it’s called? 🤣😆
It often takes several tries before I finally get a piece to work the way I want. But each one teaches me something new, and that makes the struggle exciting and fulfilling. I think that is true for most artists.
I was really surprised to discover that I like just about every piece I created this month. Half of them made it onto my favorites list! I don’t think that has ever happened before. I can honestly say that even the “duds” have at least one redeeming quality. 😆
My “job” has been to eat and gain weight. I gained a little at the end of August. I’ve been eating every two hours or so—three meals & three snacks a day. I’m even getting up early enough to have a snack before breakfast. (And I am a night owl!)
I’m now just three pounds away from my former base weight. I won’t mind gaining a little more, either. Having a cushion would be a good thing. Just in case I have to be admitted to the hospital again.
This month, I’ll be catching up on some much-needed rest. I had a dozen appointments last month—some of them home visits, along with PT and wellness checks. A few were in Phoenix (An hour and a half away). Those are all-day events, and especially tiring.
Lord, I lift up my friends to You today. Please bless them with vibrant health and strength to carry them through each day. Fill their homes and hearts with deep, lasting happiness and a peace that guards their minds. Wake up their spirits with fresh inspiration and creativity, flooding their days with warm, gentle colors and rich textures. Keep them safe, protect their steps, and let them always know how deeply they are loved. Amen.
I’ll admit, I had a moment of pure panic when I started this gathering session. What am I doing? 😆
Why would I try something completely new when I have a tight working window? I really struggled the first two weeks. I felt like I was failing horribly. And I was behind in posting. But we all have days like that, don’t we?
I look ahead to painting, practicing, and learning more about gouache. I know there will be more frustrations, but there will also be successful days. Below are some of the things I have learned.
The Pros of Gouache
1. You Can Re-Wet It
Like watercolor, gouache remains workable. If you finish a painting and later realize you want to make changes — you can. It’s very forgiving. Of course… this can also be considered a con. (More on that later.)
2. The Pigment Is Rich, Saturated & Easy To Mix
Gouache is incredibly pigmented and naturally opaque. While watercolor relies on transparency, gouache achieves lighter values by mixing with white instead of just adding water. This makes the colors vibrant, saturated, and velvety — and very easy to mix.
You can paint delicate watercolor-like washes or build thick, forgiving layers. You can even layer light colors over dark ones. Because white is part of the mixing process, it feels more intuitive.
3. It Dries Matte, Flat, And Fast
Graphic designers and illustrators are fond of gouache for these reasons. You can build layers quickly, and changes are easy to make. (That’s code for: mistakes can be fixed.) 😄
Another advantage? It reproduces beautifully without glare. Often with watercolor, I have to adjust the scan to get the colors true to life. I didn’t have to do that this month at all.
Gouache is great for small studies, plein air, and travel. It lasts for years in sealed tubes, is lightweight and compact, and requires minimal equipment. And cleanup is a breeze.
Unlike watercolor — which really shines on high-quality paper — gouache is more flexible. You can use it on watercolor paper, mixed-media paper, Bristol board, illustration board, tinted paper, canvas, or even wood. It works best on heavy, slightly absorbent, smooth surfaces.
You can use inexpensive brushes or watercolor brushes. I’ve used both synthetic and watercolor brushes with good results. I’ve used high-quality white gouache with watercolors, but I have yet to try professional-grade gouache beyond that.
For student-grade paints, I did my research and found that both Arteza and Meeden are often recommended by artists. I can honestly say the Arteza paints are really nice to work with.
5. It’s Non-Toxic, Odorless & A Little Goes A Long Way
Because gouache is so pigmented, you don’t need much. Every day this month I ended up with leftover paint on my palette. If my paintings look cohesive, that’s probably why. I used tiny amounts and just kept mixing from the same puddles.
The Cons of Gouache
1. It Can Get Muddy Fast
Because gouache reactivates with water, you can accidentally lift the layer underneath while adding a new one. If you’re not careful, things can get muddy quickly.
The general rule is thick over thin — use less water as you build layers. I definitely need more practice with this. I tend to go thick too soon. (Maybe because I’m thick in the head.) 😄
2. The Value Shift Is Real
Always mix more paint than you think you’ll need.
Gouache changes slightly as it dries. Light colors dry darker. Dark colors dry lighter. You do not want to run out of your mixed color mid-painting. Even working small this month, I ran into that problem more than once. Usually because I kept layering.
I struggled with values because of this. I already have a hard time seeing values, and the drying shift didn’t help. I plan on spending more time making swatches and mixing colors. Hopefully, I will become more comfortable with this aspect of the paint.
3. It Dries… Too Fast
Yes, this is both a pro and a con. Are you seeing a trend?
Blending is easiest when the paint is fresh. If one area dries before you’re finished, blending into it can be difficult. You also need to let the paint dry before judging the final color.
There is still much more to learn. Now that I’m not under a daily deadline, I can concentrate more on technique. I can also work on water control, layering, and consistency.
I really enjoyed getting to know this medium. And while I was sincerely frustrated each day from my lack of knowledge, I enjoyed painting with gouache.
Here’s another look at some of the details from the paintings.
