creative highlight
MEMBER from our community
Grace McConnaughey
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Grace is a pen and watercolor artist based in Colorado who lives with a rare, chronic, debilitating illness. She treats seeking joy, laughter, and beauty in the midst of hardship everyday like an adventure. Her foray into artist-land is part of that adventure, and if you poke around her social media or blog, you’ll see peeks of life into her studio world and what it’s like to face constant pain and unknowns head-on, while creating beautiful things along the way.
Some of her favorite things:
iced Americanos
the Oregon Coast
Howard, her St. Bernard
chips & salsa
beautiful sweeping violin/cello music
reading inspiring biographies
Instagram: @acrossfieldsstudio
Facebook: facebook.com/acrossfieldsstudio
Website: https://acrossfieldsstudio.com
Email: [email protected]
Some of her favorite things:
iced Americanos
the Oregon Coast
Howard, her St. Bernard
chips & salsa
beautiful sweeping violin/cello music
reading inspiring biographies
Instagram: @acrossfieldsstudio
Facebook: facebook.com/acrossfieldsstudio
Website: https://acrossfieldsstudio.com
Email: [email protected]
Can you tell us about your introduction to art? How did you know you had a creative gift?
I didn’t grow up as an artsy child or with any artistic talent at all other than perhaps music and sewing some of my own clothes here and there. When I was in my mid 20's in 2012, I found myself struggling with some serious health issues, and as time went on, neither I nor my doctors expected that I would live to see the end of 2013. I was bed-ridden, living in extreme pain, and I was dying. It was in this dark time that I suddenly found myself starting to draw and paint in my journal. The ability to paint came almost overnight, and it was such a sweet gift from the Lord, especially in that season, to be creating beautiful things out of such a painful and difficult time. I was able to start selling bits here and there to help pay medical bills. Aside from that, it was also just such a sweet time of fellowship with the Lord anytime I would create a painting (even if it was just in my personal journal) because I knew that the talent was entirely from Him. I can take no credit!
Did you ever think you’d be selling your art, or teaching art?Never. The ability to create art at all came as a huge surprise, so the thought of selling art or teaching others to create art wasn’t even the slightest thought in my mind. It has been a day-by-day process of just taking the next step and seeing what happens. It has been a beautiful time of trusting Jesus and thanking Him for this gift!
I didn’t grow up as an artsy child or with any artistic talent at all other than perhaps music and sewing some of my own clothes here and there. When I was in my mid 20's in 2012, I found myself struggling with some serious health issues, and as time went on, neither I nor my doctors expected that I would live to see the end of 2013. I was bed-ridden, living in extreme pain, and I was dying. It was in this dark time that I suddenly found myself starting to draw and paint in my journal. The ability to paint came almost overnight, and it was such a sweet gift from the Lord, especially in that season, to be creating beautiful things out of such a painful and difficult time. I was able to start selling bits here and there to help pay medical bills. Aside from that, it was also just such a sweet time of fellowship with the Lord anytime I would create a painting (even if it was just in my personal journal) because I knew that the talent was entirely from Him. I can take no credit!
Did you ever think you’d be selling your art, or teaching art?Never. The ability to create art at all came as a huge surprise, so the thought of selling art or teaching others to create art wasn’t even the slightest thought in my mind. It has been a day-by-day process of just taking the next step and seeing what happens. It has been a beautiful time of trusting Jesus and thanking Him for this gift!
How do you encounter the Lord in your creativity?
Whenever I sit down to create something, I know so deeply that any talent I have is gifted to me from the Lord—I can take no credit for it, other than continuing to practice and learn—so it has become a time of fellowship and relationship with the Lord. Creating beautiful things from difficult circumstances and while dealing with pain has been such a refreshment for my soul, and it has become a time of communing with my Lord.
What are your favorite ways to express your creativity?
I mostly enjoy doing pen drawings and watercolor paintings—sometimes combining the two. I’ve played around with other mediums, but those are what I always come back to. I mostly draw florals and nautical-inspired things. Boats are my very favorite thing to draw.
Are others in your family creative too?
I would definitely be considered the most creative in my family, but I have a few siblings who have dabbled in some drawing, my mom painted a few masterpieces when she was younger, and my grandma was a wonderful oil painter. In creative areas other than physical art, I have a mom, brother, and niece who are excellent pianists, a nephew who is incredible on the violin, and my dad plays wonderful classical guitar.
What do you feel God is calling you to in this season with your creativeness?
To create heartily as unto the Lord, to take the gift He has given me and turn it back for His glory, and to take every opportunity to turn eyes to Jesus through my art.
Is it costly to be a creative/artist?
It can be, but I don’t think it HAS to be. Some of the most popular pieces in my shop were created with a pen that cost $3, cheap watercolor paper, a $12 travel watercolor palette from Amazon, and my old Canon printer/scanner I got on a Black Friday sale many years ago. As I’ve progressed throughout the years, I’ve invested in some more costly supplies, but I quite often revert back to using my old favorites that aren’t worth quite as much—mostly because the expensive supplies are “special” in my mind, and I want to save them for a special occasion. I was the child that saved my candy bar for months for “just the right moment” because I didn’t want to waste it! And I tend to be the same way with expensive art supplies.It does also depend on what kind of creative you are, but in the drawing/watercolor world, I haven’t found it to be overly expensive overall.
How did you become productive and abundant in your artwork and where do you see it going from here?
I think I’m still learning this. I know I’m still learning this. Because of the health issues I deal with daily and the crises I find myself in occasionally (hospitalizations, etc), it’s been a hard thing to turn the creative process into a business that I have to be responsible for. I have loved it, but it hasn’t been an easy adjustment for me. I mentioned above, ultimately I want to do what I do heartily as unto the Lord, for HIS glory. When I remember that, I don’t get quite as worked up and stressed out about how productive I’m being, whether I measure up to other artist accounts on Instagram, where I’ll be a month from now, etc...
Some practical steps you'd encourage other creatives to take to become productive and learn business skills etc.?
If you plan to have any sort of business at all (even if you think “it’s just a hobby, I’m just selling on Etsy!”), take the time to learn what your state requires for small businesses/sellers, learn about taxes, track your inventory from day one, save receipts—these are all things I wish I had known about and started from the beginning, even before I intended for it to turn into a business. It helps so much down the road to start out with a good foundation!
Any encouraging words, words of wisdom from what you've learned to help other creatives on their journey to being abundant and thriving artists/creatives/makers?
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,” - Colossians 3:23
That verse honestly sums up my day-to-day view of being an artist/creative—and every other aspect of life. When we are in Christ, and filled with Him, it is His life that flows through us. It is His work that we do. It is for Him and because of Him that we create—and in that there is abundance and thriving. When we begin to take the focus off of who we are in Christ, and get caught up in self-focus and striving merely in our own strength, there is distraction and burn-out. But when we are alive in Christ and working from His life in us, there is a flourishing of soul that can flow through the art that we create.
Whenever I sit down to create something, I know so deeply that any talent I have is gifted to me from the Lord—I can take no credit for it, other than continuing to practice and learn—so it has become a time of fellowship and relationship with the Lord. Creating beautiful things from difficult circumstances and while dealing with pain has been such a refreshment for my soul, and it has become a time of communing with my Lord.
What are your favorite ways to express your creativity?
I mostly enjoy doing pen drawings and watercolor paintings—sometimes combining the two. I’ve played around with other mediums, but those are what I always come back to. I mostly draw florals and nautical-inspired things. Boats are my very favorite thing to draw.
Are others in your family creative too?
I would definitely be considered the most creative in my family, but I have a few siblings who have dabbled in some drawing, my mom painted a few masterpieces when she was younger, and my grandma was a wonderful oil painter. In creative areas other than physical art, I have a mom, brother, and niece who are excellent pianists, a nephew who is incredible on the violin, and my dad plays wonderful classical guitar.
What do you feel God is calling you to in this season with your creativeness?
To create heartily as unto the Lord, to take the gift He has given me and turn it back for His glory, and to take every opportunity to turn eyes to Jesus through my art.
Is it costly to be a creative/artist?
It can be, but I don’t think it HAS to be. Some of the most popular pieces in my shop were created with a pen that cost $3, cheap watercolor paper, a $12 travel watercolor palette from Amazon, and my old Canon printer/scanner I got on a Black Friday sale many years ago. As I’ve progressed throughout the years, I’ve invested in some more costly supplies, but I quite often revert back to using my old favorites that aren’t worth quite as much—mostly because the expensive supplies are “special” in my mind, and I want to save them for a special occasion. I was the child that saved my candy bar for months for “just the right moment” because I didn’t want to waste it! And I tend to be the same way with expensive art supplies.It does also depend on what kind of creative you are, but in the drawing/watercolor world, I haven’t found it to be overly expensive overall.
How did you become productive and abundant in your artwork and where do you see it going from here?
I think I’m still learning this. I know I’m still learning this. Because of the health issues I deal with daily and the crises I find myself in occasionally (hospitalizations, etc), it’s been a hard thing to turn the creative process into a business that I have to be responsible for. I have loved it, but it hasn’t been an easy adjustment for me. I mentioned above, ultimately I want to do what I do heartily as unto the Lord, for HIS glory. When I remember that, I don’t get quite as worked up and stressed out about how productive I’m being, whether I measure up to other artist accounts on Instagram, where I’ll be a month from now, etc...
Some practical steps you'd encourage other creatives to take to become productive and learn business skills etc.?
If you plan to have any sort of business at all (even if you think “it’s just a hobby, I’m just selling on Etsy!”), take the time to learn what your state requires for small businesses/sellers, learn about taxes, track your inventory from day one, save receipts—these are all things I wish I had known about and started from the beginning, even before I intended for it to turn into a business. It helps so much down the road to start out with a good foundation!
Any encouraging words, words of wisdom from what you've learned to help other creatives on their journey to being abundant and thriving artists/creatives/makers?
“And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men,” - Colossians 3:23
That verse honestly sums up my day-to-day view of being an artist/creative—and every other aspect of life. When we are in Christ, and filled with Him, it is His life that flows through us. It is His work that we do. It is for Him and because of Him that we create—and in that there is abundance and thriving. When we begin to take the focus off of who we are in Christ, and get caught up in self-focus and striving merely in our own strength, there is distraction and burn-out. But when we are alive in Christ and working from His life in us, there is a flourishing of soul that can flow through the art that we create.