🎨 When Inspiration Becomes an Escape: The Art Course Temptation

Lately, I’ve noticed a pattern in myself.

When I’m working on a painting and I hit that ugh moment — you know the one — where I’m not sure what to do next, where everything feels stuck or off or just… meh… I get the sudden urge to do something that feels productive but isn’t actually the thing I need to do.

I start browsing art courses.

Not the ones I already have. Oh no. I mean new ones. Beautifully filmed courses.

Courses about subjects I love (hello, flowers! 🌸).

Courses that promise loose brushwork, color joy, expressive freedom — you know the ones.

It feels like I’m investing in my practice. But if I’m honest… sometimes what I’m really doing is looking for a way out.

🚪The Escape Disguised as Growth

There’s something really seductive about art classes, especially when I’m stuck:

• They offer structure when I feel lost.

• They promise clarity when I’m tangled in uncertainty.

• They feel like a step toward my goals — but sometimes they’re actually a way of stepping around the discomfort of simply facing my work.

Buying a class feels good. It feels hopeful. It’s forward momentum. But I’ve started asking myself:

Am I buying this to learn — or am I buying this so I don’t have to face the work in front of me?

That’s not an easy question. But it’s an important one.

🧠 What I'm Starting to Realize

Right now, I’m in the middle of several paintings that I don’t quite know how to finish. Part of me knows the right thing to do is to pick one up, work through it, and learn something — even if it’s messy or imperfect.

But instead, I find myself hovering over the “Enroll” button on yet another art course I don’t really need.

Why? Because part of me is scared. And distracted. And maybe just looking for permission to pause — or even quit — under the guise of learning.

Oof.

🎯 What I Do Want to Learn

Don’t get me wrong — I love learning from other artists. I’m so grateful for the generosity of creatives who share their process and tools. I think well-chosen courses can be beautiful catalysts. But I want to learn how to:

• Sit with the unknown.

• Finish what I start, even when it’s uncomfortable.

• Trust that I might already know enough to move forward.

Maybe the next big step for me isn’t in someone else’s course… maybe it’s right here, in the studio, where I’m wrestling with something real.

💛 So Here’s the Reminder I Need

Courses are great. Tools are helpful. Inspiration is lovely.
But nothing replaces the messy, glorious act of just making art.
Even when I’m stuck.
Even when I’m unsure.
Even when buying something feels like a shortcut to clarity.

Because the only real clarity comes from the doing.

So today, maybe I’ll start a new painting.
Or maybe I’ll sit with the ones I already began, and just see what happens if I keep going.

And that, in itself, is enough.

💬 Have you ever done this too — escaped into a course when you weren’t sure how to move forward in your own work?