Why I Built a Creative Home for Magical Minds
Studio Notes >> News
The year was 2022.
I was working my butt off as a senior marketing director at one of the largest agencies in the U.S., building a multimillion-dollar team, leading enterprise accounts, and mentoring 60+ direct reports.
Then life hit hard.
I got sick. Had surgery. Got sick again. I was diagnosed with celiac disease, long COVID, and ADHD. My best friend passed away. We had just built a house. And I had to walk away from my career, something I thought was my identity.
But after all that, I wasn’t really creating.
I’d dabbled in the past, but I never set out to start a creative business or a creative community.
Honestly? I just wanted to feel okay again.
Hospital visit #20000
Going from relatively healthy to feeling like you’re losing your body and brain is terrifying - especially when the doctor’s have no answers. Coloring books helped me cope at the time.
The Artist’s Way and a Big Wake-Up Call
While working with my therapist through all these changes, she suggested I read The Artist’s Way.
It felt like permission to want something that was mine again. Permission to be creative, to be myself, to figure out who I was without the high-pressure career. Even when I wasn’t sure there was much of me left.
I did The Artist’s Way in community because, let’s be honest, external accountability is my jam. I started painting for my Artist Dates. I connected with other people painting for their mental health, healing, and grief.
And something started to shift.
Less anxiety. Less perfectionism. More confidence. More courage.
I realized creativity was the medicine. Painting was the medicine. Writing and journaling were the medicine.
For the first time in a long time, I felt present. And I knew I had to share it with the world.
The book that saved my life and the book that taught me how to bend the rules to make them work for me.
The First Magical Mind Gatherings
I started facilitating Artist’s Way groups, small, cozy circles of people who felt stuck, scared, or ashamed that they hadn’t lived up to their creative dreams.
And I watched people truly change.
They laughed. They shared things they hadn’t said out loud in years. People who hadn’t touched a paintbrush in a decade lit up when they made something messy and real. One person started a sobriety journey. Someone else finished a novel they’d been stuck on for years. Another launched a business.
I saw less negative self-talk. Less inner critic. More play. More fun. More experimenting. Less masking.
It was magic.
I Kept Learning, the Dream Kept Expanding
Those groups grew. Then I started experimenting with mindful painting sessions, intuitive mark-making, art journaling, and generative writing prompts.
And every time I taught, I learned even more:
Painting can reset your nervous system, even if you’ve “never been good at art.”
Journaling can help you process emotions you don’t have words for.
Ten minutes of messy creative play can feel like breathing again.
There’s power in painting and creating in community—even virtual community.
People who were burnt out, anxious, spoonie, or neurodivergent (hi, me too) found joy, presence, and connection, even on the hard days.
Some even joined just to listen because the space felt calming and grounding.
So the dream grew again.
I was teaching The Artist’s Way, running the Peaceful Painting Club, dabbling in writing workshops—and I kept asking myself, What if I built a bigger home for this?
Teaching in person and on Zoom
Why I Built Inner Peace Art Studio
The truth is, most of us don’t ghost our creativity because we’re lazy or flaky.
We ghost it because:
We live with chronic illnesses that make even setting up supplies feel impossible some days.
We’re anxious brains who can only find true presence when we’re painting.
We’re ADHDers chasing that soft dopamine hit that comes from creating.
We’re sensitive, spicy humans who use art to cope, but perfectionism and shame stole the joy from us.
I know, because I’m all of those things too.
That’s why I created Inner Peace Art Studio: a bigger vision, a home for magical minds like us to come back to ourselves through art.
Not the kind of art that stresses you out or makes you feel like you’re failing if you ghost your sketchbook for a month.
Art that soothes, not stresses. Art that feels like exhaling. Art that’s a lifeline, not a luxury.
The New Dream Starts Now
Right now, IPAS mostly lives virtually, with gentle programs, memberships, and creative coaching designed for people just like you. But the dream is bigger.
More retreats.
More community gatherings.
And one day, a physical space where magical minds can create, connect, and just be.
We’re also using creativity for change through the Make Art, Make Change initiative, supporting mental health awareness.
Welcome Home!
Whether you’re here to learn to paint, build a soft creative rhythm, or simply remember what it feels like to make something messy and real, you belong here.
You’re not too late. You’re not too inconsistent. You’re not too much.
You just need a gentler way to begin.
And that’s what we do here.
Welcome to the new chapter of Inner Peace Art Studio.
See you in a class soon!
-Katie, Founder
👉 See how soothing tiny acts of art can be - download the free Tiny Acts of Art for Low Energy Days Card Deck here.