Author Archives: Allise Nicole Noble

Artist Bio

My Daily Routine As An Independent Artist

Quite awhile ago, I discovered this fun article with the daily routines of some well-known women artists, and thought it would be interesting to share my own average day.

I am lucky to have an art related day job teaching at local nonprofits where I am able to inspire people of all ages and abilities to create, especially those who don’t know they’re artists yet.

My basic routine on days I work right away in the morning is, to be honest, getting up roughly 20-30 minutes before I have to be out the door. I value sleep, mainly because I seem to just need my exact recommended 8-9 hours or else I am either a werewolf (in temperament, not amount of hair luckily) or a zombie … either way something monstrous and not ideal.

At work, my job often involves hopping from one focus to another all under the larger umbrella of art making, but this works for me. At home I find I’m always more productive and efficient when I have several project stations going that I rotate between. Typically I’ll travel to 2-3 different cities within a 20-30 minute radius within the day, completing chunks of classes at different centers with maybe a private lesson in between. I used to hate driving, but most of that is rooted in not liking the unfamiliarity of a route and a fear of getting lost (hello Developmental Topographical Disorientation). I have some favorite youtube podcasts I listen to about psychology and sociology (Psychology In Seattle, Bryony Claire, Meg) and nostalgic 90s toys (I most recently discovered the self proclaimed Mr. American Girl) and actually enjoy this little break to have some alone time and recharge.

I currently work with 6 different programs at 5 locations that include adults with disabilities, children with disabilities, alternative high school, traditional elementary school, and beginning and intermediate adult artists. I am also currently working on a series of murals for a pediatric physician’s office, commissions, and handmade wares for my online shop.

Why freelance? Having an uncontrollable and unpredictable schedule was a huge anxiety trigger for me, one that I’d tried very hard to overcome but in the end I figured out it’s just how I’m wired. I have no problem working evenings and weekends or long days – when I consciously schedule them ahead of time for myself and know what to expect. My longest stint in the arts being a Program Coordinator (before that, a bunch of short term disaster things if you know what I mean), I also found that while I love working with my students, I did not enjoy managing other employees. I am most content being responsible only for myself, and while some people really enjoy telling others what to do, I found it incredibly taxing and uncomfortable. I also just have too many options that I am excited to be involved in! I love having my hands in so many different things, because there is equal value in each and every pursuit, and I don’t know how I could limit myself to just one. I’ve been able to say “yes!” to so many more opportunities since I transitioned into independent/contracted work. As I mentioned earlier as well, I like the variety. If I start experiencing burnout or job dissatisfaction, it is more accessible to make some tweaks since I have the opportunity to “reset” basically every quarter and make positive changes based on what I observed in previous quarters. Margin is also something I’ve really struggled with as someone whose job and hobby/passion/therapeutic activity is one and the same. Some days, I am able to build in ‘breaks’ between programs if I see that is needed.

As with any choice, there are benefits and drawbacks. Struggles have been with all the traveling, I do lose paid time. When I first started and didn’t know what to consider when scheduling everything, I was basically out of the house ‘at work’ for 12 hours but only getting paid for 6. That was NOT going to work and I had to re-evaluate when and where I was placing certain things so that I wasn’t doing as much jumping around and backtracking. You have to be ok, especially in the current US economy, with not being rich. I experience a lot of job satisfaction and this year have actually looked forward to going to work each day, which I know is rare in our society. However, there are no job provided insurance benefits, no PTO, no 401K. Doing taxes each February is super complicated. There is a lot to remember with so many different plates spinning. There will be great months and disappointing months. Also, things aren’t going to just ‘work’ instantly – I went through a period of close to 3 years where it was very hard to discern why the heck I was doing what I was doing. Each individual person is going to have to decide whether it’s worth it or not based on their own personality traits, needs, and goals.

Do I do anything at all with my time that isn’t art related is a common question … Well, when I’m not engaging creatively I enjoy puzzles, watching movies (I watch close to a movie per night … not kidding), hiking, reading, and playing Sims. I love quiet evenings at home or with one or two friends.

I always wondered if ‘little me’ would be happy if they’d have been able to look into a crystal ball and see what life looks like 30+ years in the future. I finally think the answer would be mostly YES!

The artist is always more productive while wearing her designer red carpet attire, which may or may not also be an old nightgown.

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Artist Bio

Living Without Limits, & Learning To Love Surprises

My new year began with some disappointments and being laid out with a wretched cold, so rather than sulk I thought it was a good time to pen this entry I’d been thinking about for awhile. Hopeful messages are good medicine for the brain at least ;). The first week of January is a time that seems to be made for reflecting, as a new season begins and things are still slow after the rush of the holidays. As I made some professional changes this year that will allow me to put my whole focus into not only my own art business but teaching, something I’ve discovered I love doing no matter the age or ability level I am working with, I feel compelled to share something about myself that many may not know.

Though I now talk all day as my vocation, this is not something I originally would have thought possible. I had a speech delay which I went to therapy for as a young child. It was discovered I knew and understood words, but just wasn’t saying them. I’ve been told even as a baby I was quiet, no babbling or anything, just silence and the occasional prolonged grunt that sounded like a lawnmower motor. I can only imagine what my parents must have been thinking! Though I was soon able to communicate fluently at home, around people I wasn’t as familiar with it was still a struggle. No one that heard me playing in the backyard at home would ever think of me as being “reserved”. Still at school, which I found for the most part enjoyable, I just didn’t know how to communicate with others. I remember one of my most embarrassing 5-year-old moments was when I got called out while playing in a group for participating in the imaginative play by just repeating whatever my best friend made her dinosaur say over and over (We were all playing with plastic dinosaurs at the indoor sandbox station, THE best station in the entire kindergarten). “Why do you just keep saying what she’s saying?” I was asked, followed by the dreaded “You’re weird!” Sigh … my camouflage had failed. When playing by myself I could think up all sorts of great lines and fantastical stories – I was never short on creativity – I didn’t understand why I couldn’t get my brain to “work” around other people.

Even up to high school I experienced a degree of what I now know is called “selective mutism” in public spaces, though public speaking or giving formal presentations in front of a group never bothered me a bit. In college, I ended up choosing to study interior design and had also thought about web design, because I figured there would be a little bit of back and forth interface with clients since I did enjoy people and hated being entirely alone, but then I could go back into my little office space and be creative without constant social pressures – the perfect balance. What do they say about the best laid plans?

I had an English teacher in high school once tell the class “Who you are at 10 years old is your truest self, and you will always come back to that”. I think about that often. As an 8-10 year old kid, I thought I wanted to be a teacher and loved “playing school” with my dolls so much that my parents even got me special little stamps and grade books from the local teacher supply store to enhance the realism of my playacting. I volunteered as a helper for kids programs in the summer, and even job shadowed at my old elementary school when it was required in my first year of middle school. However, I found it stressful not knowing how a real person was going to act and react, whereas with my dolls I was writing the script. I never did like surprises.

I pretty much wrote off that future life plan as I became a teenager, realizing I just didn’t have the skills for it. After graduating from college and experiencing a parade of poorly fitting jobs and pretty toxic work environments which is its own story for another day, I got an email from some mailing list I was on advertising that a local gallery was looking for instructors for a new day program. At this point in my life my confidence in my ability to be a functional human was at an all time low, so I decided what the hell, at least I know I can do art. Let’s give this a go. The rest is history.

I personally have a faith, and I believe receiving that email (and the fact that I actually opened and read it at just the right time!) was quite literally divine intervention. I teach at a variety of locations now outside of my main “hub” where I started, but I truly believe if I hadn’t began my foray into art instruction with the Artshop prograrm at Creative 360 in an environment of radical acceptance that embraces people’s quirks and operates like its own odd little family, I probably wouldn’t have kept at it. The main point of all this personal storytelling is, don’t limit yourself.

What you can do at the moment is not all you’ll be able to do forever. Sometimes, it isn’t that there is something wrong with you, it’s that you aren’t in the right environment.

I am in no way doing what I thought I’d be doing when I was 18, but my 10 year old self may not be that surprised. Guess what? I still am terrible at socializing with new people and making friends. But, I’ve been told I’m a wonderful teacher and that I make people feel valued, and help them believe they can do things they never thought they could do. I’m good with that.

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Project Ideas, Techniques and Tutorials

Hello 2023! : Pantone Color Of The Year Project

I’ve mentioned previously that aside from Christmas my favorite thing about the end of the year is the unveiling of Pantone’s new color of the year. Since I started on youtube, I have enjoyed doing a project demo revolving around the chosen color each December. Another holiday artist tradition I have is creating a new series of whimsical, themed Santa ACEOs for my ebay shop. This year, I combined these two traditions into one project as I show you how I illustrate my miniature Santa portraits, this one with a Viva Magenta theme.

By a stroke of good fortune, one of my most popular teaching projects I developed this year features a heavy accent of this vibrant color. Pre-Covid, I was teaching a Creative Minds class to my adults with disabilities at Creative 360. After teaching, I shared many of the projects here if you’re inclined to take a look. The idea of Creative Minds is to learn about accomplished artists from the past and present and create projects based on their process with the goal of discovering our own artistic voice. Creative Minds has a special focus on artists who think differently than what is considered “typical”. They have disabilities, mental health struggles, weren’t classically educated, dealt with poverty. It’s important for people to see examples of why having different types of brains and backgrounds in our world is vital and something to be celebrated, not approached with apprehension. After Covid, like with many things, the class series died for a bit. This Fall, I brought it back successfully and opened it up as an evening workshop series to make it more available to all ages and abilities.

I covered globally exhibited artist Judith Scott previously, but streamlined the project a bit more this time. Scott is an artist who had down syndrome and was deaf, and was unfortunately discounted and underestimated for most of her life. When her twin sister became her guardian and brought her to a groundbreaking arts program near their home in California, Judith on her own grabbed any objects nearby and started wrapping them in yarn. Her eye for composition was soon recognized, and long story short her art has now been exhibited worldwide. This is why art is not a luxury. Art gives people a voice, and unlocks hidden abilities.

For this new iteration of the Judith Scott project, students were given an 8×10 canvas, a stick, and a plethora of yarn. The yarn that has a different texture like fuzziness, or that is netted and stretches apart is especially fun though the old standard would still work well. We painted the canvas with an abstract design. I used a large round brush to dab streaks across the canvas one color at a time until there was no white left. Then, while that’s drying take the stick and wrap wrap wrap! Yarn can be tied at the beginning and ends points, and the tail tucked under the wrapping. I also added some felt leaves as a finishing touch but that part is in no way necessary. If the branch has a lot of contact points where it touches the canvas, it can be glued at those points but my stick was extra twisty so I poked holes in the canvas which I threaded wire through, twisting the ends in the back of the canvas to anchor it. If any readers are in the Midland, Michigan area I’d encourage you to stop by Creative 360, we are always doing something new and fun!

Color is a fantastic starting point for inspiration. You can view my previous Color Of The Year projects below.

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