The Changing into sequence began in 2019. We needed to listen to from girls in several walks of life and the way they had been approaching creativity, profession objectives, and extra–largely the WHY and HOW beneath all of it. It’s been superb to conduct these interviews and get a “behind the scenes” have a look at so many inspirational girls like at this time’s, Sarah Simon. You possibly can see all of them right here.
Sarah Simon (@themintgardener) is a best-selling creator, artist, and educator who delights in serving to others uncover the on a regular basis magic of watercolor. Because the creator of the #1 best-selling Watercolor Workbook sequence, she makes portray really feel joyful, approachable, and splendidly human for artists of all ranges.
By means of books, courses, workshops, and artwork retreats world wide, Sarah champions creativity, mindfulness, and a slower way of life. She’s happiest with dust below her nails and paint scattered throughout her desk, tending gardens, sketchbooks, and concepts——selecting magnificence, pleasure, and connection over the dishes and laundry, each time.
What do you contemplate your self?
Artist, Writer & Educator
You will have a FEW new books out. Inform us about it and what prompted you to write down it.
I need watercolor, and artwork normally, to really feel as approachable as attainable. I really like the concept of eradicating obstacles and getting ready a transparent path to discovering pleasure in creating for everybody who appears like mild nudge and want.
So usually, sourcing the correct supplies or discovering a tutorial that really evokes you may really feel extra daunting than the act of portray itself. I needed to vary that. My books had been born out of a easy want: to make it simple to start.
Through the years, I’ve created just a few completely different pathways into watercolor, relying on how somebody likes to study. One is my on-line Flower Portray Membership, the place artists can be a part of on the tier and dedication stage that feels joyful and doable. The opposite is my books — particularly my internationally bestselling Watercolor Workbook sequence. These workbooks are printed with my pre-drawn linework instantly onto premium, wood-free watercolor paper certain proper into the guide. There’s no transferring, no tracing, no fuss. You merely open the web page and start portray.
The books and my tutorials really go hand in hand. Many readers start with a workbook after which be a part of me on-line to increase their expertise — and others uncover the workbooks after portray alongside me digitally. They inform each other, making a full, layered studying expertise. After which they arrive on my artwork retreats! However you learn extra about that later…
Final yr, I launched Watercolor Notepad, which was a pure and thrilling development. Paper is crucial provide on the subject of watercolor, and probably the most frequent questions I obtain is, “What paper ought to I take advantage of?” This notepad is the very same high-quality paper utilized in my Watercolor Workbook sequence, now supplied as a standalone pad for artists who need an reasonably priced, dependable floor to experiment, observe, and play. It’s sturdy, wood-free, and designed to let paint really dance. Creating it felt like answering a query my neighborhood had been asking for years.
And my most up-to-date launch, printed March 10, 2026, is Flower Fairies — a magical water-reveal guide that feels particularly near my coronary heart.
As a bit of woman, I poured over Cicely Mary Barker’s Flower Fairies (first printed in 1923) studying favourite poems, deciding which fairy felt most like me, and claiming my very own particular flower alongside my sisters. These books felt like pure enchantment. Attending to create Flower Fairies, full of seek-and-find surprises, counting parts, and hidden illustrations revealed with a swipe of a magical water brush, feels just like the sweetest full-circle dream. Little-girl Sarah could be completely beaming to know she’d someday be a part of one thing so whimsical and fantastical.
Whereas it’s designed for the younger flower-lovers in your life, I’ve been delighted to find it really charms all ages. It’s a no-mess journey companion, a whimsical fairy-party exercise, and a mild early studying instrument meant to be explored collectively. There’s one thing so satisfying about watching the hidden colours bloom onto the web page with a easy swish of water.
On the coronary heart of all of my books is identical hope: that when somebody sits down with certainly one of them, the boundaries really feel lowered. The paper is prepared. The traces are there. The colours are ready. All that’s left is the quiet pleasure of watching paint meet the web page.
What’s your academic background and the way has it formed or modified your present profession?
I’ve at all times been inventive and I’ve at all times loved creating with my fingers – whether or not it’s drawing or weeding within the backyard. It’s after I really feel essentially the most like ME. Rising up, I at all times liked creating—drawing, portray, sketching. Much more, I had no downside considering of myself as an artist.
Then I grew to become an “grownup,” with very “essential” grown-up obligations and issues. I headed to school to pursue a sensible “{dollars} and cents” diploma, one that may assure a profession after commencement. There was logic on this: I might be capable of pay my payments and survive by myself on the earth—a world that measured success in monetary phrases. Though I dabbled with creative aspect jobs as I labored my approach via faculty (my favourite was one the place I soldered kaleidoscopes), I largely stuffed my inventive urges down deep inside and labored my approach alongside a safer path. I graduated with a level in economics and had some unbelievable adventures as a younger grownup. I traveled, started a profitable profession at a Seattle tech agency, and was “doing effectively.”
After which someday, I broke my foot.
Confession: I tripped whereas sporting flip-flops. Essentially the most irritating a part of having a damaged foot was having to decelerate and sit nonetheless—positively not my type. It was throughout this time that my greatest good friend, Lauren (who had an artwork diploma) insisted that I benefit from this compelled interval of relaxation. “You must sit nonetheless, so you’ll paint!” she cheered.
Instantly, I used to be face-to-face with my resistance and compelled to look at the true cause why I fought my creative urges. Now that I had no cheap excuses left, why shouldn’t I paint? The reality was that I used to be afraid. I felt extra like an imposter than an artist. What may I say or contribute that hadn’t been stated or accomplished earlier than? What if what I created wasn’t ok—for me? For everybody else?
Lauren merely wouldn’t hearken to my excuses. She drove me to the artwork retailer and piled provides within the cart as I crutched alongside behind her. She added an enormous tube of white paint, “An artist at all times wants a superb white” she stated. I gulped and confessed that I didn’t know what to color—I didn’t even know what my type was. She recommended that I paint one thing for my fiancé, Colin, as a result of at the least I knew what he preferred.
Colin and I usually traveled collectively and visiting artwork museums was certainly one of our favourite issues to do. We liked to wander via rooms of unimaginable artwork, absorbing the environment, standing in awe of the Greats—van Gogh, Picasso, John Singer Sargent, or Rembrandt. I knew that certainly one of Colin’s favourite work was “The Nice Wave” by Katsushika Hokusai, the Japanese woodblock grasp and legend. I assumed maybe I may embark on my new portray journey like many earlier than me, by copying a grasp and hopefully studying just a few issues within the course of.
I dove in, bolstered by Lauren’s perception in me, spending each Saturday on a secret “thriller undertaking.” I didn’t inform anybody that I used to be portray, simply in case it was a complete failure. The revealing occurred on Christmas Eve at Colin’s grandparents’ residence. Each of our households had been there. My coronary heart was beating out of my chest. Colin opened the framed canvas and exclaimed, “Oh my gosh—I really like Hokusai! It has all the feel of an actual portray—the place did you purchase this?”
I proudly informed him that I painted it; my journey again to artwork had begun.
What impressed you to turn out to be an artist?
I saved portray, largely experimenting with acrylics. Others noticed the enjoyment that portray gave me, and I obtained just a few commissions from household and pals. I used to be studying and rising as an artist. Then, my first daughter was born. My days had been stuffed with candy smiles and tiny fingers and toes, however my time was not my very own. Portray was on the again burner; I informed myself that I might flip again to artwork when life slowed down a bit. After which we had been blessed with a second daughter. I used to be utterly swallowed up in motherhood and all that’s entailed in caring for a household and residential. I collapsed into mattress every night time. I by no means discovered time for myself.
My husband noticed my exhaustion—and he acknowledged my restlessness. He jogged my memory that my happiest days had been these I spent portray. Cue the justifications—and I had loads of them. How may I justify spending cash on a craft? How may I spend time portray after I didn’t even get sufficient sleep? The place would I discover time between laundry, dishes, diapers? However Colin didn’t let me off the hook that simply, thank goodness. Once more, he jogged my memory that I used to be happiest after I was creating.
I started @TheMintGardener—an Etsy store and Instagram account—in 2014. My identify, TheMintGardener, has a shaggy dog story behind it. My favourite factor to do within the backyard was to throw seeds within the basic course of dust, after which see what got here up in just a few months. Mint was a favourite of mine as a result of it was vibrantly profitable. It flourished wherever it landed: in shade or solar, with no use for water and no want for fertilizing. Being a “Mint Gardener” was a little bit of amusing between my husband and I, because it didn’t take a lot in the best way of my effort to make a profitable Mint mattress. I felt extra assured sharing vegetation and flowers…and possibly someday I might publish a few of my artwork items. Perhaps.
So, I started slowly, sharing easy posts about our backyard. It was a approach for me to faucet into the skin world, a spot the place I could possibly be Sarah—not somebody’s spouse or mom. As time handed, I obtained encouragement from so many members of the family and pals. They believed in me—that I used to be certainly an artist, each in my backyard and with my brush.
It’s laborious to specific in phrases the enjoyment that I’ve skilled as a result of I selected to color and share my artwork. And I nonetheless really feel weak, with flickering emotions of worry after I share a brand new publish or do a present or pop-up store. However nonetheless, I present up, as a result of my goodness, feeling uncomfortable is effectively well worth the reward of sharing what I like to do.
How do you make social connections within the inventive realm?
“To be attention-grabbing, have an interest.” — Dale Carnegie
This quote completely captures how I strategy connection within the inventive world.
Once I meet different creatives — whether or not in individual or on-line — I lead with curiosity. I genuinely wish to know what strikes them, what they’re wrestling with, what retains them up late making. I really like asking questions, digging deeper, and inspiring these courageous sufficient to carry their internal longings into outer type.
Creativity is weak work. So as a substitute of “networking,” I attempt to take part. I remark thoughtfully. I reply. I share what really moved me about somebody’s piece. I keep .
There’s one thing sacred about paying consideration — about having your artwork antennae quietly attuned to magnificence. When a picture takes my breath away, I say so. When somebody’s work stirs one thing in me, I inform them. That trustworthy curiosity turns into the start of connection.
And like several observe, it’s constructed via consistency. The identical approach every day drawing builds talent, every day encouragement builds neighborhood. A form message. A shared useful resource. A easy “I see you.”
Over time, these small moments flip into actual friendships — rooted not compared, however in shared surprise.
What artists and creatives do you look as much as, each historic and current?
There are such a lot of! Really, my artwork guide stacks really feel like previous pals at this level. However off the highest of my head, the primary names that come to thoughts are Vincent van Gogh, John Singer Sargent, William Morris, and Glynn Boyd Harte.
Every of them evokes me in several methods. Van Gogh for his devotion to paint and motion and his brushstrokes: they really feel like emotional boldness, each tender and fearless. Sargent for his fluid confidence, particularly in watercolor. I really like the best way his brush appears to bop and by no means overwork, but land precisely the place it ought to. William Morris for his reverence for nature, and the handmade, and the concept magnificence belongs in on a regular basis life. And Glynn Boyd Harte for his lyrical linework and romantic sensibility. I particularly love how he depicts the topics of meals and water…I at all times wish to see extra of his work!
My artwork library is a magnificence tub for my eyes. I’ll usually pull books down simply to sit down and soak, particularly on mornings after I can transfer slowly with an enormous mug of milky tea. I really like finding out colours, noticing textures, and tracing compositions with my gaze. It’s all about magnificence steeping. I need these influences to settle quietly into my bones.
Not too long ago, I found that John Singer Sargent usually used white gouache in his watercolors. I felt like I had stumbled upon a treasure trove of knowledge, and oddly, it gave me permission to proceed combining these mediums like I like to do. There’s one thing so thrilling about realizing that even masters layered, experimented, adjusted. Sargent ‘broke the principles’ and added gouache to watercolor! It jogs my memory that method may be each refined and playful, and that following the nudge to strive one thing completely different, even when the overall artwork neighborhood frowns upon it, may be liberating and completely stunning.
Trying on the work of artists I love makes me really feel like I’m invited to the celebration. It’s a reminder that I may be part of a protracted, ongoing dialog about magnificence, shade, and paying consideration. And that appears like such a present.
What sparked your curiosity in design and sharing on the Web?
The time lastly arrived to share my art work with the broader world. Up till 2014, I had been solely sharing footage of my vegetation. I knew I wanted to share my artwork too. The day started early, round 5 within the morning. I had simply fed my two-month previous daughter and she or he was snoozing contentedly. As an alternative of rolling again into mattress, I sat in the lounge at my great-grandmother’s writing desk. I watched the solar rise, captivated by the gentle morning mild because the breeze shook the leaves of the bushes. Impressed, I painted just a few monochromatic inexperienced leaves. Instantly, I felt that somebody wanted to carry the plant I had simply painted. In these quiet hours, my character “Florence” was born. She got here to life, embracing leafy eucalyptus boughs in a big vase, her face hidden by the greenery. I liked the distinction of the watercolor plant with the straightforward, ink traces of her physique. Subsequent, I drew Florence holding certainly one of our chickens. I knew I needed to share her, however I nonetheless bear in mind the vulnerability I felt as I hit “publish,” sharing a chunk I cared about with an viewers for the primary time.
Sharing your artwork with different individuals is weak. On social media, or simply with an in depth good friend over espresso. A murals comes from your personal two fingers. As you share it—and even take into consideration sharing it—your coronary heart beats sooner and a damaging voice could whisper in your ear, telling you all the explanations you might be foolish and unworthy to share your creation.
However I really consider this: sharing your work is nice for you. Even when you find yourself scared, even when you find yourself giddy with pleasure. These feelings present you, that you’re alive. I usually suppose that the creation of artwork is most like a deep sense of longing. A sense that must be communicated – however in its personal distinctive language. Our spoken language usually falls in need of the notes, colours, saturations and swoops {that a} crammed paintbrush can say, joyously rioting throughout the clean web page. The liminal areas we gleefully enter as we immediately get up from that scrumptious move state and understand – one thing simply occurred and it felt like magic.
However in the event you by no means share your discoveries, your expressions of the truest you…you miss out on others reflecting their emotions again to you, and the inventive course of rising into one thing even greater than your self. I might like to encourage you right here. Be daring. Be courageous. Step via your emotions of vulnerability to the opposite aspect. Embrace the method, play with paint, belief the artist inside that has unique ideas. And if you do select to share, the neighborhood that surrounds you and the enjoyment you’re feeling is a lot stronger than the vulnerability or worry of sharing ever was.
What are three phrases to explain your type?
Botanical. Whimsical. Mild-but-confident.
My work carries a lightweight, storybook high quality — as if it belongs in a secret backyard or tucked inside a beloved heirloom guide. There’s a quiet sense of surprise woven via it. I need it to really feel stunning and enchanted, however by no means overly treasured.
There’s a softness in the best way I attempt to observe the world. I need my traces to really feel attentive, by no means rushed — to carry a quiet affection for the topic. I’m not simply attempting to depict one thing; I wish to honor it.
Rooted in actual gardens, actual progress, and cautious commentary, my artwork is grounded even in its whimsy. And above all, I by no means need it to really feel intimidating. My hope is that it appears like an open invitation — that you just’ll decide up your paintbrush or pen and be a part of me.
What’s one undertaking that you’re particularly happy with and why?
I’m particularly happy with and at all times excited for our yearly “A Artistic Manner Artwork Retreats.”
A Artistic Manner Retreats are really one thing particular: immersive, soul‑nourishing inventive getaways designed for artists of all ranges to decelerate, reconnect with surprise, and make significant artwork in stunning locations. Whether or not we’re gathered within the peaceable mild of a French chateau within the Loire Valley or at a thoughtfully curated home retreat in Seattle, Washington or exterior of Charleston, South Carolina, each retreat is crafted to encourage deep inventive move, joyful connection, and unforgettable recollections.
These retreats are greater than artwork workshops; they’re intentional inventive experiences. Over the course of a number of days you’ll paint, sketch, and discover collectively in a supportive neighborhood, with professional steerage and ample area to develop your expertise, refine your creative voice, and most significantly, fall in love with the act of making once more. There’s time for structured studying, mild exploration, and moments of quiet inspiration in environments that naturally awaken curiosity and surprise.
What makes A Artistic Manner further magical is how thoughtfully every little thing is ready. I’m so intentional with the collection of excessive‑high quality artwork provides, curated only for you, all meals are shared round desk conversations that develop into friendships (and I LOVE good meals, so we at all times have a positively unimaginable chef feeding you!) and even little excursions to soak within the place we’re spending our days in. All of it turns into a part of the inventive rhythm. For a lot of attendees, the retreat turns into a turning level of their artwork observe, and for some, their lives: a spot the place confidence grows, inspiration blooms, and artistic habits take root.
I’m so proud to have the ability to host these retreats as a result of they’re precisely the type of inventive experiences I want somebody had invited me into earlier in my journey. They take away obstacles: the intimidation, the isolation, the worry of not “being ok,” and substitute them with encouragement, connection, and considerable inventive chance. I really like witnessing artists present up curious and go away assured with new expertise, new pals, and a deeper sense of inventive belonging. I’m proud as a result of these retreats honor creativity as a joyful, communal, life‑giving observe — a contemporary and considerable approach of seeing the world, collectively.
2026 Artwork Retreats
(Spring choices are offered out, however listed here are hyperlinks to Fall 2026, and in case you are serious about becoming a member of us for a world journey, you may go to themintgardener.com/hyperlinks)
Artwork Retreat Seattle FALL Oct 15-18
Artwork Retreat Flowertown FALL Nov 5-8
You’ll find The Mint Gardener:
On her web site
On Instagram @themintgardener
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