Biggest Lessons of 2023 🧑🏻‍🎓

and a chat with illustrator Ava Wolf

Author

Anna Zeitlin
December 30, 2023

Hey Friends,

A few months into Create Every Day Club, I’ve noticed some common themes arise.

I’ve talked to an artist, a children’s book illustrator, a choreographer and a greeting card designer, and some more yet to be published. They’re from all different creative backgrounds, but their advice boils down to two major points.

#1 Do the work

Show up every day and create the work. Do the kind of work you want to be paid for even if nobody is paying. Make the work that is true to you. Dedicate time for it and make it a priority.

#2 Connect with others in your field

Success comes down to who you surround yourself with. Make friends with people in your community who are doing what you want to be doing. Build a network of other creatives you can go to for advice and be equally generous helping them. Find a mentor or mentor others. Host a drawing night. Even if what you do is solitary, you won’t find success in isolation.

My most recent interview was with Ava Wolf, whose colorful illustrations decorate hilarious, pop culture inspired greeting cards for her company Aviate Press, and whose relatable, uplifting mental health illustrations she shares with over 50 thousand people on her Instagram @avamariedoodles

You can read her whole interview here: https://www.createeveryday.club/blog/ava-wolf

Ava at Porter Flea

When asked if she thinks about the example she sets for her daughter with her business, she responded:

Yeah, I do think about how someday maybe she'll be helping me in the studio, which would be cool.

I would love to be able to share that with my daughter Jane, and have her be a part of it and see what that life would potentially look like. A few generations back there were more family businesses. I hope that that will be a special thing to share with her someday and show her that you can pursue creative endeavors and start your own thing. 

That's also what I want to instill in other people. You can create your own success and income and you don't have to abide by the nine to five corporate or capitalist world. I try to fight the patriarchy slowly.

Those are some values I can get behind!

❤️ What I’m Digging

🎥 Movies - Favorite movies from December: American Fiction, Wonka, and The Boy and the Heron. Future classics in the making.

🏠 Home - Why are Australians making all the cutest home textiles right now? Currently obsessed with Kip & Co, Bed Threads and Society of Wanderers.

🍬 Vegan Christmas Cake - Currently sold out, but if you have the chance to try this cake from Italy, would highly recommend!