Art Interrupted: How Distractions Can Fuel Your Creativity

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A sitting area transformed by The Obstacle Is The Way, 15” x 11” x 0.1” Acrylic on Canvas, © Deb Chaney Prints available on Saatchi Gallery.

How to turn interruptions into symbols of progress in your art practice

Noise. Delays. Unexpected chaos.

Whether it’s construction outside your studio, interruptions at home, or emotional noise inside your own mind—it can all feel like a threat to your creative flow.

But what if disruption isn’t a block?

What if it’s a trigger for transformation?

Lately, I’ve been experimenting with a simple mindset shift. Instead of letting interruptions pull me away, I assign them meaning.

A loud truck passing becomes the sound of one of my large paintings being delivered to a new collector.

The clatter of tools?

That’s the universe renovating my life for something better.

It’s a playful practice—but a powerful one. By choosing what the noise means, I stay rooted in creativity rather than thrown by distraction.

The Obstacle Is The Way, 15” x 11” x 0.1” Acrylic on Canvas, © Deb Chaney Prints available on Saatchi Gallery.

You can do this too.

When I hear a woodpecker, I’ve decided it means resistance is being gently pecked away.

When I clean my glasses, I tell myself I’m choosing to see through the lens of love and possibility.

We may not be able to control what happens around us, but we can control what it means. And sometimes, meaning is all it takes to turn an interruption into inspiration.

Take a moment to think about this: What’s one daily disruption you could reframe as a symbol of creative momentum?

Creative How-to: Wiring the Back of your Finished Painting

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I've decided to expand my blog repetoire and add a Creative How-To section for other artist's and my workshop students who'd appreciate the review and/or if we didn't have time to cover a particular element in a workshop. It'll cover all sorts of things such as;

how to start painting with acrylics
how to make acrylic paints emulate oil paints
how to make acrylic paints emulate water colour paints
and more, etc.

My goal will be to write a blog like this on a monthly basis. Enjoy!

This "Creative How-To" blog will be created in conjunction with a youtube video - for those of you who would like to see things happening in motion rather than read them. All youtube videos will be posteed at http://www.youtube.com/debchaneyartist so you can go back again and again and review any materials that is relevent or interesting to you anytime. :) Cool.

To start today I'll be covering how to wire the back of a canvas or panel painting.

Here's what you'll need in terms of tools and hardware:

  • Hammer
  • 1 nail (any)
  • wire cutters
  • measuring tape
  • 2 small D-rings (size them to your painting edge)
  • 2 small screws (OPUS code STPOLY 6)
  • Woven picture wire – 4 feet in length
  • 4 small clear round bumpers
  • Phillips screw driver or Electric screw driver


Step 1. Measure the side of your panel and mark, with a pencil, the place 1/3 down from the top

Step 2. Place the D-ring in its final spot, flat and use your Hammer and nail to make a small hole/dent in preparation for the screw and D-ring.

Step 3. Place the D-ring down on it’s flat/flush side, put screw through it and insert the screw into the wood using your Phillips screw driver or electric. Repeat on other side of panel.

Step 4. Cut the length of wire you need for the panel plus 2 “ extra for each side.

Step 5. Loop the wire through the D-ring once, twice, three times and then back through the loop. Pull tight. Take remaining wire and wrap around itself towards the center of the panel.

Step 5. Pull the wire tight to the other side and repeat the loop knot.

NOTE: You want the wire to tight so that your painting will hug the wall and hang straight.

Step 6. Place the plastic bumper on each four corners of your panel. These help with the painting so that it hugs the wall evenly.


[See Deb wiring the back of a painting on youtube at: http://www.youtube.com/debchaneyartist]